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We put forth a new concept of mutability for batch arguments (BARGs), called mutable batch arguments. Our goal is to re-envision how we view and use BARGs. Traditionally, a BARG proof π is an immutable encoding of k NP witness ω_1, …, ω_k. A mutable BARG system captures the notion of computations over BARGs, where each proof string π is treated as a mutable encoding of original witnesses. We also study strong privacy notions for mutable BARGs, with the goal of hiding all non-trivial information about witnesses from a mutated proof. Such mutable BARGs are a naturally good fit for many privacy sensitive applications. Our main contributions include introducing the concept of mutable BARGs, identifying non-trivial classes of feasible mutations, designing mutable BARGs with varying capabilities satisfying mutation privacy from standard cryptographic assumptions, and enabling new applications while improving state-of-the-art known for many signature systems.
@InProceedings{goyal:LIPIcs.ICALP.2026.101,
author = {Goyal, Rishab},
title = {{Mutable Batch Arguments and Applications}},
booktitle = {53rd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2026)},
pages = {101:1--101:24},
series = {Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
ISBN = {978-3-95977-428-4},
ISSN = {1868-8969},
year = {2026},
volume = {374},
editor = {Bhattacharya, Sayan and Nanongkai, Danupon and Benedikt, Michael and Puppis, Gabriele},
publisher = {Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
address = {Dagstuhl, Germany},
URL = {https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2026.101},
URN = {urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-264906},
doi = {10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2026.101},
annote = {Keywords: BARGs, Mutable proofs}
}