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Algorithms

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Quantum Algorithms Struggle Against Old Foe: Clever Computers

February 1, 2018

The quest for "quantum supremacy" – unambiguous proof that a quantum computer does something faster than an ordinary computer – has paradoxically led to a boom in quasi-quantum classical algorithms.

Best-Ever Algorithm Found for Huge Streams of Data

October 24, 2017

To efficiently analyze a firehose of data, scientists first have to break big numbers into bits.

One-Way Salesman Finds Fast Path Home

October 5, 2017

The real-world version of the famous “traveling salesman problem” finally gets a good-enough solution.

Graph Isomorphism Vanquished — Again

January 14, 2017

Just five days after posting a retraction, László Babai announced that he had fixed the error in his landmark graph isomorphism algorithm.

Complexity Theory Problem Strikes Back

January 5, 2017

The legendary graph isomorphism problem may be harder than a 2015 result seemed to suggest.

Q&A

How to Force Our Machines to Play Fair

November 23, 2016

The computer scientist Cynthia Dwork takes abstract concepts like privacy and fairness and adapts them into machine code for the algorithmic age.

All Is Not Fair in Cake-Cutting and Math

October 7, 2016

When divvying something up, there's more than one way to define what's fair.

How to Cut Cake Fairly and Finally Eat It Too

October 6, 2016

Computer scientists have come up with a bounded algorithm that can fairly divide a cake among any number of people.

Hacker-Proof Code Confirmed

September 20, 2016

Computer scientists can prove certain programs to be error-free with the same certainty that mathematicians prove theorems.

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