P v NP
In Our Time5 Nov 2015

P v NP

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the problem of P versus NP, which has a bearing on online security. There is a $1,000,000 prize on offer from the Clay Mathematical Institute for the first person to come up with a complete solution. At its heart is the question "are there problems for which the answers can be checked by computers, but not found in a reasonable time?" If the answer to that is yes, then P does not equal NP. However, if all answers can be found easily as well as checked, if only we knew how, then P equals NP. The area has intrigued mathematicians and computer scientists since Alan Turing, in 1936, found that it's impossible to decide in general whether an algorithm will run forever on some problems. Resting on P versus NP is the security of all online transactions which are currently encrypted: if it transpires that P=NP, if answers could be found as easily as checked, computers could crack passwords in moments.

With

Colva Roney-Dougal Reader in Pure Mathematics at the University of St Andrews

Timothy Gowers Royal Society Research Professor in Mathematics at the University of Cambridge

And

Leslie Ann Goldberg Professor of Computer Science and Fellow of St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford

Producer: Simon Tillotson.

Avsnitt(1080)

Thomas Becket

Thomas Becket

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the man who was Henry II's Chancellor and then Archbishop of Canterbury and who was murdered by knights in Canterbury Cathedral (depicted by Matthew Paris, above). Henr...

14 Dec 201752min

Moby Dick

Moby Dick

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Herman Melville's (1819-1891) epic novel, published in London in 1851, the story of Captain Ahab's pursuit of a great white sperm whale that had bitten off his leg. He ...

7 Dec 201751min

Carl Friedrich Gauss

Carl Friedrich Gauss

In a programme first broadcast in 2017, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Gauss (1777-1855), widely viewed as one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. He was a child prodigy, correcting his fathe...

30 Nov 201749min

Thebes

Thebes

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the myths and history of the ancient Greek city of Thebes and its depiction in Athenian drama. In myths it was said to be home to Heracles, Dionysus, Oedipus and Cadmus...

23 Nov 201746min

Germaine de Stael

Germaine de Stael

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and impact of Germaine de Staël (1766-1817) who Byron praised as Europe's greatest living writer, and was at the heart of intellectual and literary life in the...

16 Nov 201749min

The Picts

The Picts

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss The Picts and, to mark our twentieth season, that discussion takes place in front of a student audience at the University of Glasgow, many of them studying this topic. ...

9 Nov 201756min

Picasso's Guernica

Picasso's Guernica

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the context and impact of Pablo Picasso's iconic work, created soon after the bombing on 26th April 1937 that obliterated much of the Basque town of Guernica, and its p...

2 Nov 201754min

Feathered Dinosaurs

Feathered Dinosaurs

After 27 years, Melvyn Bragg has decided to step down from the In Our Time presenter’s chair. With over a thousand episodes to choose from, he has selected just six that capture the huge range and dep...

26 Okt 201748min

Populärt inom Historia

massmordarpodden
kod-katastrof
historiska-brott
motiv
olosta-mord
p3-historia
historiepodden-se
rss-historien-om
rss-massmordarpodden
rss-seriemordarpodden
historianu-med-urban-lindstedt
rss-historiska-brottslingar
rss-brottsligt
krigshistoriepodden
harrisons-dramatiska-historia
rss-arkiv-stieg
palmemordet
militarhistoriepodden
nu-blir-det-historia
rss-folkets-historia