N, Np, Np complete
NP-hard problems are considered to be the most difficult problems in computational complexity theory, as they are at least as hard as the hardest problems in NP. These problems belong to the class of NP, which stands for "nondeterministic polynomial time." NP-Complete problems are those that are both NP-Hard and NP, meaning that they can be efficiently verified in polynomial time. The name "NP-complete" comes from "nondeterministic polynomial-time complete," referring to nondeterministic Turing machines and the complexity classes NP and NP-Hard. Therefore, showing that a problem is NP-Complete proves its difficulty, as it is both NP-Hard and in the complexity class NP. P vs NP is a famous computer science problem that involves determining if there exists an algorithm that can solve NP-Complete problems quickly. Overall, NP-Complete problems are known to be the most challenging problems to solve in computer science, as no efficient solution algorithm has been found.
NP, NP-Hard, and NP-Complete are terms used in the field of computational complexity theory:
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NP: NP stands for "nondeterministic polynomial time." It refers to the set of decision problems for which the solutions can be verified quickly (in polynomial time) given the solution. In other words, if a solution can be guessed and verified quickly, the problem belongs to the class NP.
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NP-Hard: NP-Hard problems are, informally, at least as hard as the hardest problems in NP. These problems are not necessarily in NP themselves, but they are as hard as the hardest problems in NP in terms of computational complexity.
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NP-Complete: NP-Complete problems are those problems that are both NP-Hard and in NP. This means that they are as hard as the hardest problems in NP and also in NP. Intuitively, NP-Complete problems are among the most difficult problems to solve in NP. If a polynomial-time algorithm can be found for any NP-Complete problem, it implies that P (problems solvable in polynomial time) = NP, which is a major unsolved question in computer science.
In summary, NP-Complete problems are the most challenging problems in NP, and their status is crucial to the P vs NP problem.
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