Re: Definition of "Zero Knowledge"

bill@twwells.com (T. William Wells) said:
>Got a good reference for ZPT? Something that the mathematically
>inclined, who wants just the facts, all the facts, and none of
>the BS that passes for explanations and which usually obscures
>more than it clarifies?

In the current context, the best reference that I know of is to
the methodology of Goedel's Theorem rather than to ZPT; it has each
of the properties that I mentioned except for the ZPT operations,
which can be added in a conceptually straightforward way. The most
readable in depth treatment of that that I know of is "Goedel's Proof"
by Ernest Nagel and James R. Newman, c. 1958 and still in print as
a cheap paperback.

If someone has good ZPT references that would be interesting too; I've
lost the stuff I used to have on that.
	Doug

> In the current context, the best reference that I know of is to
> the methodology of Goedel's Theorem rather than to ZPT; it has each
> of the properties that I mentioned except for the ZPT operations,
> which can be added in a conceptually straightforward way. The most
> readable in depth treatment of that that I know of is "Goedel's Proof"
> by Ernest Nagel and James R. Newman, c. 1958 and still in print as
> a cheap paperback.
> 
> If someone has good ZPT references that would be interesting too; I've
> lost the stuff I used to have on that.
> 	Doug

Doug, I am not aware that the zero knowledge results of Goldwasser,
Micali, Rackoff, etc., circa 1984-5, are actually implied by Godel's
results of the 1930s.

I'd be very intrigued to hear more about this.

-Tim May


-- 
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
408-688-5409           | knowledge, reputations, information markets, 
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
Higher Power: 2^756839 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available.
Note: I put time and money into writing this posting. I hope you enjoy it.

> In the current context, the best reference that I know of is to
> the methodology of Goedel's Theorem rather than to ZPT; it has each
> of the properties that I mentioned except for the ZPT operations,
> which can be added in a conceptually straightforward way. The most
> readable in depth treatment of that that I know of is "Goedel's Proof"
> by Ernest Nagel and James R. Newman, c. 1958 and still in print as
> a cheap paperback.

This reminds me of a science fiction story that I read once, published in
Analog: the smart-ass encrypted the solution of how to produce stable
antimatter, or cold fusion, or something similar, using Godel's Theorem.

The politicos back on Earth said that it would take them 200 years to
factor the N-size number that was sent back to Earth.  :)

Now, if I could just remember the name of the story and the issue...
-- 
Ed Carp, N7EKG			erc@apple.com			510/659-9560
                            anon-0001@khijol.uucp
If you want magic, let go of your armor.  Magic is so much stronger than
steel!        -- Richard Bach, "The Bridge Across Forever"

In article <9309200038.AA04119@netcom.netcom.com>,
Doug Merritt <doug@netcom.com> wrote:
:                                                           The most
: readable in depth treatment of that that I know of is "Goedel's Proof"
: by Ernest Nagel and James R. Newman, c. 1958 and still in print as
: a cheap paperback.

I have that book. It's a good one. It's exactly the sort of thing
I was referring to.