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NP-completeness
In computational complexity theory, a problem is NP-complete when: # it is a problem for which the correctness of each solution can be verified quickly (namely, in polynomial time) and a brute-force search algorithm can find a solution by trying all possible solutions. # the problem can be used to simulate every other problem for which we can verify quickly that a solution is correct. In this sense, NP-complete problems are the hardest of the problems to which solutions can be verified quickly. If we could find solutions of some NP-complete problem quickly, we could quickly find the solutions of every other problem to which a given solution can be easily verified. The name "NP-complete" is short for "nondeterministic polynomial-time complete". In this name, "nondeterministic" refers to nondeterministic Turing machines, a way of mathematically formalizing the idea of a brute-force search algorithm. Polynomial time refers to an amount of time that is considered "quick" for a dete ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
P Versus NP Problem
The P versus NP problem is a major unsolved problem in theoretical computer science. In informal terms, it asks whether every problem whose solution can be quickly verified can also be quickly solved. The informal term ''quickly'', used above, means the existence of an algorithm solving the task that runs in polynomial time, such that the time to complete the task varies as a polynomial function on the size of the input to the algorithm (as opposed to, say, exponential time). The general class of questions for which some algorithm can provide an answer in polynomial time is " P" or "class P". For some questions, there is no known way to find an answer quickly, but if one is provided with information showing what the answer is, it is possible to verify the answer quickly. The class of questions for which an answer can be ''verified'' in polynomial time is NP, which stands for "nondeterministic polynomial time".A nondeterministic Turing machine can move to a state that is not de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cook–Levin Theorem
In computational complexity theory, the Cook–Levin theorem, also known as Cook's theorem, states that the Boolean satisfiability problem is NP-complete. That is, it is in NP, and any problem in NP can be reduced in polynomial time by a deterministic Turing machine to the Boolean satisfiability problem. The theorem is named after Stephen Cook and Leonid Levin. An important consequence of this theorem is that if there exists a deterministic polynomial-time algorithm for solving Boolean satisfiability, then every NP problem can be solved by a deterministic polynomial-time algorithm. The question of whether such an algorithm for Boolean satisfiability exists is thus equivalent to the P versus NP problem, which is widely considered the most important unsolved problem in theoretical computer science. Contributions The concept of NP-completeness was developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s in parallel by researchers in North America and the USSR. In 1971, Stephen Cook publis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Symposium On Theory Of Computing
The Annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing (STOC) is an academic conference in the field of theoretical computer science. STOC has been organized annually since 1969, typically in May or June; the conference is sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery special interest group SIGACT. Acceptance rate of STOC, averaged from 1970 to 2012, is 31%, with the rate of 29% in 2012. As writes, STOC and its annual IEEE counterpart FOCS (the Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science) are considered the two top conferences in theoretical computer science, considered broadly: they “are forums for some of the best work throughout theory of computing that promote breadth among theory of computing researchers and help to keep the community together.” includes regular attendance at STOC and FOCS as one of several defining characteristics of theoretical computer scientists. Awards The Gödel Prize for outstanding papers in theoretical computer science is presented alternately ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Approximation Algorithm
In computer science and operations research, approximation algorithms are efficient algorithms that find approximate solutions to optimization problems (in particular NP-hard problems) with provable guarantees on the distance of the returned solution to the optimal one. Approximation algorithms naturally arise in the field of theoretical computer science as a consequence of the widely believed P ≠ NP conjecture. Under this conjecture, a wide class of optimization problems cannot be solved exactly in polynomial time. The field of approximation algorithms, therefore, tries to understand how closely it is possible to approximate optimal solutions to such problems in polynomial time. In an overwhelming majority of the cases, the guarantee of such algorithms is a multiplicative one expressed as an approximation ratio or approximation factor i.e., the optimal solution is always guaranteed to be within a (predetermined) multiplicative factor of the returned solution. However, there ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
3SAT 17 Svg
In logic and computer science, the Boolean satisfiability problem (sometimes called propositional satisfiability problem and abbreviated SATISFIABILITY, SAT or B-SAT) is the problem of determining if there exists an interpretation that satisfies a given Boolean formula. In other words, it asks whether the variables of a given Boolean formula can be consistently replaced by the values TRUE or FALSE in such a way that the formula evaluates to TRUE. If this is the case, the formula is called ''satisfiable''. On the other hand, if no such assignment exists, the function expressed by the formula is FALSE for all possible variable assignments and the formula is ''unsatisfiable''. For example, the formula "''a'' AND NOT ''b''" is satisfiable because one can find the values ''a'' = TRUE and ''b'' = FALSE, which make (''a'' AND NOT ''b'') = TRUE. In contrast, "''a'' AND NOT ''a''" is unsatisfiable. SAT is the first problem that was proved to be NP-complete; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turing Machine
