Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

www.scottaaronson.com/papers/ctc.pdf

Shows that (with or without quantum computing) you can do all of PSPACE using a CTC (in polynomial time) and no more.




This is the key result in this conversation; this should be higher. Basically: if we insists on Deutsch's causal fixed point propety of CTCs, they do not give you P=NP, they give you P=PSPACE. That is, all problems which can be solved in polynomial space can now be solved in polynomial time, and vice versa.

So for a time-travel computer to give P=NP or P=O(1), it would have to violate Deutsch's causality criterion. I have almost zero knowledge of either field, but it sounds to me like it makes Deutsch's model more plausible.


PSPACE is bigger than and contains NP. You still don't get ANYTHING=O(1), though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NP_(complexity)#Relationship_t...




Join us for AI Startup School this June 16-17 in San Francisco!

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: