I could believe some sort of amazing mathematical breakthrough that produced a factoring algorithm that was polynomial in N. The notion that one will show up thats not merely polynomial but actually logarithmic in N is, I would say, in the "beyond pipe dream" state. I might believe something like that showing up someday -- stranger things have happened -- but I have an incredible amount of trouble believing that one exists now and has merely been overlooked by people smart enough to find an amazing result and too stupid to know what their result implied.
Perry
I am *NOT* talking about factoring anything. Perhaps this is why you are having a problem understanding what I am asking. I don't care what the original key is, simply am I above it or below it. I don't see this as a 1 to 1 with factoring large digit numbers. I am less than convinced by this line of reasoning, if somebody has looked at it why is there no mention in the texts on number theory or crypto that I have access to? I am no expert and have not read all the texts in their entirety, too busy building rockets and working on my own internet feed, which is why I asked if anyone could point me to some prior work. I myself find it hard to believe that such could be possible but one thing is certain about life, it isn't. Take care...