Nomos update 18-12-2023 (#19)

* Nomos update 18-12-2023

* Update 2023-12-18.md

content/nomos/updates/2023-12-18.md

@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+---
+title: 2023-12-18 Nomos weekly
+tags:
+  - nomos-updates
+date: 2023-12-18
+lastmod: 2023-12-18
+draft: false
+description: Weekly update of Nomos
+---
+## `network privacy and mixnet`
+
+### `research`
+
+- Continuing the research on the effects of wealth concentration within Ouroboros Crypsinous - more precisely fixing some of the code and running simulations. The results and reports will continue to be provided in the [Notion doc](https://www.notion.so/Does-Crypsinous-Leader-Election-Function-lead-to-wealth-concentration-in-PoS-b81f07a791b745438443f51f00ac258f).
+- Also, doing additional research into the Darkfi's Crypsinous implementation (and why they are striving away from it)
+- [Mixnet specification](https://www.notion.so/Mixnet-Specification-807b624444a54a4b88afa1cc80e100c2) is done, currently in review - once additional comments have been added, will provide new updates
+- There have been some slight improvements in the [Crypsinous over Mixnet document](https://www.notion.so/Crypsinous-over-Mixnet-dc05e9ad601a4cdfb1ac7823fd51cff6) - not too major
+- Compiled a [high-level overview](https://www.notion.so/Ouroboros-Family-8cd7285459f640b088716905ab03474f) of the Ouroboros family
+- Studying [byzantine gossip and swarm consensus](https://www.notion.so/Byzantine-Gossip-Consensus-a83513712031444f80eb5f6097773b72) as part of the effort of solving the tagging attack problem (as alternatives to random subsampling and reliable broadcast) - some of the ideas involve the use of gradecast over byzantine gossip, but providing more details in the following week.
+### `development`
+
+- Solved [an issue](https://github.com/logos-co/nomos-node/pull/544](https://github.com/logos-co/nomos-node/pull/544 "https://github.com/logos-co/nomos-node/pull/544)  that was causing problems with simulations (Carnot 10k nodes - Tree implementation returned different results when searching for child committee and then using child committee to find its parent)
+- By fixing the above and the depth calculation in the analysis script, the simulations stall  has been fixed totally, and we are meeting in the deadlines in terms of releasing the Carnot papers - no additional showstoppers
+## `testnet`
+
+### `development`
+
+- No updates
+
+## `private PoS`
+
+### `research`
+
+- [Normalize stake for lottery](https://www.notion.so/Relative-Stake-in-Crypsinous-65f5ed5522b64c36b625652023318d88#dbc5eb031fe4438ab3007ff36afe5189) - we have a proof of convergence to expected fixed point and stability conditions for that fixed point: [Analysis Summary](https://www.notion.so/Dynamic-Lottery-Function-Difficulty-Adjustment-65f5ed5522b64c36b625652023318d88?pvs=4#dbc5eb031fe4438ab3007ff36afe5189)
+- We’ve run simulations of the process and they confirm the stability conditions and convergence derived analytically (above)
+- There is still work to be done in terms of slots observation to understand a good measurement of leader rate as well as some additional confirmation of the analysis
+- Analysis of stake de-anonymization (details are [here](https://www.overleaf.com/read/xvgmfchdhgzh#acd15d](https://www.overleaf.com/read/xvgmfchdhgzh#acd15d "https://www.overleaf.com/read/xvgmfchdhgzh#acd15d) and here): and [here](https://www.overleaf.com/read/fzbrxvkwwscq#f2907c))
+- Used the lower bound (LB), asymptotic estimate (AE) and upper bound (UB) on the probability of stake greater than some threshold (“confidence”), within a given “accuracy”, to estimate the number of layers in the mixnet.  
+- The UB (on the number of layers) is loose. The AE (for the number of layers) is close to the LB (on the number of layers), suggesting that LB is closer to true values (AE is in very good agreement with simulations). However, AE is only available for “confidence” higher than 0.6 and some “accuracies” 
+- For the currently used lottery function, derived the maximum likelihood estimator of relative stake. The latter can be used by an adversary to infer the relative stake of a node  
+- Analysis of fraction of compromised paths is currently in progress and more details will be provided in the following weeks
+
+## `data availability`
+
+### `research`
+
+- Continuing on the process of comparing different DA structures - the comparison can be found [here](https://www.notion.so/Comparison-of-DA-Structures-WIP-47350a408cbd4d8db545527b7a598ccf](https://www.notion.so/Comparison-of-DA-Structures-WIP-47350a408cbd4d8db545527b7a598ccf "https://www.notion.so/Comparison-of-DA-Structures-WIP-47350a408cbd4d8db545527b7a598ccf) . Right now we are comparing Merkle Tree, RS+KZG and Merkle Tree+Snarks - based on the literature at the bottom of the aforementioned document.
+- The parameters we are currently comparing are proof size, prover time, verifier time and commitment size, but in terms of theoretical examples, not actual benchmarks.
+
+### `development`
+
+- The new read/write DA API is still in progress - there are conversations ongoing which can be seen in the [draft PR](https://github.com/logos-co/nomos-node/pull/546)
+
+### `miscellaneous`
+
+- The architecture whitepaper is awaiting feedback and expected to be finalized in the first week of 2024 - the paper can be found [on Discord](https://discord.com/channels/1111286067413405788/1181920579293544528/1182379308782715031)
+