PRAM with no bit operations and P vs NC I was reading up on something called the PRAM model without bit operations. 
What exactly does it mean that this PRAM model cannot do bit operations?
I can't find a straightforward definition anywhere.
Surely the different processors will still be able to do all sorts of stuff with bits. The reason why I am asking is that the max-flow problem (which is in P cannot be solved in this model using a polynomial number of processors. So in fact it is a non-trivial implication of the conjecture 
that $P \neq NC$. So it is further "evidence" of the $P \neq NC$ conjecture.
Without further information, it's hard to tell exactly. However, to the best of my knowledge, bit operations may be intended as follows. Consider the problem of finding the maximum element in an array of $n$ real numbers. This problem can be solved by an EREW algorithm in $\Omega(\lg n)$; moreover, no CREW algorithm can do any better. 

However, this problem can be solved in $O(1)$ time with $n^2$ processors using a common-CRCW algorithm (in this model, when several processors write to the same location, they all write the same value). The key point here is that a CRCW PRAM is capable of performing a boolean AND of $n$ variables in $O(1)$ time with $n$ processors (which allows overcoming the $\Omega(\lg n)$ lower bound). I think that bit operations may refer to this powerful AND capability of a common-CRCW. 

Additional information regarding the FAST-MAX algorithm can be found in the first edition of CLRS Introduction to Algorithms, chapter 30 (ALGORITHMS FOR PARALLEL COMPUTERS).