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Possible Issues With the P != NP Proof

Posted by Soulskill on from the intuitively-obvious-to-the-most-casual-observer dept.

An anonymous reader writes "We previously discussed news that Vinay Deolalikar, a Principal Research Scientist at HP Labs, wrote a paper that claimed to prove P is not equal to NP. Dick Lipton, a Professor of Computer Science at Georgia Tech, analyzed the idea of the proof on his blog. In a recent post, he explains that there have been many serious objections raised about the proof. The post summarizes the issues that need to be answered in any subsequent development, and additional concerns are raised in the comment section."

2 of 147 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Mathematicians are gathering to vet this paper by yyxx · · Score: 0, Troll

    P=NP is a question in computer science, not mathematics. The two fields split about 50 years ago.

  2. Re:Mathematicians are gathering to vet this paper by yyxx · · Score: 0, Troll

    But computer science is mathematics, or rather a subset thereof.

    No, it's not. The relationship between computer science and mathematics is similar to the relationship between physics and mathematics: there is some overlap, lots of fruitful cooperation, and some fundamental differences in methodology and subject matter.

    Even if computer science were a subset, it's only the computer scientists that are gathering to vet this paper. Saying "mathematicians are gathering to vet this paper" would be as misleading and irrelevant as saying "mammals are gathering to vet this paper".