Lux Magnetar — Threshold SLH-DSA (Research)

Overview

Magnetar is the Lux research-stage threshold SLH-DSA primitive — hash-based post-quantum signatures over FIPS 205 SLH-DSA, intended as the cross-family diversity leg of the Polaris cert profile.

• Repo: github.com/luxfi/magnetar
• Status: Research-stage. No production implementation. Not part of any current NIST submission.
• Standard: FIPS 205 SLH-DSA (single-party)
• Cert-profile role: Polaris in luxfi/quasar

Naming notes

Supersedes the earlier working name "Comet". "Magnetar" is both the primitive name and the protocol family name. The Polaris cert profile (maximum-assurance cross-family) is the production migration target for when Magnetar matures.

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 Polaris cert sound.

Why it's hard

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 does not transfer. Threshold SLH-DSA in the literature requires MPC over hash computations + per-signature MPC ceremony, which dominates deployment economics.

See luxfi/magnetar/DESIGN.md for the research-direction details.

Cross-references

• luxfi/magnetar/README.md — status + scope
• luxfi/magnetar/DESIGN.md — research direction
• luxfi/quasar/PROFILES.md — Polaris profile composition
• luxfi/pulsar — sibling M-LWE primitive (production)
• luxfi/corona — sibling R-LWE primitive (production)