The science of brute force

Abstract

We discuss recent advances in the science of brute-force. Very hard problems can now be solved by adding "brute reasoning" to the brute-force method, in the form of SAT solving (satisfiability solving). A key example is the recent solution of the boolean Pythagorean triples problem, which comes from the mathematical domain. The proof produced here, the largest proof ever constructed (200 TB), had a strong media echo, and scepticism about its "meaning" (or absence thereof) has been raised. We show, that these methods and extracted proofs have indeed meaning, and are indeed useful, when taking the real-world applications into account, the domain of safety and verification