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Physics Is (NP-)Hard

Posted by Soulskill on from the assume-a-spherical-traveling-salesman dept.

An anonymous reader writes "New research at the boundary of physics and computer science shows that determining the dynamical equations of a system from observations of its behavior is NP-hard. From the abstract: 'The behavior of any physical system is governed by its underlying dynamical equations. Much of physics is concerned with discovering these dynamical equations and understanding their consequences. In this work, we show that, remarkably, identifying the underlying dynamical equation from any amount of experimental data, however precise, is a provably computationally hard problem (it is NP-hard), both for classical and quantum mechanical systems.'"

9 of 212 comments (clear)

  1. No problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I am NP-smart

    1. Re:No problem by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 5, Funny

      Not Particularly?

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
  2. Well no wonder I failed physics by the_humeister · · Score: 5, Funny

    I always thought it was hard, but that takes it to another level

  3. NP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    No Problem hard? I would have thought it would be harder...

    1. Re:NP by slew · · Score: 1, Funny

      Obligitory http://xkcd.com/37/

    2. Re:NP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      No, we don't know that yet (that's the whole P=NP debate).

      I don't know what the fuss is about: P=NP, where N=1.

  4. Ow, my brain by Walt+Sellers · · Score: 5, Funny

    It seems it is nearly NP-Hard to understand the concept of "NP-Hard". Thanks to Wikipedia I now understand that I don't fully understand this.

    I should think that turning observations into accurate equations is hampered by never knowing if you have enough of the correct observations to determine the correct equation.

  5. Hmm... by tool462 · · Score: 5, Funny

    So these scientists were studying the science of physics itself, at some higher abstract level.
    Does that mean this research is metaphysics?

  6. Re:Schrodinger's Cat Fight? by c4tp · · Score: 3, Funny

    I would pay to see a Schrodinger's cat fight. So suspenseful!