Nicolai Kraus

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25ranked-venue papers
10as first author
14since 2021 · last 2026
0000-0002-8729-4077ORCID · conflict

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Theory of computation · 20 · 9 first-author · 10 since 2021Security and privacy · 3 · 3 since 2021Software engineering, systems software and programming languages · 3Applied, interdisciplinary, general and emerging computing · 1 · 1 first-author · 1 since 2021
YearPublicationVenuePosition
2026 Halfspace Learning for Lattice Signature Key Recovery from Signs
Marcus Brinkmann, Nicolai Kraus, Alexander May 0001
CRYPTO (3)2
2026 Generalized Decidability via Brouwer Trees
abstract
In the setting of constructive mathematics, we suggest and study a framework for decidability of properties, which allows for finer distinctions than just "decidable, semidecidable, or undecidable". We work in homotopy type theory and use Brouwer tree ordinals to specify the level of decidability of a property. In this framework, we express the property that a proposition is α-decidable, for an ordinal α, and show that it generalizes decidability and semidecidability. Further generalizing known results, we show that α-decidable propositions are closed under binary conjunction, and discuss for which α they are closed under binary disjunction. We prove that if each P(i) is semidecidable, then the countable meet ∀ i ∈ ℕ. P(i) is ω²-decidable, and similar results for countable joins and iterated quantifiers. We also discuss the relationship with countable choice. All our results are formalized in Cubical Agda.
Tom de Jong, Nicolai Kraus, Aref Mohammadzadeh, Fredrik Nordvall Forsberg
LICS2
2026 One (Noisy) Bit to Rule Them All: Key Recovery from Randomness Leakage in ML-DSA
abstract
Abstract The Fiat-Shamir transform is one of the most widely applied methods for secure signature construction. Fiat-Shamir starts with an interactive zero-knowledge identification protocol and transforms this via a hash function into a non-interactive signature. The protocol’s zero-knowledge property ensures that a signature does not leak information on its secret key $${\textbf{s}}$$ s , which is achieved by blinding $$\vec {s}$$ s → via proper randomness $${\textbf{y}}$$ y . Most prominent Fiat-Shamir examples are EC-DSA signatures and the new post-quantum standard ML-DSA (aka Dilithium). In practice, EC-DSA signatures have experienced fatal attacks via leakage of a few bits of the randomness $${\textbf{y}}$$ y per signature. Similar attacks now emerge for lattice-based signatures, such as ML-DSA. We build on, improve and generalize the pioneering leakage attack on ML-DSA by Liu, Zhou, Sun, Wang, Zhang, and Ming. Using a transformation to Integer LWE (ILWE), their attack can recover a 256-dimensional subkey of ML-DSA-44 from leakage in a single bit of $$\textbf{y}$$ y per signature, in any bit position $$j \ge 6$$ j ≥ 6 . However, the number of required signatures grows exponentially as $$4^j$$ 4 j . In this work, we show that not all leaky signatures carry information about the secret subkey. We introduce the notion of informative signature relations. This notion allows us to define a preprocessing step, called filter-and-shift that leads to ILWE instances that require a smaller sample amount. Unlike the standard ILWE transformation, filter-and-shift exploits the smallness of secret keys, and therefore might be of independent cryptanalytic interest. In comparison to Liu et al., for $$j=6$$ j = 6 we require only a quarter of the signatures and reduce the exponential growth to $$2^j$$ 2 j . In addition, we show that the secret subkey can be recovered even with a leak bit corrupted by a large amount of noise, in theory up to the maximum of $$50\%$$ 50 % . Experimentally, we still recover the secret with $$43\%$$ 43 % noise, where we need 170 times as many signatures as in the noise-free setting. The attack applies more generally to all Fiat-Shamir-type lattice-based signatures. For a signature scheme based on module LWE over an $$\ell $$ ℓ -dimensional module, the attack uses a 1-bit leak per signature to efficiently recover a $$\frac{1}{\ell }$$ 1 ℓ -fraction of the secret key. In the ring LWE setting, which can be seen as module LWE with $$\ell = 1$$ ℓ = 1 , the attack recovers the whole key.
Simon Damm, Nicolai Kraus, Alexander May 0001, Julian Nowakowski, Jonas Thietke
J. Cryptol.2
2025 Ordinal Exponentiation in Homotopy Type Theory
abstract
We present two seemingly different definitions of constructive ordinal exponentiation, where an ordinal is taken to be a transitive, extensional, and wellfounded order on a set. The first definition is abstract, uses suprema of ordinals, and is solely motivated by the expected equations. The second is more concrete, based on decreasing lists, and can be seen as a constructive version of a classical construction by Sierpiński based on functions with finite support. We show that our two approaches are equivalent (whenever it makes sense to ask the question), and use this equivalence to prove algebraic laws and decidability properties of the exponential. Our work takes place in the framework of homotopy type theory, and all results are formalized in the proof assistant Agda.
Tom de Jong, Nicolai Kraus, Fredrik Nordvall Forsberg, Chuangjie Xu
LICS2
2025 One Bit to Rule Them All - Imperfect Randomness Harms Lattice Signatures
Simon Damm, Nicolai Kraus, Alexander May 0001, Julian Nowakowski, Jonas Thietke
PKC (1)2
2024 On symmetries of spheres in univalent foundations
abstract
Working in univalent foundations, we investigate the symmetries of spheres, i.e., the types of the form ####Sn = ####Sn. The case of the circle has a slick answer: the symmetries of the circle form two copies of the circle. For higher-dimensional spheres, the type of symmetries has again two connected components, namely the components of the maps of degree plus or minus one. Each of the two components has Z/2Z as fundamental group. For the latter result, we develop an EHP long exact sequence.
Pierre Cagne, Ulrik Buchholtz, Nicolai Kraus, Marc Bezem
LICS3
2024 Two-level type theory and applications - ERRATUM
abstract
Abstract We define and develop two-level type theory (2LTT), a version of Martin-Löf type theory which combines two different type theories. We refer to them as the ‘inner’ and the ‘outer’ type theory. In our case of interest, the inner theory is homotopy type theory (HoTT) which may include univalent universes and higher inductive types. The outer theory is a traditional form of type theory validating uniqueness of identity proofs (UIP). One point of view on it is as internalised meta-theory of the inner type theory. There are two motivations for 2LTT. Firstly, there are certain results about HoTT which are of meta-theoretic nature, such as the statement that semisimplicial types up to level n can be constructed in HoTT for any externally fixed natural number n . Such results cannot be expressed in HoTT itself, but they can be formalised and proved in 2LTT, where n will be a variable in the outer theory. This point of view is inspired by observations about conservativity of presheaf models. Secondly, 2LTT is a framework which is suitable for formulating additional axioms that one might want to add to HoTT. This idea is heavily inspired by Voevodsky’s Homotopy Type System (HTS), which constitutes one specific instance of a 2LTT. HTS has an axiom ensuring that the type of natural numbers behaves like the external natural numbers, which allows the construction of a universe of semisimplicial types. In 2LTT, this axiom can be assumed by postulating that the inner and outer natural numbers types are isomorphic. After defining 2LTT, we set up a collection of tools with the goal of making 2LTT a convenient language for future developments. As a first such application, we develop the theory of Reedy fibrant diagrams in the style of Shulman. Continuing this line of thought, we suggest a definition of $(\infty,1)$ - category and give some examples.
