IS P=NP

?
WANNA BE A MILLIONAIRE? THEN PAY ATTENTION TO
THIS PRESENTATION AND YOU MIGHT JUST LEARN
HOW!
 PROGRES & NEED FOR RATING
S STANDARD
Time to solve problems:

Very difficult Easy to solve

problems problems
(chess)
? (Addition,
multiplicatio
n)
Slow
Fast

How long does it take to execute a given algorithm? In CS the answer is not
given in minutes/sec. but relative to the number of elements the algorithm
has to manipulate.
 POLYNOMIAL
𝑙𝑎𝑖 𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑝𝑥𝑠
𝐸 𝑣
Runtime = 𝒙𝟐+ c vs Runtime = 𝟐𝒙
+ c Polynomial Exponential

2500

2000 2048

1500
Runtim

1000 1024
e

500 512
256
142 64 81 100 121
0 2 4 9 16 32 6346
1 2 8 4 8 9 10 11
25 6 98
1 3
5 Value of x
7
 P class is a set of problems whose solutions running times
depend polynomially on the size of the input. Thus, it is
relatively easy to find these solutions using programs that are
reasonably fast.

NP class is a set of problems whose solution is very hard to

find – perhaps requiring billions of years worth of computation
– but once found, it is easily checked in polynomial time.
(Salesman, Cryptography, Financial forecasting, Proteing-
folding be havior, etc.)
P
NP
NP-complete is a set of problems X in NP for which it is possible
to reduce any other NP problem Y to X in polynomial time – thus
we can solve Y quickly if we can solve X quickly. These are the
hardest NP problems. NP Problems

NP-
P complete

• How to prove a problem that is NP-

Complete?
1First you need to show that it is in NP (hard to solve but can
verify solution)
2Reduce an arbitrary instance of an NP-complete problem A to
an instance of your problem B in polynomial time (A<B and B<C
A<C). So, if A is NP-complete, B is in NP, and A<B, B is NP -
Complete.
 For the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) :
-First, we have to prove that TSP belongs to NP. If we want to check a
tour for credibility, we check that the tour contains each vertex once.
Then we sum the total cost of the edges and finally we check if the
cost is minimum. This can be completed in polynomial time thus TSP
belongs to NP.

-We can use the Hamilton Circuit or any other NP-complete problem
(SAT) to reduce it to our TSP. Given an instance of a graph G, we create
G′: We first make G′ complete. We let d(ij) = 0 if edge (i, j) is in G.
Otherwise, we let d(ij) = 1.
 THE FUNDAMENTAL DILEMMA
If the correct solution to a problem can be verified in
polynomial time, can it also be found in polynomial time?
So P = NP means that for every problem that has an efficiently
verifiable solution, we can find that solution efficiently as well. A
solution to one exercise would give the key to all NP problems.

Surveys in the Scientific Community reveal that majority believe that P

is not equal to NP because it is unlikely that we will be able to avoid
exponential search, and that a simple trick can hardly solve all of these
problems.
• Solve the P vs NP dilemma and you will receive the promised
prize!