Prerequisite: NP-Completeness
NP Problem:
The NP problems set of problems whose solutions are hard to find but easy to verify and are solved by Non-Deterministic Machine in polynomial time.
NP-Hard Problem:
A Problem X is NP-Hard if there is an NP-Complete problem Y, such that Y is reducible to X in polynomial time. NP-Hard problems are as hard as NP-Complete problems. NP-Hard Problem need not be in NP class.
A problem X is NP-Complete if there is an NP problem Y, such that Y is reducible to X in polynomial time. NP-Complete problems are as hard as NP problems. A problem is NP-Complete if it is a part of both NP and NP-Hard Problem. A non-deterministic Turing machine can solve NP-Complete problem in polynomial time.
Difference between NP-Hard and NP-Complete:
| NP-hard | NP-Complete |
|---|---|
| NP-Hard problems(say X) can be solved if and only if there is a NP-Complete problem(say Y) that can be reducible into X in polynomial time. | NP-Complete problems can be solved by a annon-deterministic Algorithm/Turing Machine in polynomial time. |
| To solve this problem, do not have to be in NP . | To solve this problem, it must be both NP and NP-hard problems. |
| Do not have to be a Decision problem. | It is exclusively a Decision problem. |
| Example: Halting problem, Vertex cover problem, Circuit-satisfiability problem, etc. | Example: Determine whether a graph has a Hamiltonian cycle, Determine whether a Boolean formula is satisfiable or not, etc. |
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