1# sonobe
 2 
 3Experimental folding schemes library implemented in a joint effort by [0xPARC](https://0xparc.org/) and [PSE](https://pse.dev).
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 5[**https://github.com/privacy-scaling-explorations/sonobe**](https://github.com/privacy-scaling-explorations/sonobe)
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 7<img align="left" style="width:30%;min-width:250px;margin:20px;" src="imgs/sonobe.png">
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 9<b>Sonobe</b> is a modular library to fold circuit instances in an Incremental Verifiable computation (IVC) style. It features multiple folding schemes and decider setups, allowing users to pick the scheme which best fit their needs.
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11Sonobe is conceived as an exploratory effort with the aim to push forward the practical side of folding schemes and advancing towards onchain (EVM) verification.
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13<i>"The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonobe">Sonobe module</a> is one of the many units used to build modular origami. The popularity of Sonobe modular origami models derives from the simplicity of folding the modules, the sturdy and easy assembly, and the flexibility of the system."</i>
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16> **Warning**: experimental code, do not use in production.<br>
17> The code has not been audited. Several optimizations are also pending. Our focus so far has been on implementing the Nova and CycleFold schemes and achieving onchain (EVM) verification.
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19
20## Schemes implemented
21The library uses [arkworks](https://github.com/arkworks-rs), and implements the following folding schemes:
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23- [Nova: Recursive Zero-Knowledge Arguments from Folding Schemes](https://eprint.iacr.org/2021/370.pdf), Abhiram Kothapalli, Srinath Setty, Ioanna Tzialla. 2021
24- [CycleFold: Folding-scheme-based recursive arguments over a cycle of elliptic curves](https://eprint.iacr.org/2023/1192.pdf), Abhiram Kothapalli, Srinath Setty. 2023
25- [HyperNova: Recursive arguments for customizable constraint systems](https://eprint.iacr.org/2023/573.pdf), Abhiram Kothapalli, Srinath Setty. 2023
26- [ProtoGalaxy: Efficient ProtoStar-style folding of multiple instances](https://eprint.iacr.org/2023/1106.pdf), Liam Eagen, Ariel Gabizon. 2023
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28
29### Frontends
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31Frontends allow to define the circuit to be folded (ie. `FCircuit`).
32The recommended frontend is directly implementing the [`FCircuit` trait](https://github.com/privacy-scaling-explorations/sonobe/blob/main/folding-schemes/src/frontend/mod.rs#L16) with the Arkworks constraint system.
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34Alternatively, experimental frontends for [Circom](https://github.com/iden3/circom), [Noir](https://github.com/noir-lang/noir) and [Noname](https://github.com/zksecurity/noname) can be found at the [sonobe/experimental-frontends](https://github.com/privacy-scaling-explorations/sonobe/tree/main/experimental-frontends) directory, which have some computational (and time) overhead.
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36More details about the frontend interface and the experimental frontends can be found at the [sonobe-docs/frontend](https://privacy-scaling-explorations.github.io/sonobe-docs/usage/frontend.html) page.
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