note
cjf
<blockquote><i>I thought AI was declared dead in the 80s of the previous century</i></blockquote>
<p>Declared dead by who? What were they referring to by AI? </p>
<p>As for the P = NP problem, I found the following description:</p>
<blockquote><i>A major unsolved problem in computer science is the so-called P=NP problem: machines are considered in which there is a certain amount of freedom in choosing the next step in a computation (such machines are called non-deterministic). By making good guesses (or choices) one can often obtain a quicker computation than by systematically working through all possible cases in a deterministic way. The P == NP problem asks whether every function computable on a non-deterministic machine in polynomial (i.e., tractable) time is computable in polynomial time on ordinary (deterministic) machines. <br />
-- N. J. Cutland, Computability. Cambridge University Press, 1980. p. 238.</i></blockquote>
<p>Everything that can be invented has been invented. - Charles H. Duell, US Commissioner of Patents, in 1899.</p>
<p><b>Update:</b> I've found several papers on the subject including [http://www.pcs.cnu.edu/~hberger/Quantum_Computing.html|Is the NP problem solved?]. Haven't had a chance to read through them yet, but they look interesting.</p>
<p><b>Update 2:</b> [http://www.qubit.org/oldsite/intros/comp/comp.html|A short introduction to quantum computation]</p>
178465
178535