Glossary
Polynomial Commitment
A cryptographic scheme to commit to a polynomial such that the committer can later "open" it at any chosen point with a small proof.
A polynomial commitment binds a prover to a specific polynomial without revealing the polynomial. Later, the prover can be challenged to evaluate it at a point chosen by the verifier and produce a proof that the evaluation is consistent with the original commitment.
Polynomial commitments — KZG, IPA, FRI — are the workhorse primitive of modern SNARKs and STARKs. The choice of scheme determines whether the proof system needs a trusted setup, whether it is post-quantum, and how its costs scale with circuit size.