Soundness of hints usage within the verifier #2
Description
During the development of the verifier, we've introduced a number of non-deterministic inputs. There are a few different categories that we've added:
- math_goldilocks.cairo - This file implements goldilocks field math, which uses hints. Currently, we don't have a high degree of confidence that all of them are sound.
- Reading proof data from hints - In order to link the proof data structures that are written in Rust (Miden) to Cairo, we are utilizing a Rust glue code (miden-to-cairo-parser) which converts them to Cairo memory layout. Further to that, we are using the Rust link code to perform so operations (such as polynomial interpolation), which helps the FRI verifier run more efficiently. We have to ensure soundness is preserved while doing so.
- Audit current codepath to eliminate "hacks" that are done to test code faster, see for example https://github.com/starkoracles/starknet-miden-verifier/blob/main/src/stark_verifier/stark_verifier.cairo#L98 where finalize blake is skipped to improve runner runtime. We should remove those before deployment.