P != NP, propositional proof complexity, and resolution lower bounds for the weak pigeonhole principle

Recent results established exponential lower bounds for the length of any Resolution proof for the weak pigeonhole principle. More formally, it was proved that any Resolution proof for the weak pigeonhole principle, with n holes and any number of pigeons, is of length fl(2 ), (for a constant e = 1/3). One corollary is that certain propositional formulations of the statement P / NP do not have short Resolution proofs. After a short introduction to the problem of P / NP and to the research area of propositional proof complexity, I will discuss the above mentioned lower bounds for the weak pigeonhole principle and the connections to the hardness of proving P / NP. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 68Q15, 68Q17, 03F20, 03D15.