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- Path: sparky!uunet!paladin.american.edu!gatech!rpi!uwm.edu!csd4.csd.uwm.edu!markh
- From: markh@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Mark)
- Newsgroups: comp.theory
- Subject: Suggstion: (was: Re: P=NP; the proof)
- Date: 7 Jan 1993 23:01:07 GMT
- Organization: Computing Services Division, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
- Lines: 25
- Distribution: inet
- Message-ID: <1iicnjINNloe@uwm.edu>
- References: <1idr1nINNrl@nunki.anu.edu.au> <1ifcmpINN11k@nunki.anu.edu.au> <1ifljqINN137@nunki.anu.edu.au>
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-
- In article <1ifljqINN137@nunki.anu.edu.au> jmr@cs.anu.edu.au (Mike Robson) writes:
- >>So currently my proof is dead but if you believe in resurrection
- >>watch this space.
- >
- >>Mike Robson.
- >
- >AARRGGHH!!
- >
- >Jim Reeds has proved that this problem cannot be fixed.
-
- When you come up with a P=NP proof, first make sure you can translate it to
- several of the other known NP-complete problems. Each conversion should lead
- to some significant result and insight if the original proof is correct.
- Also, you'd get far more attention by simultaneously publicising polynomial
- algorithms for 10 to 20 NP-complete problems, and a single tenuous and
- highly abstract proof. The conversions are in the literature, so it's
- a trivial bookkeeping process to develop 20 algorithms from one.
-
- Second, test the thing out before publicising it, by running the algorithms on
- actual cases and then using these test cases to exemplify the algorithms when
- you do publicise them.
-
- If you're refereeing journals or otherwise trying to determine the validity
- of P=NP proofs, reject all alleged proofs that don't meet the two criteria
- above.
-