aere-research/README.md
Aere Network 6cb0140fae Republished from a clean root: the compiled artifact is gone from history, and the local line of work joins the sanitized public line
The public history carried kat/__pycache__/mlkem768_reference.cpython-314.pyc,
a compiled Python artifact embedding the operator's absolute local path. Text
secret scanners do not read compiled binaries, which is exactly how it slipped
through, and removing it from the tip would have left it reachable through the
old root commits. So this repository is republished from a single clean root.

This root also carries, from the previously unpublished line of work:
- corrected LICENSE year, LICENSING.md, VERIFY-POLICY.md, and
  CITATIONS-UNRESOLVED.md remeasured 2026-08-11 (101 paths, README aligned)
- O-018: run_consensus_verification.py ran 19 of 29 models and reported PASS;
  it now runs all 29, and computemarket_smt.py gains resolveByTimeout /
  reclaimUnsettled cases plus a negative control
- O-006: the word 'audited' removed from next to Bouncy Castle, twice, after a
  concurrent edit resurrected it
- O-014: prior art named and dated - Algorand's native falcon_verify shipped
  about ten months before AERE's precompiles; the primacy claim is withdrawn
  where it was implied
- bench/ scripts parametrized so they actually run for an outsider (the
  earlier textual sanitization left $STAGING unexpanded inside Python strings)
- AIP-2/AIP-3 errata with measured figures, spec remeasurements at 2026-08-01,
  and the spec-zk-stack retractions (owner is an operational key, not the
  Foundation; 'maximally sound' withdrawn; aggregator V1 deprecated)
The redacted bench-host environment files from the sanitized line are kept
exactly as published; the unredacted local variants are not carried.
2026-08-15 13:52:14 +03:00

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# aere-research
Formal verification models, post-quantum cryptography reference implementations, known-answer
tests (KATs), and research specifications for Aere Network.
This repository is the "prove it yourself" half of the Aere Network verify-yourself core. It lets
a third party re-run the machine-checked proofs, re-derive the cryptographic reference vectors, and
read the research that underpins the protocol, without trusting any claim on faith.
## Scope, stated up front
Aere Network runs post-quantum signature verification natively on mainnet: Falcon-512 (`0x0AE1`),
Falcon-1024 (`0x0AE2`), ML-DSA-44 (`0x0AE3`), SLH-DSA-128s (`0x0AE4`) and SHAKE256 (`0x0AE5`)
have been live as precompiles since block 9,189,161. You can call them yourself against
`https://rpc.aere.network` without asking us for anything.
**Consensus on chain 2800 is classical secp256k1 ECDSA QBFT.** The post-quantum work lives at the
signature, precompile, account and transport layers. Nothing in this repository makes the consensus
post-quantum, and nothing in it should be read as claiming so. Where you see post-quantum consensus
discussed, it is research about what a future activation could look like, not a description of the
running chain.
Two further limits worth knowing before you judge anything else here:
- `0x0AE6` (ML-KEM-768) and `0x0AE7` (Falcon HashToPoint) are **testnet only**. They are not
active on mainnet.
- The on-chain zero-knowledge verifiers are classical BN254. They are broken by Shor's algorithm
like any other elliptic-curve construction, and we do not describe them as quantum-safe.
The network is operated by seven Foundation-run validators, so its Nakamoto coefficient is
effectively one today. That is a real limitation, it is on the roadmap, and it is not fixed by any
code in this repository.
Two more limits, both of which cut against claims made in this repository:
- **Some citations point at files we did not publish, and you cannot open those.** MEASURED
2026-08-11: 101 distinct cited paths in this repository do not resolve to any published file. All
101 are listed, with the documents that cite them, in `CITATIONS-UNRESOLVED.md`, and that list is
enforced by a check rather than maintained by hand. A claim supported only by such a path is our
assertion, not something you can independently check. Citations that DO resolve are written
relative to a side-by-side checkout of the Aere repositories, so they begin with a repository
name. See the fuller note in the `aere-docs` README.
- **AERE is not deflationary today.** The burn mechanism is live and immutable, and it has burned
approximately 0.137 AERE in total against a 2.8 billion fixed supply, because the burn is a
percentage of validator coinbase revenue and that revenue is currently zero. The percentages in
`research/specs/spec-flywheel-economics.md` are conditional rates on future revenue, not
descriptions of present token destruction. Check it yourself with one `eth_getBalance` call
against `0x696afDF4f814e6Fd6aa45CE14C498ed9375fB2c6`.
## Layout
- `formal-consensus/` Z3 / SMT models of consensus and contract safety properties (30 Python
models plus a Quint spec `FalconQuorum.qnt`), driven by `run_consensus_verification.py`. These
cover QBFT safety and liveness, the money-contract invariants, and a PROPOSED hybrid
dual-quorum activation that is modelled research and is NOT running on chain 2800, and the
invariants. `CONSENSUS-VERIFICATION-2026-07-12.md` documents the results.
- `pq-stark/` reference implementations and self-tests for the STARK verifier port: BabyBear field,
Poseidon2, MMCS, FRI, the Fiat-Shamir challenger, and AIR quotient logic. Each component ships a
Python reference, a JavaScript (`.mjs`) reference, a Java self-test, ground-truth JSON vectors, and
a spec. The `*-extractor/` directories are small Rust reference extractors (source only). This is
reference and test material, not key material.
- `precompiles/` Java sources for the post-quantum EVM precompiles (ML-KEM-768, Falcon
HashToPoint, SP1 STARK verifier).
- `kat/` and `vectors/` NIST ACVP and Falcon known-answer test vectors and their generators.
- `pq-finality-circuit/` XMSS verify-core reference (Rust source) for the post-quantum finality
circuit.
- `bench/` and `results/` benchmark harness and recorded KAT / benchmark result JSON.
- `aips/` the Aere Improvement Proposal process and the accepted AIPs.
- `research/` research notes and long-form specifications (`research/specs/`).
## Verify
The formal models run with Python 3 and z3:
```bash
cd formal-consensus
python run_consensus_verification.py
```
The STARK references are cross-checked against their ground-truth vectors; see each
`spec-*.md` and the `test_*.py` files. Full commands and expected outputs are in the `aere-docs`
repository (`REPRODUCE.md`).
## What is deliberately not here
No private keys, no validator or Foundation key material, no infrastructure hostnames or
credentials. Heavy prover runs must be executed on a throwaway non-infrastructure machine, never on
production infrastructure.
## License
MIT. See `LICENSE`.