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a) Complicated academic proofs take (and should take) months if not years to verify, and will only be "front-page news" after verification. This is hardly the
by ynniv 16y ago
a) Complicated academic proofs take (and should take) months if not years to verify, and will only be "front-page news" after verification. This is hardly the first unverified proof of the [edit: possible (in)]equality of P and NP.
b) The practical consequences of P=NP are immense. The practical consequences of P≠NP are that we can stop looking for computational unicorns and fairies.
We have for some time thought that P≠NP, but boy do people like those unicorns and fairies.
- jacquesm 16y ago> This is hardly the first unverified proof of the equality of P and NP. in 'a' above didn't you mean to write 'inequality of P and NP' ?
- ynniv 16y agoI meant the general field of equality as it relates to P an NP, but I have edited for clarity.
- Groxx 16y agoI doubt it'll impact the unicorns-and-fairies searches significantly. Most people already work under the assumption that P≠NP. Similarly, most people believe the world is round, and we go around the Sun. This hasn't prevented serious flat-Earthers nor geocentrists from existing.
- tel 16y agoIt has been something of a damper on their funding, however.