Danil Annenkov, Paolo Capriotti, Nicolai Kraus, Christian Sattler
Math. Struct. Comput. Sci.3
2024 TIBA: A web application for the visual analysis of temporal occurrences, interactions, and transitions of animal behavior
abstract
Data in behavioral research is often quantified with event-logging software, generating large data sets containing detailed information about subjects, recipients, and the duration of behaviors. Exploring and analyzing such large data sets can be challenging without tools to visualize behavioral interactions between individuals or transitions between behavioral states, yet software that can adequately visualize complex behavioral data sets is rare. TIBA (The Interactive Behavior Analyzer) is a web application for behavioral data visualization, which provides a series of interactive visualizations, including the temporal occurrences of behavioral events, the number and direction of interactions between individuals, the behavioral transitions and their respective transitional frequencies, as well as the visual and algorithmic comparison of the latter across data sets. It can therefore be applied to visualize behavior across individuals, species, or contexts. Several filtering options (selection of behaviors and individuals) together with options to set node and edge properties (in the network drawings) allow for interactive customization of the output drawings, which can also be downloaded afterwards. TIBA accepts data outputs from popular logging software and is implemented in Python and JavaScript, with all current browsers supported. The web application and usage instructions are available at tiba.inf.uni-konstanz.de. The source code is publicly available on GitHub: github.com/LSI-UniKonstanz/tiba.
Nicolai Kraus, Michael Aichem, Karsten Klein 0001, Etienne Lein, Alex Jordan, Falk Schreiber
PLoS Comput. Biol.1
2023 Set-Theoretic and Type-Theoretic Ordinals Coincide
abstract
In constructive set theory, an ordinal is a hereditarily transitive set. In homotopy type theory (HoTT), an ordinal is a type with a transitive, wellfounded, and extensional binary relation. We show that the two definitions are equivalent if we use (the HoTT refinement of) Aczel’s interpretation of constructive set theory into type theory. Following this, we generalize the notion of a type-theoretic ordinal to capture all sets in Aczel’s interpretation rather than only the ordinals. This leads to a natural class of ordered structures which contains the type-theoretic ordinals and realizes the higher inductive interpretation of set theory. All our results are formalized in Agda.
Tom de Jong, Nicolai Kraus, Fredrik Nordvall Forsberg, Chuangjie Xu
LICS2
2023 Two-level type theory and applications
abstract
Abstract We define and develop two-level type theory (2LTT), a version of Martin-Löf type theory which combines two different type theories. We refer to them as the ‘inner’ and the ‘outer’ type theory. In our case of interest, the inner theory is homotopy type theory (HoTT) which may include univalent universes and higher inductive types. The outer theory is a traditional form of type theory validating uniqueness of identity proofs (UIP). One point of view on it is as internalised meta-theory of the inner type theory. There are two motivations for 2LTT. Firstly, there are certain results about HoTT which are of meta-theoretic nature, such as the statement that semisimplicial types up to level n can be constructed in HoTT for any externally fixed natural number n . Such results cannot be expressed in HoTT itself, but they can be formalised and proved in 2LTT, where n will be a variable in the outer theory. This point of view is inspired by observations about conservativity of presheaf models. Secondly, 2LTT is a framework which is suitable for formulating additional axioms that one might want to add to HoTT. This idea is heavily inspired by Voevodsky’s Homotopy Type System (HTS), which constitutes one specific instance of a 2LTT. HTS has an axiom ensuring that the type of natural numbers behaves like the external natural numbers, which allows the construction of a universe of semisimplicial types. In 2LTT, this axiom can be assumed by postulating that the inner and outer natural numbers types are isomorphic. After defining 2LTT, we set up a collection of tools with the goal of making 2LTT a convenient language for future developments. As a first such application, we develop the theory of Reedy fibrant diagrams in the style of Shulman. Continuing this line of thought, we suggest a definition of $(\infty,1)$ - category and give some examples.
