Blog: Step 1: Post Elusive Proof. Step 2: Watch Fireworks

Step 1: Post Elusive Proof. Step 2: Watch Fireworks
New York Times (08/16/10) Markoff, John

A proposed proof of the P versus NP problem posted by Hewlett-Packard mathematician Vinay Deolalikar posits that P does not equal NP, which implies that there are problems which computers cannot solve yet which have easily recognizable solutions. This is a key underlying precept of modern cryptography. But the proof also is significant for inspiring Internet-based collaboration by complexity theorists and others for the purpose of discussing the proof. The theorists employed blogs and wikis to conduct real-time discussion and analysis of the proof, and this kind of collaboration has emerged only relatively recently in the math and computer science communities. New York University professor Clay Shirky contends in a recently published book, "Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age," that the development of these new collaborative tools is fostering a second scientific revolution by ushering in a new paradigm of peer review. "It's not just, 'Hey, everybody, look at this,' but rather a new set of norms is emerging about what it means to do mathematics, assuming coordinated participation," he says.

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