Learn · Gresham College

Talk

How hard is a hard problem?

Professor Robin Wilson · Gresham College

Watch At Gresham College

About

How can we distinguish between 'easy problems' and 'hard problems'? In this lecture I shall explain what is meant by an 'algorithm', and present some celebrated algorithms that can be used to solve a range of practical problems. I then investigate the efficiency of these algorithms and describe what is meant by a 'polynomial algorithm'. Finally, I shall explain the symbols P and NP, and pose ?the most important unsolved problem in current mathematics?: does P = NP?

The talk

  1. How hard is a hard problem? 2005-03-09 · YouTube

Credits and licence

Institution
Gresham College
Speaker
Professor Robin Wilson
Year
2005
Level
For everyone
Language
English
Subjects
Mathematics, History
Source
Gresham College
Licence
Educational use (Gresham College's terms), as Gresham College states it. Gresham College's terms
Attribution
Gresham College states: "We positively encourage the use of the Gresham College lecture transcripts, audio and video files for educational purposes. However, we do not allow use of Gresham College materials for commercial, personal or institutional gain."
Who can watch
Gresham College gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from what the source says about it. How courses are placed