Danil Annenkov, Paolo Capriotti, Nicolai Kraus, Christian Sattler
Math. Struct. Comput. Sci.3
2023 Type-theoretic approaches to ordinals
Nicolai Kraus, Fredrik Nordvall Forsberg, Chuangjie Xu
Theor. Comput. Sci.1
2022 A rewriting coherence theorem with applications in homotopy type theory
abstract
Abstract Higher-dimensional rewriting systems are tools to analyse the structure of formally reducing terms to normal forms, as well as comparing the different reduction paths that lead to those normal forms. This higher structure can be captured by finding a homotopy basis for the rewriting system. We show that the basic notions of confluence and wellfoundedness are sufficient to recursively build such a homotopy basis, with a construction reminiscent of an argument by Craig C. Squier. We then go on to translate this construction to the setting of homotopy type theory, where managing equalities between paths is important in order to construct functions which are coherent with respect to higher dimensions. Eventually, we apply the result to approximate a series of open questions in homotopy type theory, such as the characterisation of the homotopy groups of the free group on a set and the pushout of 1-types. This paper expands on our previous conference contribution Coherence via Wellfoundedness by laying out the construction in the language of higher-dimensional rewriting.
Nicolai Kraus, Jakob von Raumer
Math. Struct. Comput. Sci.1
2021 Internal ∞-Categorical Models of Dependent Type Theory : Towards 2LTT Eating HoTT
abstract
Using dependent type theory to formalise the syntax of dependent type theory is a very active topic of study and goes under the name of "type theory eating itself" or "type theory in type theory." Most approaches are at least loosely based on Dybjer's categories with families (CwF's) and come with a type Con of contexts, a type family Ty indexed over it modelling types, and so on. This works well in versions of type theory where the principle of unique identity proofs (UIP) holds. In homotopy type theory (HoTT) however, it is a long-standing and frequently discussed open problem whether the type theory "eats itself" and can serve as its own interpreter. The fundamental underlying difficulty seems to be that categories are not suitable to capture a type theory in the absence of UIP. In this paper, we develop a notion of ∞-categories with families (∞-CwF's). The approach to higher categories used relies on the previously suggested semi-Segal types, with a new construction of identity substitutions that allow for both univalent and non-univalent variations. The type-theoretic universe as well as the internalised (set-level) syntax are models, although it remains a conjecture that the latter is initial. To circumvent the known unsolved problem of constructing semisimplicial types, the definition is presented in two-level type theory (2LTT). Apart from introducing ∞-CwF's, the paper explains the shortcomings of 1-categories in type theory without UIP as well as the difficulties of and approaches to internal higher-dimensional categories.
Nicolai Kraus
LICS1
2021 Connecting Constructive Notions of Ordinals in Homotopy Type Theory
abstract
In classical set theory, there are many equivalent ways to introduce ordinals. In a constructive setting, however, the different notions split apart, with different advantages and disadvantages for each. We consider three different notions of ordinals in homotopy type theory, and show how they relate to each other: A notation system based on Cantor normal forms, a refined notion of Brouwer trees (inductively generated by zero, successor and countable limits), and wellfounded extensional orders. For Cantor normal forms, most properties are decidable, whereas for wellfounded extensional transitive orders, most are undecidable. Formulations for Brouwer trees are usually partially decidable. We demonstrate that all three notions have properties expected of ordinals: their order relations, although defined differently in each case, are all extensional and wellfounded, and the usual arithmetic operations can be defined in each case. We connect these notions by constructing structure preserving embeddings of Cantor normal forms into Brouwer trees, and of these in turn into wellfounded extensional orders. We have formalised most of our results in cubical Agda.
Nicolai Kraus, Fredrik Nordvall Forsberg, Chuangjie Xu
MFCS1
2020 Coherence via Well-Foundedness: Taming Set-Quotients in Homotopy Type Theory
abstract
Suppose we are given a graph and want to show a property for all its cycles (closed chains). Induction on the length of cycles does not work since sub-chains of a cycle are not necessarily closed. This paper derives a principle reminiscent of induction for cycles for the case that the graph is given as the symmetric closure of a locally confluent and (co-)well-founded relation. We show that, assuming the property in question is sufficiently nice, it is enough to prove it for the empty cycle and for cycles given by local confluence.
