A solution to the P versus NP problem would instantly break modern internet encryption
Proving that every problem with a quickly verifiable solution can also be solved quickly would render modern RSA encryption obsolete by making prime factorization nearly instantaneous.
The P versus NP problem, formalized by Stephen Cook in 1971, asks if polynomial-time verification implies polynomial-time computation. If P equals NP, then complex challenges like the traveling salesman problem for one million cities or the SAT problem for circuit design could be solved as easily as checking a finished answer. This would collapse the computational hardness that secures the modern internet.
There's more to this story — open the app to keep reading.
Continue Reading in App
1 more paragraphs · plus a 1-question quiz