Related papers: Unshuffling a Square is NP-Hard

We correct a paper previously submitted to CoRR. That paper claimed that the algorithm there described was provably of linear time complexity in the average case. The alleged proof of that statement contained an error, being based on an…

We show that unless P=NP, there exists no polynomial time (or even pseudo-polynomial time) algorithm that can decide whether a multivariate polynomial of degree four (or higher even degree) is globally convex. This solves a problem that has…

In this work, we introduce a novel variant of the multivariate quadratic problem, which is at the core of one of the most promising post-quantum alternatives: multivariate cryptography. In this variant, the solution of a given multivariate…

In the 60's, Knuth introduced stack-sorting and serial compositions of stacks. In particular, one significant question arise out of the work of Knuth: how to decide efficiently if a given permutation is sortable with 2 stacks in series?…

We introduce a new type of card shuffle called one-sided transpositions. At each step a card is chosen uniformly from the pack and then transposed with another card chosen uniformly from below it. This defines a random walk on the symmetric…

The Fisher-Yates shuffle is a well-known algorithm for shuffling a finite sequence, such that every permutation is equally likely. Despite its simplicity, it is prone to implementation errors that can introduce bias into the generated…

We construct a class of superstring solutions in non trivial space-time. The existence of an $N=4$ world-sheet superconformal symmetry stabilizes our solutions under perturbative string loop corrections and implies in target space some…

In this paper, we revisit the much studied problem of Pattern Matching with Swaps (Swap Matching problem, for short). We first present a graph-theoretic model, which opens a new and so far unexplored avenue to solve the problem. Then, using…

We introduce a new family of one-player games, involving the movement of coins from one configuration to another. Moves are restricted so that a coin can be placed only in a position that is adjacent to at least two other coins. The goal of…

The NP-complete graph problem Cluster Editing seeks to transform a static graph into a disjoint union of cliques by making the fewest possible edits to the edges. We introduce a natural interpretation of this problem in temporal graphs,…

Multidimensional combinatorial substitutions are rules that replace symbols by finite patterns of symbols in $\mathbb Z^d$. We focus on the case where the patterns are not necessarily rectangular, which requires a specific description of…

We present a generalization of a known fact from combinatorics on words related to periodicity into quasiperiodicity. A string is called periodic if it has a period which is at most half of its length. A string $w$ is called quasiperiodic…

Motivated by recent computational models for redistricting and detection of gerrymandering, we study the following problem on graph partitions. Given a graph $G$ and an integer $k\geq 1$, a $k$-district map of $G$ is a partition of $V(G)$…

Answering a question of Haugland, we show that the pooling problem with one pool and a bounded number of inputs can be solved in polynomial time by solving a polynomial number of linear programs of polynomial size. We also give an overview…

A graph $G$ is {\em matching-decyclable} if it has a matching $M$ such that $G-M$ is acyclic. Deciding whether $G$ is matching-decyclable is an NP-complete problem even if $G$ is 2-connected, planar, and subcubic. In this work we present…

In this note, we first introduce a new problem called the longest common subsequence and substring problem. Let $X$ and $Y$ be two strings over an alphabet $\Sigma$. The longest common subsequence and substring problem for $X$ and $Y$ is to…

A $\lambda$-cover of a string $S$ is a set of strings $\{C_i\}_1^\lambda$ such that every index in $S$ is contained in an occurrence of at least one string $C_i$. The existence of a $1$-cover defines a well-known class of quasi-periodic…

Suppose we want to seek the longest common subsequences (LCSs) of two strings as informative patterns that explain the relationship between the strings. The dynamic programming algorithm gives us a table from which all LCSs can be extracted…

The Parikh vector p(s) of a string s is defined as the vector of multiplicities of the characters. Parikh vector q occurs in s if s has a substring t with p(t)=q. We present two novel algorithms for searching for a query q in a text s. One…

In this paper, we show an improved bound and new algorithm for the online square-into-square packing problem. This two-dimensional packing problem involves packing an online sequence of squares into a unit square container without any two…