Questions tagged [p-vs-np]

Questions about or related to P vs. NP

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would statistical randomness disprove P=NP

I saw a proof that claimed if the 3sat problem was statistically random which by definition means there are no patterns, then a deterministic turing machine could not possibly solve it more ...
ChadTheVlad's user avatar
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I found a fascinating solution to P=NP on academia.edu, where he creates an inherently undeterministic problem using statistical randomness

for background I just started researching computational complexity, so I have major gaps in understanding. I am not 100% sure if this guy is correct, but I can't seem to see why he would be wrong. ...
ChadTheVlad's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
148 views

Bottom up TSP solution?

I'm not sure if this is something new or if I'm just not getting previous efforts. TSP can be thought of as a list of weighted links and nodes. If one takes the Nearest Neighbor (NN) of every node and ...
Maub Nesor's user avatar
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1 answer
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Complexity of solving a higher-order degree polynomial equation? P-problem or NP-problem or neither?

I am a mathematician and I am very new to theoretical computer science. The definition of P/NP problem I found in wiki is that: P is the set of decision problems solvable in polynomial time by a ...
tadokoro sinitiro's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
1k views

Formulating P vs NP without Turing machines

Computability in terms of Turing machines is equivalent to computability described by computable functions (based on primitive recursive functions, introducing the $\mu$-operator and so on). Is there ...
Dominic van der Zypen's user avatar
1 vote
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Consequences of a $Parity$ $P$-problem being reducible to a sparse language?

$Parity$ $P$ is the class where an $NP$-machine answers $YES$ if and only if the number of accepting paths of that turing machine is odd. With regards to the $P$ vs $NP$ question, there is a theorem ...
user avatar
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Is it known that P $\neq$ NP implies BQP $\neq$ NP?

Pretty much the title. Is there any result that shows that $P \neq NP \Rightarrow BQP \neq NP$. I think it's pretty clear that $BQP \neq NP \Rightarrow P \neq NP$, as $P$ is a subclass of $BQP$. But ...
Loic Stoic's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
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Did Jinliang Wang solve the P versus NP problem?

Recently, I saw a paper on the Internet [1]. Did the author of this paper, Jinliang Wang, solve the P versus NP problem? Reference [1] Wang, J. L. (2018) Fast Algorithm for the Travelling Salesman ...
Wei-Cheng Liu's user avatar
-3 votes
1 answer
96 views

Why if non determinism adds no power at all to DFAs or to Turing machines, why is it that most people beleieve P != NP [closed]

During Theory of Computation or Automata Theory or the equivalent class at my University, I was shown that non deterministic and deterministic automata can solve the exact same set of problems, then ...
user68029's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
244 views

What if NP = coNP?

Are there any major implications of NP = coNP (if true) the way there would be if P=NP? I'm thinking of real-world implications analogous to the encryption-pocalypse (excuse the drama) that would ...
Würthi's user avatar
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Number of outputs produced by levin search variant (SIMPLE)

Let $f$ be an inverting problem. If there is an algorithm A that invert $f$ in time $t(n)$, then the SIMPLE algorithm below invert $f$ in time $c.t(n)$ where $c$ is a constant depending only on $A$ ...
Omid Yaghoubi's user avatar
1 vote
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Relation between BSS and Turing models

$P_\mathbb R$ is the set of languages decidable in polynomial time over the real $BSS$ machine defined in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blum%E2%80%93Shub%E2%80%93Smale_machine. Let $0-1-P_\mathbb R=\{...
Turbo's user avatar
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What are the capabilities of current Boolean Satisfiability Solvers?

I am wondering how well current Boolean Satisfiability solvers are able to perform — for example, are the best SATsolvers able to solve problems from SATlib?
Nat Kar's user avatar
12 votes
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385 views

Invisible electric fence even if P = NP?

Scott Aaronson has suggested that one argument in favor of $\mathsf{P} \ne \mathsf{NP}$ is that there seems to be an invisible electric fence separating $\mathsf{NP}$-complete problems from problems ...
Timothy Chow's user avatar
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5 votes
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Questions about P vs NP and geometric complexity theory

Reading through various papers on geometric complexity theory (GCT), there is one thing, which pops up, while claimed in various places, that it is an approach to P vs NP, all the results seems to ...
Ilk's user avatar
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Can Category Theory help us prove P != NP?

Scott Aaronson, in this funny April Fools’ Day post, introduces a fictionalized $P \neq NP$ Proof and, among other things, he says that the proof make use of Higher topos theory to solve the biggest ...
Yamar69's user avatar
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What is a natural problem in theory of computation?

In Stephen Cook's paper on the P vs NP problem,[1] he states the following [2]: Feasibility Thesis: A natural problem has a feasible algorithm iff it has a polynomial-time algorithm. My question ...
Curious Yogurt's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
315 views

Is there a relation between BBH (black box hypothesis) and SETH (strong exponential time hypothesis)?