Nicolai Kraus, Jakob von Raumer
LICS1
2019 Path Spaces of Higher Inductive Types in Homotopy Type Theory
abstract
The study of equality types is central to homotopy type theory. Characterizing these types is often tricky, and various strategies, such as the encode-decode method, have been developed. We prove a theorem about equality types of coequalizers and pushouts, reminiscent of an induction principle and without any restrictions on the truncation levels. This result makes it possible to reason directly about certain equality types and to streamline existing proofs by eliminating the necessity of auxiliary constructions. To demonstrate this, we give a very short argument for the calculation of the fundamental group of the circle (Licata and Shulman [1]), and for the fact that pushouts preserve embeddings. Further, our development suggests a higher version of the Seifert-van Kampen theorem, and the set-truncation operator maps it to the standard Seifert-van Kampen theorem (due to Favonia and Shulman [2]). We provide a formalization of the main technical results in the proof assistant Lean.
Nicolai Kraus, Jakob von Raumer
LICS1
2019 Shallow Embedding of Type Theory is Morally Correct
Ambrus Kaposi, András Kovács, Nicolai Kraus
MPC3
2018 Quotient Inductive-Inductive Types
abstract
Higher inductive types (HITs) in Homotopy Type Theory allow the definition of datatypes which have constructors for equalities over the defined type. HITs generalise quotient types, and allow to define types with non-trivial higher equality types, such as spheres, suspensions and the torus. However, there are also interesting uses of HITs to define types satisfying uniqueness of equality proofs, such as the Cauchy reals, the partiality monad, and the well-typed syntax of type theory. In each of these examples we define several types that depend on each other mutually, i.e. they are inductive-inductive definitions. We call those HITs quotient inductive-inductive types (QIITs). Although there has been recent progress on a general theory of HITs, there is not yet a theoretical foundation for the combination of equality constructors and induction-induction, despite many interesting applications. In the present paper we present a first step towards a semantic definition of QIITs. In particular, we give an initial-algebra semantics. We further derive a section induction principle , stating that every algebra morphism into the algebra in question has a section, which is close to the intuitively expected elimination rules.
Thorsten Altenkirch, Paolo Capriotti, Gabe Dijkstra, Nicolai Kraus, Fredrik Nordvall Forsberg
FoSSaCS4
2018 Free Higher Groups in Homotopy Type Theory
abstract
Given a type A in homotopy type theory (HoTT), we can define the free ∞-group on A as the loop space of the suspension of A + 1. Equivalently, this free higher group can be defined as a higher inductive type F(A) with constructors unit: F(A), cons: A~F(A)~F(A), and conditions saying that every cons(a) is an auto-equivalence on F(A). Assuming that A is a set (i.e. satisfies the principle of unique identity proofs), we are interested in the question whether F(A) is a set as well, which is very much related to an open problem in the HoTT book [22, Ex. 8.2]. We show an approximation to the question, namely that the fundamental groups of F(A) are trivial, i.e. that ||F(A)||1 is a set.
Nicolai Kraus, Thorsten Altenkirch
LICS1
2018 Univalent higher categories via complete Semi-Segal types
abstract
Category theory in homotopy type theory is intricate as categorical laws can only be stated "up to homotopy", and thus require coherences. The established notion of a univalent category (as introduced by Ahrens et al.) solves this by considering only truncated types, roughly corresponding to an ordinary category. This fails to capture many naturally occurring structures, stemming from the fact that the naturally occurring structures in homotopy type theory are not ordinary, but rather higher categories. Out of the large variety of approaches to higher category theory that mathematicians have proposed, we believe that, for type theory, the simplicial strategy is best suited. Work by Lurie and Harpaz motivates the following definition. Given the first ( n +3) levels of a semisimplicial type S , we can equip S with three properties: first, contractibility of the types of certain horn fillers; second, a completeness property; and third, a truncation condition. We call this a complete semi-Segal n -type . This is very similar to an earlier suggestion by Schreiber. The definition of a univalent (1-) category by Ahrens et al. can easily be extended or restricted to the definition of a univalent n -category (more precisely, ( n ,1)-category) for n ∈ {0,1,2}, and we show that the type of complete semi-Segal n -types is equivalent to the type of univalent n -categories in these cases. Thus, we believe that the notion of a complete semi-Segal n -type can be taken as the definition of a univalent n -category. We provide a formalisation in the proof assistant Agda using a completely explicit representation of semi-simplicial types for levels up to 4.
