init: Magnetar research-stage threshold SLH-DSA — DESIGN + README + LICENSE

DESIGN.md

@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+# Magnetar — Public-DKG MPC Threshold SLH-DSA (research profile)
+
+> **Tier 3 of the Hanzo PQ Threshold Suite.** Research-track
+> construction for threshold FIPS 205 SLH-DSA via MPC. **NOT
+> production-ready. NOT part of the v0.1 NIST MPTC submission.**
+
+## What this document is
+
+A placeholder + design-direction sketch for a future research-grade
+public-DKG threshold construction over FIPS 205 SLH-DSA. The Hanzo
+PQ Threshold Suite includes Magnetar to signal architectural intent
+without overclaiming maturity.
+
+## What this document is NOT
+
+- Not a specification. The protocol is unfixed.
+- Not a security claim. The protocol has not been analyzed.
+- Not an implementation. No `ref/go/`-equivalent exists for Magnetar.
+- Not a NIST submission. Submitting threshold SLH-DSA as if it
+  were standardized would be inaccurate.
+
+## Why Magnetar exists conceptually
+
+SLH-DSA is hash-based and stateless (FIPS 205). Its security rests
+on different assumptions from ML-DSA: collision/preimage resistance
+of the underlying hash (SHA-2 or SHAKE), with no lattice
+assumption.
+
+A threshold profile of SLH-DSA gives a defense-in-depth signature:
+even if ML-DSA's lattice assumption is broken in the future,
+Magnetar's hash-based threshold provides a fallback.
+
+## Why this is hard
+
+Unlike threshold schemes for discrete-log-style or lattice-based
+signatures, SLH-DSA does NOT decompose into a linear-aggregation
+identity. The signing process is a tree of hash computations
+(Merkle tree of hash-based one-time signatures), where the
+"secret" is a SHAKE seed and "signing" involves traversing the
+tree based on the message hash.
+
+Threshold SLH-DSA constructions in the literature typically require:
+- MPC over hash computations (slow; SHAKE computed inside MPC).
+- Distributed seed generation with VSS.
+- Per-signature MPC ceremony.
+
+None of these match the elegance of FROST-style aggregation that
+Pulsar uses for ML-DSA. Magnetar is a research-grade direction,
+not an obvious specification target.
+
+## Suggested research direction
+
+1. **Distributed seed generation**: Lux-style Pedersen-VSS over
+   the SHAKE seed space (32 or 64 bytes for FIPS 205 SHAKE
+   profiles).
+
+2. **Per-signature MPC**: a multi-party Generic-Group-Model
+   ceremony to compute the SLH-DSA signature components without
+   any single party reconstructing the seed.
+
+3. **Hash precomputation amortization**: precompute layers of the
+   FORS / W-OTS+ Merkle tree in batched MPC sessions to amortize
+   the per-signature ceremony cost.
+
+4. **Identifiable abort**: same TLV-encoded evidence format as
+   Pulsar §10, with per-MPC-round per-party state.
+
+5. **Public-key preservation across resharing**: standard
+   zero-secret-refresh applied to the SHAKE seed shares.
+
+## Parameter-set candidates
+
+If the research direction matures into a specification, the
+following parameter sets are candidates (matching FIPS 205 §4):
+
+| Identifier | NIST Category | sig bytes | Notes |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| `MAGNETAR-THRESHOLD-SLH-DSA-SHAKE-128s` | 1 | 7856 | small/slow |
+| `MAGNETAR-THRESHOLD-SLH-DSA-SHAKE-192s` | 3 | 16224 | RECOMMENDED if Magnetar matures |
+| `MAGNETAR-THRESHOLD-SLH-DSA-SHAKE-256s` | 5 | 29792 | high security |
+
+Note that SLH-DSA signatures are LARGE compared to ML-DSA
+(7-30 KB vs 2-5 KB). The per-signature MPC cost will dominate
+deployment economics.
+
+## Why we do not ship Magnetar in v0.1
+
+1. **No mature construction**: published threshold-SLH-DSA work is
+   limited and not well-reviewed.
+2. **MPC complexity**: per-signature MPC dwarfs the per-signature
+   cost of Pulsar.
+3. **Signature size**: 7-30 KB per signature is operationally
+   expensive on-chain.
+4. **Standardization status**: NIST has not signalled threshold
+   SLH-DSA as a near-term MPTC target.
+
+Magnetar will be re-evaluated for v0.2-v0.4 submission consideration
+based on community / NIST direction.
+
+## Honest framing for users
+
+> Magnetar is the **research-track** member of the Hanzo PQ
+> Threshold Suite. It is intended for paranoid scenarios where
+> ML-DSA's lattice security assumption is broken in the future and
+> a hash-based fallback is needed. It is NOT recommended for
+> production use today. Use **Pulsar (Tier 1)** for production
+> threshold post-quantum signing.
+
+## Contact
+
+For research collaboration on Magnetar:
+- Email: `magnetar@lux.network`
+- Public discussion:
+  <https://github.com/luxfi/pulsar/discussions> (label: `magnetar`)
+
+---
+
+**Document metadata**
+
+- Name: `docs/magnetar.md`
+- Version: v0.1 (placeholder)
+- Date: 2026-05-18
+- Status: **Research direction, not specification.** No production
+  use. No NIST submission claim.

