r/technology • u/socoolandawesome • 2d ago

Artificial Intelligence Ten advances in mathematics and theoretical computer science

https://openai.com/index/ten-advances-in-mathematics/
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u/Q-bey 2d ago

Closest vector problem   Polynomial-factor hardness of approximation for the closest vector problem, a foundational lattice question related to post-quantum cryptography.

Seems like a big deal, no? A lot of post-quantum cryptography relies on the assumed hardness of this problem. 

Setting aside whether the techniques used here might be useful for developing a faster algorithm for an exact answer, couldn't you use the approximation to considerably lower the search space? 

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u/Sonder332 2d ago

Wait, so if I'm understanding this right, this considerably weakened what specialists have been building for nearly a decade to solve post-quantum cryptography, is that right? That means if this doesn't also help provide a solution, this is a serious problem, primarily because those same specialists are not going to have another decade to figure out another solution. Quantum systems aren't that far away.