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NP-complete Problems and Physical Reality

2 Pith papers cite this work. Polarity classification is still indexing.

2 Pith papers citing it
abstract

Can NP-complete problems be solved efficiently in the physical universe? I survey proposals including soap bubbles, protein folding, quantum computing, quantum advice, quantum adiabatic algorithms, quantum-mechanical nonlinearities, hidden variables, relativistic time dilation, analog computing, Malament-Hogarth spacetimes, quantum gravity, closed timelike curves, and "anthropic computing." The section on soap bubbles even includes some "experimental" results. While I do not believe that any of the proposals will let us solve NP-complete problems efficiently, I argue that by studying them, we can learn something not only about computation but also about physics.

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quant-ph 2

years

2026 1 2024 1

verdicts

UNVERDICTED 2

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representative citing papers

Quantum algorithm for Valiant-Vazirani reduction

quant-ph · 2026-06-16 · unverdicted · novelty 6.0

Constructs quantum filtered oracle for Valiant-Vazirani theorem reducing SAT to UNIQUE SAT, enabling polynomial-time NP solution via torsion nonlinearity in noise-free limit but not #P.

From spin squeezing to fast state discrimination

quant-ph · 2024-10-29 · unverdicted · novelty 5.0

In the large-N limit, spin squeezing torsion yields a nonlinear qubit governed by the two-state Gross-Pitaevskii equation that solves single-input state discrimination on the Bloch sphere.

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Showing 2 of 2 citing papers after filters.

  • Quantum algorithm for Valiant-Vazirani reduction quant-ph · 2026-06-16 · unverdicted · none · ref 10 · internal anchor

    Constructs quantum filtered oracle for Valiant-Vazirani theorem reducing SAT to UNIQUE SAT, enabling polynomial-time NP solution via torsion nonlinearity in noise-free limit but not #P.

  • From spin squeezing to fast state discrimination quant-ph · 2024-10-29 · unverdicted · none · ref 30 · internal anchor

    In the large-N limit, spin squeezing torsion yields a nonlinear qubit governed by the two-state Gross-Pitaevskii equation that solves single-input state discrimination on the Bloch sphere.