Abstract

The P versus NP problem is to determine whether every language accepted by some nondeterministic algorithm in polynomial time is also accepted by some (deterministic) algorithm in polynomial time. To define the problem precisely it is necessary to give a formal model of a computer. The standard computer model in computability theory is the Turing machine, introduced by Alan Turing in 1936 [37]. Although the model was introduced before physical computers were built, it nevertheless continues to be accepted as the proper computer model for the purpose of defining the notion of computable function. Informally the class P is the class of decision problems solvable by some algorithm within a number of steps bounded by some fixed polynomial in the length of the input. Turing was not concerned with the efficiency of his machines, rather his concern was whether they can simulate arbitrary algorithms given sufficient time. It turns out, however, Turing machines can generally simulate more efficient computer models (for example, machines equipped with many tapes or an unbounded random access memory) by at most squaring or cubing the computation time. Thus P is a

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