Related papers: How do you fix an Oval Track Puzzle?

We prove that a variant of 2048, a popular online puzzle game, is PSPACE-Complete. Our hardness result holds for a version of the problem where the player has oracle access to the computer player's moves. Specifically, we show that for an…

We analyze the number of tile types $t$, bins $b$, and stages necessary to assemble $n \times n$ squares and scaled shapes in the staged tile assembly model. For $n \times n$ squares, we prove $\mathcal{O}(\frac{\log{n} - tb - t\log t}{b^2}…

We look at sets of tiles that can tile any region of size greater than 1 on the square grid. This is not the typical tiling question, but relates closely to it and therefore can help solve other tiling problems -- we give an example of…

For $n>3$, every $n\times n$ partial Cayley matrix with at most $n-1$ holes can be reconstructed by quadrangle criterion. Moreover, the holes can be filled in given order. Without additional assumptions, this is the best possible result.…

We consider the number of domino tilings of an odd-by-odd rectangle that leave one hole. This problem is equivalent to the number of near-perfect matchings of the odd-by-odd rectangular grid. For any particular position of the vacancy on…

Two latin squares are orthogonal if, when they are superimposed, every ordered pair of symbols appears exactly once. This definition extends naturally to `incomplete' latin squares each having a hole on the same rows, columns, and symbols.…

We give a $O(n)$-time algorithm for determining whether translations of a polyomino with $n$ edges can tile the plane. The algorithm is also a $O(n)$-time algorithm for enumerating all such tilings that are also regular, and we prove that…

Let $X=(V,E)$ be a finite simple connected graph with $n$ vertices and $m$ edges. A configuration is an assignment of one of two colors, black or white, to each edge of $X.$ A move applied to a configuration is to select a black edge…

Discrete tomography deals with reconstructing finite spatial objects from lower dimensional projections and has applications for example in timetable design. In this paper we consider the problem of reconstructing a tile packing from its…

A tiling is a decomposition of a polygon into finitely many non-overlapping triangles. We prove that if a regular n-gon, $n \geq 5$, $n \neq 28$, can be tiled with similar right triangles, then one of the angles of these triangles is in…

Let $A$ be an $N\times N$ irreducible matrix with entries in $\{0,1\}$. We present an easy way to find an $(N+3)\times (N+3)$ irreducible matrix $\bar{A}$ with entries in $\{0,1\}$ such that their Cuntz--Krieger algebras ${\mathcal{O}}_A$…

We consider the problem of determining the minimum number of moves needed to solve a certain one-dimensional peg puzzle. Let N be a positive integer. The puzzle apparatus consists of a block with a single row of 2N+1 equally spaced holes…

We develop some tools, of an algebraic and combinatorial nature, which enable us to obtain a detailed description of certain quadratic subgroups of the (outer) reduced Weyl group of the Cuntz algebra ${\mathcal O}_n$. In particular, for…

Let $S$ be a connected graph which contains an induced path of $n-1$ vertices, where $n$ is the order of $S.$ We consider a puzzle on $S$. A configuration of the puzzle is simply an $n$-dimensional column vector over $\{0, 1\}$ with…

For positive integers $k$ and $n$, the shuffle group $G_{k,kn}$ is generated by the $k!$ permutations of a deck of $kn$ cards performed by cutting the deck into $k$ piles with $n$ cards in each pile, and then perfectly interleaving these…

Given a tree $T$ on $n$ vertices, and $k, b, s_1, \ldots, s_b \in N$, the Tree Partitioning problem asks if at most $k$ edges can be removed from $T$ so that the resulting components can be grouped into $b$ groups such that the number of…

We investigate subgroups of the group PLo(I) of piecewise-linear, orientation-preserving homeomorphisms of the unit interval with finitely many breaks in slope, under the operation of composition, and also subgroups of the generalized…

A dyadic tile of order n is any rectangle obtained from the unit square by n successive bisections by horizontal or vertical cuts. Let each dyadic tile of order n be available with probability p, independently of the others. We prove that…

An ordered partition of $[n]=\{1, 2, \ldots, n\}$ is a partition whose blocks are endowed with a linear order. Let $\mathcal{OP}_{n,k}$ be set of ordered partitions of $[n]$ with $k$ blocks and $\mathcal{OP}_{n,k}(\sigma)$ be set of ordered…

The parity type of a Latin square is defined in terms of the numbers of even and odd rows and columns. It is related to an Alon-Tarsi-like conjecture that applies to Latin squares of odd order. Parity types are used to derive upper bounds…