What is the concept of intractability?

Computational Theory Questions



80 Short 79 Medium 51 Long Answer Questions Question Index

What is the concept of intractability?

In the context of computational theory, intractability refers to the property of a problem that cannot be efficiently solved by any known algorithm. It means that there is no algorithm that can solve the problem within a reasonable amount of time, especially as the input size increases. Intractable problems are typically characterized by exponential time complexity, where the time required to solve the problem grows exponentially with the size of the input. The concept of intractability is important in understanding the limitations of computation and has led to the development of complexity theory, which classifies problems based on their computational difficulty.