Is there a relation between BBH (black box hypothesis) and SETH (strong exponential time hypothesis)?
user52643's user avatar
-3 votes
1 answer
321 views

Does P^NP=NP imply NP=coNP? [closed]

If you have it, the proof would be appreciated. Note: P^NP means P with NP oracle
Raoul Morin's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
450 views

Is there a counterexample to this work?

Is there a counterexample to this claim https://arxiv.org/abs/1610.00353? They claim a $O(n^6)$ LP model with simulations to support. I think asking validity is not a reasonable problem. However ...
Turbo's user avatar
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6 votes
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Is Murphy's Law of Complexity Theory consistent? What separations/collapses does it imply?

A decade ago I observed what I dub "Murphy's Law of Complexity Theory": whenever a new separation or collapse is discovered, the question is answered in the direction that makes $P\overset?=NP$ most ...
Stop Harming the Community's user avatar
18 votes
1 answer
2k views

Algorithm whose running time depends on P vs. NP

Is there a known, explicit example of an algorithm with the property such that if $P\neq NP$ then this algorithm doesn't run in polynomial time and if $P=NP$ then it does run in polynomial time?
user2925716's user avatar
20 votes
2 answers
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Barriers to show $P=NP$

We all know showing $P\ne NP$ has barriers. We all have studied these barriers because we believe $P\ne NP$. However assume $P=NP$ and there are wise people who believe that possibility exists. If ...
Turbo's user avatar
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2 votes
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P vs. NP in a logic with a random oracle

Choose a random oracle $f : \{0,1\}^\ast \to \{0,1\}$, and define the logic $ZFC^f$ by adding a fresh symbol $g$, an axiom that $g$ has the correct type, and one axiom $g(s) = f(s)$ for each $s \in \{...
Geoffrey Irving's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
125 views

What are some known methods for showing that a class has no complete problems?

The only way that I know of is the way that you can show that $RE \cap coRE$ does not via diagonalization. Mostly curious because if $NP \cap coNP$ has no complete problems then $P \neq NP$. I tried ...
Samuel Schlesinger's user avatar
-3 votes
1 answer
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What is wrong with this procedure to convert quadratic programming to convex quadratic programming?

Consider the feasibility quadratic program with constraint $$\sum_{i=1}^nc_{i1}x_{i}\leq \ell_1$$ $$\vdots$$ $$\sum_{i=1}^nc_{it}x_{i}\leq \ell_t$$ $$\sum_{i,j=1}^na_{ij}x_{i}x_{j}+\sum_{i=1}^nb_{i}x_{...
Turbo's user avatar
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3 votes
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222 views

Is there any known strategy that avoids circuits and that respects believed separations to prove $P$ is not $NP$?

Vinay Deolalikar's approach tried to randomness is not strong enough, Blum's proof tried to show $P/poly$ is not strong enough, Mulmuley's and Smale's approach (while not enough to show $P\neq NP$) ...
Turbo's user avatar
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${\bf NP} \not = {\bf E}$ and ${\bf PSPACE} \not = {\bf E}$

We know that ${\bf NP} \subseteq {\bf PH} \subseteq {\bf PSPACE}$. We also know that ${\bf E} \subset {\bf EXP}$, where ${\bf E} = \cup_c DTIME[2^{cn}]$ and ${\bf EXP} = \cup_c DTIME[2^{n^c}]$. It ...
Dave Schulman's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
550 views

Can one prove the discovery of a P versus NP solution without actually revealing it?

Suppose a person has proved that P≠NP. He wants to let the world know that he has solved the P versus NP problem but does not want to reveal that he has proved P≠NP as opposed to P=NP. Is there any ...
ghosts_in_the_code's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
220 views

Unambiguous SAT and sparse languages

What is the consequence if there are only polynomially many 'yes' classes of instances of a language that is polynomial time reducible from a problem equivalent to UnambiguousSAT (such as possibly ...
Turbo's user avatar
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6 votes
0 answers
183 views

Converse to natural proofs theorem?

Natural proofs paper shows 'if there is a natural property not possessed by any function in P/poly then there is no $2^{n^\epsilon}$-hard PRG'. Is it easy to see the converse 'if there is no $2^{n^\...
Turbo's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
293 views

ETH-Hardness of $Gap\text-MAX\text-3SAT_{c}$

The PCP theorem can be stated like this : There is a polynomial time reduction from SAT to $Gap\text-MAX\text-3SAT_{c}$ i.e. there is a reduction that maps an instance $\phi$ of SAT to an instance $...
xyz's user avatar
  • 243
13 votes
3 answers
1k views

Why do computer scientists on the whole work under the assumption that P ≠ NP?

Coming from a math background, it seems interesting to me that on the whole computer scientists tend to work under the assumption that $P \neq NP$. While there is no proof either way, generally, ...
Eli Sadoff's user avatar
16 votes
0 answers
216 views

What is the background in algebraic geometry and representation theory needed for geometric complexity theory? [duplicate]

I'm a mathematics student in my junior year and I'm interested in computational complexity and specially geometric complexity theory. I'm going to learn algebraic geometry and representation theory ...
Fawzy Hegab's user avatar
9 votes
0 answers
359 views

What would be the consequences if all _infinite_ NP-complete languages are p-isomorphic?