A Turing machine is a mathematical model of computation describing an abstract machine that manipulates symbols on a strip of tape according to a table of rules. Despite the model's simplicity, it is capable of implementing any computer algorithm. The machine operates on an infinite memory tape divided into discrete cells, each of which can hold a single symbol drawn from a finite set of symbols called the alphabet of the machine. It has a "head" that, at any point in the machine's operation, is positioned over one of these cells, and a "state" selected from a finite set of states. At each step of its operation, the head reads the symbol in its cell. Then, based on the symbol and the machine's own present state, the machine writes a symbol into the same cell, and moves the head one step to the left or the right, or halts the computation. The choice of which replacement symbol to write and which direction to move is based on a finite table that specifies what to do for each com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NP (complexity)
In computational complexity theory, NP (nondeterministic polynomial time) is a complexity class used to classify decision problems. NP is the set of decision problems for which the problem instances, where the answer is "yes", have proofs verifiable in polynomial time by a deterministic Turing machine, or alternatively the set of problems that can be solved in polynomial time by a nondeterministic Turing machine.''Polynomial time'' refers to how quickly the number of operations needed by an algorithm, relative to the size of the problem, grows. It is therefore a measure of efficiency of an algorithm. An equivalent definition of NP is the set of decision problems ''solvable'' in polynomial time by a nondeterministic Turing machine. This definition is the basis for the abbreviation NP; " nondeterministic, polynomial time". These two definitions are equivalent because the algorithm based on the Turing machine consists of two phases, the first of which consists of a guess ab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Non-deterministic Turing Machine
In theoretical computer science, a nondeterministic Turing machine (NTM) is a theoretical model of computation whose governing rules specify more than one possible action when in some given situations. That is, an NTM's next state is ''not'' completely determined by its action and the current symbol it sees, unlike a deterministic Turing machine. NTMs are sometimes used in thought experiments to examine the abilities and limits of computers. One of the most important open problems in theoretical computer science is the P versus NP problem, which (among other equivalent formulations) concerns the question of how difficult it is to simulate nondeterministic computation with a deterministic computer. Background In essence, a Turing machine is imagined to be a simple computer that reads and writes symbols one at a time on an endless tape by strictly following a set of rules. It determines what action it should perform next according to its internal ''state'' and ''what symbol it curr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Many-one Reduction
In computability theory and computational complexity theory, a many-one reduction (also called mapping reduction) is a reduction which converts instances of one decision problem L_1 into instances of a second decision problem L_2 where the instance reduced to is in the language L_2 if the initial instance was in its language L_1 and is not in the language L_2 if the initial instance was not in its language L_1. Thus if we can decide whether L_2 instances are in the language L_2, we can decide whether L_1 instances are in its language by applying the reduction and solving L_2. Thus, reductions can be used to measure the relative computational difficulty of two problems. It is said that L_1 reduces to L_2 if, in layman's terms L_2 is harder to solve than L_1. That is to say, any algorithm that solves L_2 can also be used as part of a (otherwise relatively simple) program that solves L_1. Many-one reductions are a special case and stronger form of Turing reductions. With many-one re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Universal Turing Machine
In computer science, a universal Turing machine (UTM) is a Turing machine that can simulate an arbitrary Turing machine on arbitrary input. The universal machine essentially achieves this by reading both the description of the machine to be simulated as well as the input to that machine from its own tape. Alan Turing introduced the idea of such a machine in 1936–1937. This principle is considered to be the origin of the idea of a stored-program computer used by John von Neumann in 1946 for the "Electronic Computing Instrument" that now bears von Neumann's name: the von Neumann architecture. Martin Davis, ''The universal computer : the road from Leibniz to Turing'' (2017) In terms of computational complexity, a multi-tape universal Turing machine need only be slower by logarithmic factor compared to the machines it simulates. Introduction Every Turing machine computes a certain fixed partial computable function from the input strings over its alphabet. In that sense it beh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
P Np Np-complete Np-hard
P, or p, is the sixteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''pee'' (pronounced ), plural ''pees''. History The Semitic Pê (mouth), as well as the Greek Π or π ( Pi), and the Etruscan and Latin letters that developed from the former alphabet, all symbolized , a voiceless bilabial plosive. Use in writing systems In English orthography and most other European languages, represents the sound . A common digraph in English is , which represents the sound , and can be used to transliterate ''phi'' in loanwords from Greek. In German, the digraph is common, representing a labial affricate . Most English words beginning with are of foreign origin, primarily French, Latin and Greek; these languages preserve Proto-Indo-European initial *p. Native English cognates of such words often start with , since English is a Germanic language and thus h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turing Completeness
In computability theory, a system of data-manipulation rules (such as a computer's instruction set, a programming language, or a cellular automaton) is said to be Turing-complete or computationally universal if it can be used to simulate any Turing machine (devised by English mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing). This means that this system is able to recognize or decide other data-manipulation rule sets. Turing completeness is used as a way to express the power of such a data-manipulation rule set. Virtually all programming languages today are Turing-complete. A related concept is that of Turing equivalence two computers P and Q are called equivalent if P can simulate Q and Q can simulate P. The Church–Turing thesis conjectures that any function whose values can be computed by an algorithm can be computed by a Turing machine, and therefore that if any real-world computer can simulate a Turing machine, it is Turing equivalent to a Turing machine. A universal Turi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
