In science and mathematics, an open problem or an open question is a known problem that can be accurately stated, and has not yet been solved (no solution for it is known). Notable examples of for-long open problems in Mathematics, that have been solved and closed by researchers in the late twentieth century, are Fermat's Last Theorem[1] and the Four color map theorem.[2][3]
Important open problems exist in many fields, such as theoretical computer science, physics and mathematics. One of the most important open problems in biochemistry is how to predict a protein's structure from its sequence - this is the protein structure prediction problem.[4][5]
It is common in graduate schools to point out open problems to students. Graduate students as well as faculty members often engage in research to solve such problems.
See also
- List of unsolved problems
- Open Problem Garden The collection of open problems in mathematics build on the principle of user editable ("wiki") site
References
- ^ Faltings, Gerd (July 1995). "The Proof of Fermat's Last Theorem by R. Taylor and A. Wiles" (PDF). Notices of the AMS 42 (7): pp. 743–746. ISSN 0002-9920. http://www.ams.org/notices/199507/faltings.pdf.
- ^ K. Appel and W. Haken (1977), "Every planar map is four colorable. Part I. Discharging", Illinois J. Math 21: 429-490. MR 58:27598d
- ^ K. Appel, W. Haken, and J. Koch (1977), "Every planar map is four colorable. Part II. Reducibility", Illinois J. Math 21: 491-567. MR 58:27598d
- ^ Vendruscolo, M.; Najmanovich, R.; Domany, E. (1999), "Protein Folding in Contact Map Space", Physical Review Letters 82 (3): 656–659, doi:
- ^ Dill, K.A.; Ozkan, S.B.; Weikl, T.R.; Chodera, J.D.; Voelz, V.A. (2007), "The protein folding problem: when will it be solved?", Current Opinion in Structural Biology 17 (3): 342–346, doi:, http://laplace.compbio.ucsf.edu/~jchodera/pubs/pdf/protein-folding-problem.pdf
External links
- Kennedy, Donald; Norman, Colin (2005), "What Don't We Know?", Science 309 (5731): 75–75, doi:, PMID 15994521, http://www.sciencesignaling.org/cgi/content/summary/sci;309/5731/75
- "So much more to know". Science (journal) 309 (5731): 78–102. July 2005. doi:. PMID 15994524.
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