Argmin says OpenAI's claimed faster Fourier transform is a galactic algorithm
Overview
Ben Recht of Argmin examines a claim in OpenAI's math repository that its Fourier transform improves on the Cooley-Tukey FFT by a slightly smaller log(n) term.
Recht argues the algorithm is galactic, with a hidden constant he estimates at 10^100 for n=10^12, so it would not beat the FFT in practice. He also says the analysis assumes exact complex arithmetic that real computers cannot perform.
Recht concludes the result reflects loose formalization in theoretical computer science more than a practical breakthrough.
Written by AI from the articles below · updated Oct 13, 7:11 AM ET
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- Hacker News · AI (150+ points)BlogArgmin critiques OpenAI's claimed faster Fourier transform as galactic algorithm
AIArgmin's Ben Recht examines OpenAI's math repository, which claims a faster Fourier transform with a slightly smaller log(n) term than Cooley-Tukey FFT. He argues the algorithm is galactic, with an estimated hidden constant of 10^100 at n=10^12, and assumes exact complex arithmetic that real computers cannot perform. He concludes the result is less a practical breakthrough than a product of loose formalization in theoretical computer science.
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