Exhibit 06 · zk-SNARK Intuition

EXHIBIT 06⬡ PEDAGOGICAL SNARK MODEL

zk-SNARK Pipeline (Setup → Prove → Verify)

Bridge the Fiat-Shamir mental model to modern proving systems without pretending this is production cryptography.

✓ Succinct verification shape ✓ Public vs private inputs ✓ Conceptual zero-knowledge flow

Preset: Honest Pipeline Preset: Tamper Reject

Cryptographic honesty: this exhibit teaches the architecture of zk-SNARK systems (setup/proving/verification and public/private split). It is intentionally not a real SNARK implementation or security parameterization. Two pieces are genuinely computed and re-checked by the verifier rather than asserted: the arithmetic relation y = w² + 3w + 7, and a real SHA-256 digest binding the public input to the proof envelope — which is why the tamper preset is rejected on the numbers. Everything else here — trusted setup, proving key, succinctness — is narrated, not performed.

Fiat-Shamir removed interaction by deriving a challenge from a hash. zk-SNARKs go further: they compile a computation into a proof system where the verifier checks a tiny proof against public inputs using a verification key.

This exhibit visualizes that pipeline with a toy arithmetic relation so you can map intuition to modern systems without confusing educational animation with deployable proving software.

Toy vs Production Parameters

Dimension	This Exhibit	Production Expectation
Circuit complexity	Tiny arithmetic relation	Large circuits (thousands to millions of constraints)
Setup model	Assumed and narrated; not simulated	Ceremony with strict toxic-waste handling
Proof object	Readable JSON envelope	Curve-based proof bytes with formal verification equations
Verifier environment	Browser pedagogy	Audited verifiers (on-chain/off-chain) with formal assumptions

A toy pipeline that exposes w so its arithmetic can be inspected. It models computed accept/reject plumbing, not zero-knowledge witness hiding or a real SNARK proof.

PROVER PIPELINE

Witness w (exposed to this toy verifier)

—

Public input y

—

Toy relation

y = w² + 3w + 7

Proof commitment digest

—

VERIFIER PIPELINE

Verification equation check

—

Digest consistency

—

Ready.

— protocol log —

What this teaches: SNARK systems separate private witness data from public claims, and let verifiers run small checks over proof objects and public inputs. This toy envelope deliberately includes w so you can inspect its computed relation; it does not provide witness privacy. Real systems add finite-field circuits, polynomial commitments, setup assumptions, zero-knowledge witness hiding, and formal security proofs.