Mathematicians still don’t know the fastest way to multiply numbers
35 points by carlomonte
35 points by carlomonte
I enjoyed the history, but I don't understand how the title supports the text. We don't know of a faster way than the one in 1960, so why imply there's a faster one?
"Fastest" to a mathematician means "fastest possible", not "fastest known". You don't get to claim something is the fastest until you've proven that nothing (asymtotically) faster could possibly exist.
Keep reading to the end - there's mention of a 2019 O(nlogn) solution, and that it's still unknown whether that is the best you can do.
The correct reading of the title is: we don't know if the currently known fastest is the fastest.