The main scenario of a ZKP – the digital cave
Imagine this fantastic scenario: Peggy has to demonstrate to Victor that she is able to open a locked door in the middle of Ali Baba’s cave, a cave with only one entrance/exit that can be reached from two directions, as you can see in the following figure. I suppose you have noticed that I have changed the names of the two actors, Peggy and Victor, from the usual Alice and Bob, just because here a verification is due, and the names Peggy and Victor match better with the first letters of prover (P) and verifier (V).
Figure 5.1: Ali Baba’s cave
This example involves Ali Baba’s cave revisited in modern times, in which the door in the middle of the cave is locked through a secret electronic combination that’s strong enough to prevent the entry of anyone who doesn’t know the secret combination.
Now, suppose that Peggy must prove to Victor that she knows the combination to unlock the...