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Road Coloring Problem Solved
ArieKremen writes "Israeli Avraham Trakhtman, a Russian immigrant mathematician who had been employed as a night watchman, has solved the Road Coloring problem. First posed in 1970 by Benjamin Weiss and Roy Adler, the problem posits that given a finite number of roads, one should be able to draw a map, coded in various colors, that leads to a certain destination regardless of the point of origin. The 63-year-old Trakhtman jotted down the solution in pencil in 8 pages. The problem has real-world implementation in message and traffic routing."
1. Here's wtf the problem even is, for those of us who aren't all up in the "mathematical curiosities" business. Basically the question is, for a specific kind of graph (where you can go from point A to a finite number of points B, C, or D, etc) can you label the possible paths from each point so that, starting from anywhere, you can follow an invariable rule that will get you to a specific destination point. (Check the link, the picture makes much more sense).
2. Apparently his proof was published last September. It's "news" because it's just now hitting the semi-mainstream press. You people fail at nerddom.
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