Published May 27, 2025 | Version 1 (Zenodo)
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A Minimal Constructive Proof That P ≠ NP via Witness Incompressibility

Description

A formally verified, uniform constructive resolution that P ≠ NP, derived via witness incompressibility. No oracles. No assumptions. No heuristics. Just Kolmogorov bounds, counting arguments, and a contradiction.

This paper presents a minimal constructive resolution that P ≠ NP in the classical Turing model, without relying on uncomputable encodings or complexity-theoretic proxies. By isolating NP instances whose witnesses are provably incompressible, we show that any polynomial-time algorithm capable of generating such witnesses would necessarily violate information-theoretic bounds. The result is a contradiction. The approach is fully formal, uniformly constructive, and resistant to all known metamathematical barriers: relativization, natural proofs, and algebrization.

This proof may close a fifty-year open question. It does not rely on assumptions about hardness, but instead on the incompatibility between deterministic computation and high-entropy witness structures. The method is rigorous, minimal, and verifiable. It may also serve as a template for future separations in complexity theory, including L ≠ P, NP ≠ BQP, and entropy-based boundaries within the polynomial hierarchy.

Other (French)

Une preuve uniforme, formellement vérifiée, que P ≠ NP, fondée sur l’incompressibilité des témoins. Aucun oracle. Aucune hypothèse. Aucune heuristique. Uniquement des bornes de Kolmogorov, des arguments de dénombrement, et une contradiction.

Cet article présente une preuve constructive minimale que P ≠ NP dans le modèle classique de machine de Turing, sans recourir à des encodages non calculables ni à des approximations issues de la théorie de la complexité. En isolant des instances du langage NP dont les témoins sont prouvés incompressibles, nous démontrons que toute machine déterministe en temps polynomial capable de produire de tels témoins violerait nécessairement les bornes imposées par la théorie de l’information. Il en résulte une contradiction. L’approche est entièrement formelle, uniformément constructive, et résiste aux trois grandes barrières métamathématiques connues : la relativisation, les preuves naturelles et l’algebrization.

Cette preuve pourrait contribuer à résoudre une question ouverte depuis cinquante ans. Elle ne repose sur aucune hypothèse de difficulté algorithmique, mais sur l’incompatibilité entre calcul déterministe et structures de témoins à forte entropie. La méthode est rigoureuse, minimale et vérifiable. Elle pourrait également servir de cadre pour d’autres séparations en théorie de la complexité, telles que L ≠ P, NP ≠ BQP, ou les frontières informationnelles dans la hiérarchie polynomiale.

Abstract

We provide a constructive resolution that P ≠ NP by contradiction, establishing that no deterministic polynomial-time algorithm can generate valid witnesses for all instances of canonical NP-complete problems. The argument constructs, for every sufficiently large input length n, a dense subset of problem instances whose valid witnesses are provably incompressible in the sense of Kolmogorov complexity. Assuming P = NP implies the existence of a uniform algorithm that outputs such witnesses from their corresponding inputs in polynomial time, which in turn yields a program of description length at most n + c that outputs an incompressible string of complexity exceeding n + δ. This contradiction is derived purely from classical counting bounds and does not depend on approximating or computing the Kolmogorov function. The proof is non-relativizing, non-algebrizing, and non-naturalizable. It is fully constructive, strictly uniform, and does not rely on unproven cryptographic or circuit assumptions. This establishes an unconditional separation between P and NP in the classical Turing model.

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A Minimal Constructive Proof That P not NP via Witness Incompressibility - A J Murphy - V2.7.7 - 2025.05.27.pdf

Additional details

Additional titles

Translated title (French)
Une preuve constructive minimale que 𝑃 ≠ 𝑁 𝑃 P  =NP via l'incompressibilité des témoins
Translated title (German)
Ein minimaler konstruktiver Beweis, dass 𝑃 ≠ 𝑁 𝑃 P  =NP, über die Unkomprimierbarkeit von Zeugen
Translated title (Spanish)
Una demostración constructiva mínima de que 𝑃 ≠ 𝑁 𝑃 P  =NP mediante la incomprensibilidad de testigos
Alternative title (English)
A Uniform Proof That 𝑃 ≠ 𝑁 𝑃 P  =NP via Kolmogorov-Incompressible Witnesses

Related works

Dates

Submitted
2025-05-27
A constructive, barrier-resistant proof that P ≠ NP, using Kolmogorov incompressibility to expose the informational limits of uniform polynomial-time algorithms.