Paolo Capriotti, Nicolai Kraus
Proc. ACM Program. Lang.2
2017 Partiality, Revisited - The Partiality Monad as a Quotient Inductive-Inductive Type
Thorsten Altenkirch, Nils Anders Danielsson, Nicolai Kraus
FoSSaCS3
2016 Extending Homotopy Type Theory with Strict Equality
abstract
In homotopy type theory (HoTT), all constructions are necessarily stable under homotopy equivalence. This has shortcomings: for example, it is believed that it is impossible to define a type of semi-simplicial types. More generally, it is difficult and often impossible to handle towers of coherences. To address this, we propose a 2-level theory which features both strict and weak equality. This can essentially be represented as two type theories: an "outer" one, containing a strict equality type former, and an "inner" one, which is some version of HoTT. Our type theory is inspired by Voevodsky's suggestion of a homotopy type system (HTS) which currently refers to a range of ideas. A core insight of our proposal is that we do not need any form of equality reflection in order to achieve what HTS was suggested for. Instead, having unique identity proofs in the outer type theory is sufficient, and it also has the meta-theoretical advantage of not breaking decidability of type checking. The inner theory can be an easily justifiable extensions of HoTT, allowing the construction of "infinite structures" which are considered impossible in plain HoTT. Alternatively, we can set the inner theory to be exactly the current standard formulation of HoTT, in which case our system can be thought of as a type-theoretic framework for working with "schematic" definitions in HoTT. As demonstrations, we define semi-simplicial types and formalise constructions of Reedy fibrant diagrams.
Thorsten Altenkirch, Paolo Capriotti, Nicolai Kraus
CSL3
2016 Constructions with Non-Recursive Higher Inductive Types
abstract
Higher inductive types (HITs) in homotopy type theory are a powerful generalization of inductive types. Not only can they have ordinary constructors to define elements, but also higher constructors to define equalities (paths). We say that a HIT H is non-recursive if its constructors do not quantify over elements or paths in H. The advantage of non-recursive HITs is that their elimination principles are easier to apply than those of general HITs.
Nicolai Kraus
LICS1
2015 Functions out of Higher Truncations
abstract
In homotopy type theory, the truncation operator ||-||n (for a number n > -2) is often useful if one does not care about the higher structure of a type and wants to avoid coherence problems. However, its elimination principle only allows to eliminate into n-types, which makes it hard to construct functions ||A||n -> B if B is not an n-type. This makes it desirable to derive more powerful elimination theorems. We show a first general result: If B is an (n+1)-type, then functions ||A||n -> B correspond exactly to functions A -> B which are constant on all (n+1)-st loop spaces. We give one "elementary" proof and one proof that uses a higher inductive type, both of which require some effort. As a sample application of our result, we show that we can construct "set-based" representations of 1-types, as long as they have "braided" loop spaces. The main result with one of its proofs and the application have been formalised in Agda.
Paolo Capriotti, Nicolai Kraus, Andrea Vezzosi
CSL2
2015 Higher Homotopies in a Hierarchy of Univalent Universes
abstract
For Martin-Löf type theory with a hierarchy U 0 :U 1 :U 2 :… of univalent universes, we show that U n is not an n -type. Our construction also solves the problem of finding a type that strictly has some high truncation level without using higher inductive types. In particular, U n is such a type if we restrict it to n -types. We have fully formalized and verified our results within the dependently typed language and proof assistant Agda.
Nicolai Kraus, Christian Sattler
ACM Trans. Comput. Log.1