Ask HN: Which open mathematical problems block immediate technical progress?
Are there any problems in math which, if solved, would immediately impact technology? Doesn't matter which type of technology.
I don't think it works that way. It's not math that's the problem, there are some brilliant mathematicians working as developers.
I think it's more like spotting an opportunity and having the technical skills to execute.
I mean, I guess if you count hacking HN ranking system = immediate impact Technology?
> I don't think it works that way.
Sure it does. With new mathematical discoveries, there come direct and immediate consequences to the technologies built using previous assumptions - which will now either be validated or invalidated.
If, for example, prime factorization is proven to be not computationally difficult, invalidating the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strong_RSA_assumption, and somebody publishes a practical method, then most of the world's cryptography systems utilizing RSA would be hacked immediately.
Find better quantum error correcting codes, and quantum computers will show up that much faster.
Prove P != NP
Or more exciting, p = np