Optical Computing spans a variety of multi-disciplinary research. Instances are: Liquid Crystals (light polarization), Signal-processing (both digital as well as analog), Computational Complexity, Ad-Hoc Solutions for NP-hard problems (such as the Travelling Salesman Problem), and Optical Computation Models.
In this talk, I will motivate why there is an especially fascinating connection between Optical Computing, Liquid Crystals, and Complexity Theory. Using recent examples from NP complete problems (such as the celebrated TSP), I will attempt to explain whether any oblique insights can be gleaned into the NP versus P problem by experimental progress in Optical Computing. |