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Glossary

This glossary defines common terms used across the Zesu documentation.

Bump allocator​

A heap allocator retained in the Zesu source; the free-list allocator is the default. It advances a cursor as memory is requested and never reclaims memory, which keeps the execution trace cheaper to prove but can exhaust the fixed guest heap.

ELF object​

An Executable and Linkable Format object. Zesu is compiled as a relocatable rv64im ELF object named zesu.rv64im.o that zkVM hosts link against to produce a guest binary.

Execution client​

A stateful node that holds the full chain state, executes or re-executes blocks, and produces the execution witness Zesu needs to re-execute a block statelessly. For example, Besu.

Execution proof​

The compact zero-knowledge proof produced by running Zesu inside a zkVM, attesting that a block was executed correctly. Verifiers use it to confirm correct block execution without re-processing transactions.

Execution witness​

A record of the chain state a block's transactions access, captured as Merkle proofs against the block's pre-state root. The execution client produces it and Zesu consumes it to re-execute a block without holding chain state.

Free-list allocator​

The default heap allocator for the Zesu guest. It recycles freed memory within the fixed heap by keeping freed blocks on per-size-class lists, which prevents heap exhaustion on allocation-heavy blocks in exchange for a small proving-cost increase.

Guest program​

A program that runs inside a zkVM. Zesu is a guest program: it executes blocks inside the zkVM, which then produces a proof that the execution was correct.

Precompile​

A built-in EVM contract at a fixed address that performs a cryptographic operation. Zesu can delegate precompile operations to zkVM-native accelerator implementations to reduce proof cost.

Prover​

A network role, distinct from validators and block builders, that runs Zesu inside a zkVM to generate a block-validation proof and distributes the resulting execution proof.

SSZ​

Simple Serialize, the wire format used to encode the stateless input Zesu consumes and the public commitment it produces.

Stateless execution​

Re-executing a block without holding local chain state, relying instead on a pre-assembled execution witness that contains exactly the state the block touches.

Verifier​

A node that checks an execution proof against the public commitment to confirm correct block execution, without access to the chain state or witness.

zkEVM​

An approach to block verification in which a prover generates a cryptographic proof of EVM block execution that any node can verify cheaply, without re-executing transactions. Zesu is built to run inside a zkVM that produces such proofs.

zkVM​

A zero-knowledge virtual machine that executes a guest program and produces a proof that the execution was correct. Zesu runs as a guest program inside a zkVM to generate block-validation proofs.