Catalytic Computing Taps the Full Power of a Full Hard Drive
1 min read
Summary
Computer scientists have long suspected that it’s impossible to solve certain problems using minimal computer memory.
However, a theoretical framework called catalytic computing could prove them wrong.
The approach was developed by a team of researchers who showed that a full memory can theoretically aid computation.
Although the team initially only considered the use of extremely large full memories, other researchers later applied catalytic computing to a standard approach to solving a major open question in computer science, with mixed results.
In 2023, two researchers showed that an improved version of the method could solve a specific problem, the tree evaluation problem, using barely more memory than allowed for problems in L.
Cook and Mertz’s results have galvanized interest in catalytic computing, with new research exploring its potential.
