Is ETH still credible? A trivial 7^n/3 = 1.913^n SAT algorithm raises doubts
minilek · x · 2026-10-28
minilek asks complexity theorists: besides 'smart people haven't found a faster algorithm yet,' was there ever a positive reason to believe the Exponential Time Hypothesis? He notes 'nothing beats brute force' was already false — a series of papers kept shrinking the base c<2 for SAT, which in hindsight should have made one bearish on ETH. He also shows getting some c<2 is basically trivial: recursively try the 7 settings of the first clause's variables that don't falsify it and skip the 8th; T(n) = 7T(n-3) gives O(1.913^n).
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