LICENSE

@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+                                 Apache License
+                           Version 2.0, January 2004
+                        http://www.apache.org/licenses/
+
+   Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+   you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+   You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+   limitations under the License.
+
+   Copyright 2025-2026 Lux Industries Inc.
+
+   Pulsar is derived from the protocol structure of luxfi/pulsar and
+   the academic Corona specification (ePrint 2024/1113).

LICENSING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# Licensing
+
+This repository is licensed under the **Apache-2.0** (see [LICENSE](LICENSE)). It belongs to the **public** tier of the Lux three-tier IP strategy: anyone may use, fork, or redistribute it, including for commercial purposes, subject to the Apache-2.0 terms.
+
+For the canonical Lux IP and licensing strategy, see:
+<https://github.com/luxfi/.github/blob/main/profile/README.md>
+
+For commercial inquiries that go beyond the public tier (e.g. private moat acceleration kernels, Eco-tier patent-protected primitives outside Authorized Networks), contact `licensing@lux.network`.

README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+# Magnetar — Threshold SLH-DSA (FIPS 205)
+
+> **Research-stage construction.** Threshold hash-based PQ signature
+> primitive over FIPS 205 SLH-DSA. Not production-ready. Not part of
+> any current NIST submission. See `DESIGN.md` for the research
+> direction and `BLOCKERS.md` for the path to production.
+
+## Status
+
+| Field | Value |
+|---|---|
+| Standard | FIPS 205 SLH-DSA (single-party) |
+| Threshold construction | Open research — no fixed protocol |
+| Implementation | None |
+| Submission package | Roadmap: NIST MPTC v0.3 target |
+| Cert-profile role | Polaris profile in `luxfi/quasar` (cross-family PQ diversity) |
+
+## Where this is used
+
+The `Magnetar` leg of the **Polaris** cert profile in
+[`luxfi/quasar`](https://github.com/luxfi/quasar) — the
+maximum-assurance cross-family profile that pairs lattice PQ
+(Pulsar M-LWE + Corona R-LWE) with hash-based PQ (Magnetar
+SLH-DSA). Polaris is the production migration target for when
+Magnetar matures.
+
+Until Magnetar exists in production form, the Polaris profile is
+reserved but not deployable; production chains run the **Pulsar**
+or **Aurora** profile.
+
+## Why hash-based threshold matters
+
+SLH-DSA's security rests on collision/preimage resistance of the
+underlying hash (SHA-2 or SHAKE), with no lattice assumption.
+A threshold profile of SLH-DSA gives cross-family defense in depth:
+even if a future cryptanalytic break hits the entire lattice family
+(both M-LWE and R-LWE), Magnetar's hash-based threshold leg keeps
+the cert sound.
+
+## Why it's hard
+
+See `DESIGN.md` for the construction-level challenges. Summary:
+SLH-DSA does not decompose into a linear-aggregation identity the
+way ML-DSA does, so the FROST-style aggregation pattern that powers
+Pulsar/Corona doesn't transfer. Threshold SLH-DSA in the literature
+requires MPC over hash computations + per-signature MPC ceremony,
+which dominates deployment economics.
+
+## Cross-references
+
+- [`luxfi/quasar`](https://github.com/luxfi/quasar) — umbrella spec; Magnetar is `PRIMITIVES.md` row
+- [`luxfi/pulsar`](https://github.com/luxfi/pulsar) — sibling threshold M-LWE primitive (production)
+- [`luxfi/corona`](https://github.com/luxfi/corona) — sibling threshold R-LWE primitive (production)
+
+## License
+
+BSD-3-Clause. See `LICENSE`.
+
+## Maintainer
+
+`magnetar@lux.network` — Lux Industries, Inc.