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The fact that mathematicians have refined the theoretical distance between pairs of primes has precisely no effect on the difficulty of factoring large composit
by lutusp 13y ago
The fact that mathematicians have refined the theoretical distance between pairs of primes has precisely no effect on the difficulty of factoring large composites. Those are completely unrelated problems.
- fiatmoney 13y agoI would imagine that proving they are completely unrelated would be a significant result in and of itself.
- mden 13y agoI think this is a completely fair point. Things in mathematics are astoundingly interconnected and you never know whether a seemingly benign proof will turn out to be the key to unlocking something much more pivotal.
- lutusp 13y agoProving the absence of something lies in the nether regions of science and mathematics. Consider the problem of proving the absence of Bigfoot -- it can't be done. This is a well-understood logical problem with a storied past: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell's_teapot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell's_teapot