Tractable and Intractable

problems
 Tractable Problem:
Problem that is solvable by a polynomial-time
algorithm
The upper bound is polynomial
Intractable Problem:
Problem that cannot be solved by a polynomial-
time algorithm
The lower bound is exponential
Polynomial-time algorithm
All decision problems that can be solved by a
deterministic Turing machine using a
polynomial amount of computation time, or
polynomial time
An algorithm is said to be solvable in
polynomial time if the number of steps
required to complete the algorithm for a given
input is for some nonnegative integer
Polynomial-time algorithms are said to be
"fast."
 Difference between an exponential
function and a polynomial
The function p(x) = x3 is a polynomial
Here the variable, x, is being raised to some
constant power
The function f(x)=3x is an exponential
function
The variable is the exponent
Exponential functions:
E.g. O(2n), O(n!), O(nn)
 Examples of tractable problems (ones with
known polynomial-time algorithms)
Searching an unordered list
Searching an ordered list
Sorting a list
Multiplication of integers
 Examples of intractable problems (ones that
have been proven to have non polynomial-time
algorithm)
Towers of Hanoi
Our backtracking solution to n-Queens