Other Directory Sites: SeekWonder | Directory Owners Forum
The following archive was created by hippie-mail 7.98617-22 on Sat Apr 10 1999 - 01:18:25
Bill Stewart (bill.stewart@pobox.com)
Wed, 03 Feb 1999 01:04:20 -0800
At 10:45 AM 2/1/99 -0700, staym@accessdata.com wrote:
>Suppose someone discovers a way to solve NP-complete problems with a
>quantum computer; should he publish? Granted, the quantum computers
>aren't big enough yet, but the prospects look bright for larger ones in
>the near future. It would break all classical cryptography.
If he's a Good Guy, yes. It not only would revolutionize cryptography
(sigh - back to the couriers with briefcases handcuffed to their arms)
but would also revolutionize whole areas of mathematical practice -
there are a _lot_ of NP-hard problems with real-world applications.
If he's a Bad Guy, he can go patent it and charge a lot for the license:-)
If it's possible, it'll be rediscovered soon enough anyway.
Thanks!
Bill
Bill Stewart, bill.stewart@pobox.com
PGP Fingerprint D454 E202 CBC8 40BF 3C85 B884 0ABE 4639
The following archive was created by hippie-mail 7.98617-22 on Sat Apr 10 1999 - 01:18:25