LR-ITU-AI-SPACE · Computing
OPENAI and machine learning for space computing
The ITU AI/ML Challenge platform hosts global applied-AI competitions, including an AI and Space Computing Challenge with a CHF 39,000 prize pool.
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Limits RegistryRegistry collection
Open Limits in Computing
Unresolved frontiers in computation, algorithms, complexity, storage, and networks.
36 published records in this collectionLR-DRAFT-ALG-30 · Algorithms
OPENApproximate nearest-neighbor search
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for approximate nearest-neighbor search.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-12 · Algorithms
OPENBellman-Ford shortest-path complexity
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for bellman-ford shortest-path complexity.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-16 · Algorithms
OPENBipartite matching complexity
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for bipartite matching complexity.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-19 · Algorithms
OPENClosest-pair divide-and-conquer complexity
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for closest-pair divide-and-conquer complexity.
LR-CLOUD-STORAGE-DURABILITY · Computing
OPENCloud object storage durability (vendor-published target)
AWS publishes a "designed to provide 99.999999999%" (11 nines) annual durability target for S3 Standard storage, based on redundancy across at least 3 Availability Zones. This is a modeled engineering target stated in AWS's own documentation, not a third-party-audited empirical result — no major cloud provider (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Backblaze) publishes an independently audited durability measurement, so this figure should be read as a vendor design claim, not a verified outcome.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-18 · Algorithms
OPENConvex-hull output-sensitive complexity
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for convex-hull output-sensitive complexity.
LR-003724 · Data Storage
OPENDNA Fountain demonstrated storage density
Demonstrated coded DNA storage density reported by the DNA Fountain experiment.
LR-DRAFT-DNA · Data Storage
OPENDNA information density
DNA can in principle store far more information per gram than any other known medium. This tracks two genuinely different figures that should never be conflated: the theoretical raw nucleotide encoding limit, and the density actually demonstrated by real error-corrected schemes like DNA Fountain — which are orders of magnitude apart.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-11 · Algorithms
OPENDijkstra shortest-path complexity
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for dijkstra shortest-path complexity.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-07 · Algorithms
OPENEdit-distance fine-grained barrier
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for edit-distance fine-grained barrier.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-27 · Algorithms
OPENEuclidean MST complexity
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for euclidean mst complexity.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-20 · Algorithms
OPENFast integer multiplication
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for fast integer multiplication.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-08 · Algorithms
OPENFast matrix multiplication exponent
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for fast matrix multiplication exponent.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-29 · Algorithms
OPENFast multipoint polynomial evaluation
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for fast multipoint polynomial evaluation.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-13 · Algorithms
OPENFloyd-Warshall all-pairs complexity
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for floyd-warshall all-pairs complexity.
LR-VESUVIUS · Computing
OPENFull virtual unrolling of a carbonized Herculaneum scroll
The Vesuvius Challenge, a privately funded prize founded by Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross, offers a $1,000,000 Grand Prize (part of a $2.14M total open prize pool) for the first team to virtually unroll and read an entire carbonized Herculaneum scroll using CT scans and ML, without physically opening it. The deadline is June 25, 2027; the Grand Prize remains unclaimed as of August 2026, though smaller Progress and First Letters prizes have been awarded along the way.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-06 · Algorithms
OPENGlobal minimum-cut approximation
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for global minimum-cut approximation.
LR-FIBER-THROUGHPUT · Computing
OPENHighest single-fiber data transmission capacity
Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), with Eindhoven University of Technology and the University of L'Aquila, demonstrated 22.9 Pbit/s in a single fiber, announced November 30, 2023 (presented at ECOC 2023). A separate, differently-scoped record exists for capacity over long-haul distance (1.02 Pbit/s over 1,808 km using standard-cladding-diameter fiber, May 2025) — the two figures measure different things and shouldn't be conflated.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-09 · Algorithms
OPENLinear programming in fixed dimension
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for linear programming in fixed dimension.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-17 · Algorithms
OPENLinear-time median finding
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for linear-time median finding.
LR-LOW-LATENCY-LINK · Computing
OPENLowest one-way latency, long-haul network link
McKay Brothers / Quincy Data published a one-way latency of 3.982 ms over their microwave/millimeter-wave relay network between Aurora, IL (near Chicago) and Carteret, NJ (near the Nasdaq data center) — roughly 1,200 km — in a release dated May 12, 2016. Microwave beats fiber on this route because signals travel through air at close to the vacuum speed of light, versus roughly 68% of that speed in glass fiber. This is the most recent publicly documented figure for this specific corridor as of 2026; providers have continued upgrading their networks since, so a newer figure may exist without having been published.
LR-DRAFT-OMEGA · Algorithms
OPENMatrix-multiplication exponent
Matrix multiplication underlies everything from computer graphics to machine learning. The naive algorithm takes O(n³) operations for n×n matrices, but faster algorithms exist — the matrix multiplication exponent ω tracks the best asymptotic speed anyone has proven achievable.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-15 · Algorithms
OPENMaximum-flow push-relabel complexity
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for maximum-flow push-relabel complexity.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-24 · Algorithms
OPENMetric TSP Christofides approximation
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for metric tsp christofides approximation.
LR-DRAFT-TSP · Algorithms
OPENMetric TSP approximation frontier
The traveling salesman problem — finding the shortest route visiting every city once — is NP-hard to solve exactly, so research focuses on how close a fast algorithm can guarantee to get to the true optimum for realistic (metric) instances.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-23 · Algorithms
OPENOnline paging competitive ratio
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for online paging competitive ratio.
LR-DRAFT-OPTICAL · Networking
OPENOptical-fiber capacity-distance demonstration
Optical fiber capacity-distance demonstrations track the practical frontier of how much data can be transmitted how far through fiber — a moving target as multi-core fiber and better amplification push the record higher each year.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-22 · Algorithms
OPENPlanar graph isomorphism
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for planar graph isomorphism.
LR-NIH-QUANTUM-COMPUTING · Computing
OPENQuantum algorithms for biomedical problems
The NIH Quantum Computing Challenge seeks quantum-computing solutions to translational biomedical problems and lists a final project delivery deadline of March 29, 2027.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-04 · Algorithms
OPENRandomized minimum-cut complexity
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for randomized minimum-cut complexity.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-25 · Algorithms
OPENSet-cover greedy approximation
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for set-cover greedy approximation.
LR-MICROSOFT-QUANTUM-PIONEERS-2026 · Computing
OPENSoftware foundations for fault-tolerant quantum computing
Microsofts 2026 Quantum Pioneers Software Track solicited academic proposals in quantum error correction, algorithms, applications, and architecture. Its entry period ended July 17, 2026.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-28 · Algorithms
OPENSuffix-array construction
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for suffix-array construction.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-14 · Algorithms
OPENUnion-find inverse-Ackermann bound
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for union-find inverse-ackermann bound.
LR-DRAFT-ALG-26 · Algorithms
OPENVertex-cover approximation
A scoped, source-linked candidate record for vertex-cover approximation.