For those who don't know, P and NP represent two complexity classes in Computer Science. In layman's terms, the class P represents the set of those problems which are "easy" to solve, while the class NP represents problems whose solutions are easy to check. It is easily seen that all problems in P belong to NP ( P ⊆ NP ) , but whether P equals NP is still an open question.
Date : 31st January, Monday
Time : 5.15 p.m.
Venue : F.C. Kohli Auditorium, KRESIT building ( 1st floor )
Abstract of the talk :
The P = NP? question is the most important unsolved problem in theoretical computer science, and is increasingly considered to be one of the most important problems in all of mathematics. In this talk, I will give an informal introduction to this problem, mainly through examples. I will try to illustrate why the question is important from a practical, theoretical as well as a philosophical point of view. No background in computer science will be assumed, and the talk should be accessible to first-year undergraduate students.