The famous Isomorphism Conjecture of Berman and Hartmanis says that all $NP$-complete languages are polynomial time isomorphic ($p$-isomorphic) to each other. It has been an early attempt (published ...
Andras Farago's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
132 views

What would faster Fourier Transform(FFT?) and/or multiplication algorithms imply?

There are many problems which have implications on P vs. NP and other complexity classes. Supposing that we're interested in Fourier transforms and/or multiplication algorithms, do faster Fourier ...
Matt Groff's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
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Is "two or zero" matching in a bipartite graph NP complete?

I have this problem, which I haven't seen before in the literature: given a bipartite graph and a natural number $k$, can we select at least $k$ of the edges such that each left-hand vertex is ...
James Trimble's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
327 views

Two DFA intersection emptiness connections to SETH & L vs P

(re "fine grained complexity") Wehar has proved that Two DFA intersection emptiness in $O(n^{2-\epsilon})$ time → SETH false. does anyone see any particular key proof difficulty, challenge, ...
vzn's user avatar
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22 votes
4 answers
2k views

Chaos and the $P{=}NP$ question

I am interested in learning connections between "chaos," or more broadly, dynamical systems, and the $P{=}NP$ question. Here is an example of the type of literature I am seeking: Ercsey-Ravasz, ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
187 views

Consequences of VP = VNP on randomness

According to the answers in posting it is possible that $\mathsf{VP} = \mathsf{VNP}$ and $\mathsf{P} \neq \mathsf{NP}$ are simultaneously correct. $\mathsf{VP} = \mathsf{VNP}$ implies $\mathsf{P/...
user avatar
-2 votes
1 answer
335 views

What is the status of intermediate problems if P is not NP in worst way imaginable?

Assume $P\neq BPP\neq NP$ with caveat that there is a deterministic algorithm for every $NP$ complete problem with input size $n$ bits in $2^{(\log n)^{1+f(n)}}$ arithmetic operations on $\log n$ ...
Turbo's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
228 views

Implications of $\mathsf{P}\neq\mathsf{NP}$ in $\mathsf{BSS}$ model

What are implications of $\mathsf{P}\neq\mathsf{NP}$ in $\mathsf{BSS}$ model to $\mathsf{Turing}$ model and $\mathsf{Valiant's}$ counting complexity model? In opposite direction what are implications ...
user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
951 views

L/P/PSpace vs P/NP

in 1979 Hopcroft/ Ullman wrote that L ⊆ P ⊆ NP ⊆ PSpace is known but L ⊊ PSpace is the only proper (& trivial) containment known although all are conjectured to be proper containments, and "where ...
vzn's user avatar
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-2 votes
1 answer
127 views

what can be said about complexity of "typical" supercomputing programs/ applications? any NP hard?

supercomputers have risen dramatically in their computational powers last few decades due to Moore's law & also increasing parallelism technology in hardware and software. many different types of ...
vzn's user avatar
  • 11k
4 votes
1 answer
450 views

Analogies between VNP and NP

Valiant introduced the class VNP with respect to "arithmetic circuits" over 35 years ago in a "rough" analogy to NP. Recently, there have been major advances in the area of arithmetic circuits eg as ...
vzn's user avatar
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1 vote
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427 views

What's the Impact if proven NP/co-NP=PSPACE on settling P=NP? The future directions it opens to settle/attack P=NP? Remaining classes left outside?

The primary Impact i know would be that: Polynomial Hierarchy collapses to Level 1. NP=co-NP NP=BPP NP=PSPACE BQP=NP and so on.. What are the attack directions it will open for settling P=NP (in ...
TheoryQuest1's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
1k views

Is where an oracle B in EXP that $P^B$ $ \ne$ $NP^B$? [duplicate]

According to Baker, Gill, Solovey where is an oracle A in EXP, so $P^A$ = $NP^A$. But is there an oracle B in EXP, what $P^B$ $\ne$ $NP^B$?
Ava_Katushka's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
410 views

intuition that VP=?VNP is (not?) connected to P=?NP

recently there has been major progress into the VP=?VNP problem for algebraic circuits originated by Valiant, inspiring some optimistic outlook on its eventual or imminent resolution.[1] what is an ...
vzn's user avatar
  • 11k
13 votes
2 answers
628 views

Looking for Literature Source for Following idea

I am quite certain that I am not the first to entertain the idea that I am going to present. However, it would be helpful if I can find any literature related to the idea. The idea is to construct a ...
Bill Province's user avatar
23 votes
6 answers
3k views

Statements that imply $\mathbf{P}\neq \mathbf{NP}$

This is sort of an open-ended question - for which I apologize in advance. Are there examples of statements that (seemingly) don't have anything to do with complexity or Turing machines but the ...
Dominic van der Zypen's user avatar