Related papers: A linear threshold for uniqueness of solutions to …
A random jigsaw puzzle is constructed by arranging $n^2$ square pieces into an $n \times n$ grid and assigning to each edge of a piece one of $q$ available colours uniformly at random, with the restriction that touching edges receive the…
In recent work by Mossel and Ross, it was asked how large $q$ has to be for a random jigsaw puzzle with $q$ different shapes of "jigs" to have exactly one solution. The jigs are assumed symmetric in the sense that two jigs of the same type…
In a recent work, Mossel and Ross considered the shotgun assembly problem for a random jigsaw puzzle. Their model consists of a puzzle - an $n\times n$ grid, where each vertex is viewed as a center of a piece. They assume that each of the…
A colouring of the edges of an $n \times n$ grid is said to be \emph{reconstructible} if the colouring is uniquely determined by the multiset of its $n^2$ \emph{tiles}, where the tile corresponding to a vertex of the grid specifies the…
We prove the computational intractability of rotating and placing $n$ square tiles into a $1 \times n$ array such that adjacent tiles are compatible--either equal edge colors, as in edge-matching puzzles, or matching tab/pocket shapes, as…
We study the complexity of symmetric assembly puzzles: given a collection of simple polygons, can we translate, rotate, and possibly flip them so that their interior-disjoint union is line symmetric? On the negative side, we show that the…
A matrix is given in ``shredded'' form if we are presented with the multiset of rows and the multiset of columns, but not told which row is which or which column is which. The matrix is reconstructible if it is uniquely determined by this…
Jigsaw puzzle solving, the problem of constructing a coherent whole from a set of non-overlapping unordered visual fragments, is fundamental to numerous applications, and yet most of the literature of the last two decades has focused thus…
Jigsaw percolation is a nonlocal process that iteratively merges connected clusters in a deterministic "puzzle graph" by using connectivity properties of a random "people graph" on the same set of vertices. We presume the Erdos--Renyi…
Let $A$ be a random $m\times n$ matrix over the finite field $F_q$ with precisely $k$ non-zero entries per row and let $y\in F_q^m$ be a random vector chosen independently of $A$. We identify the threshold $m/n$ up to which the linear…
We introduce the random graph $\mathcal{P}(n,q)$ which results from taking the union of two paths of length $n\geq 1$, where the vertices of one of the paths have been relabelled according to a Mallows permutation with parameter $0<q(n)\leq…
We consider random systems of linear equations over GF(2) in which every equation binds k variables. We obtain a precise description of the clustering of solutions in such systems. In particular, we prove that with probability that tends to…
We study the puzzle graphs of hexagonal sliding puzzles of various shapes and with various numbers of holes. The puzzle graph is a combinatorial model which captures the solvability and the complexity of sequential mechanical puzzles.…
We propose a novel mathematical framework to address the problem of automatically solving large jigsaw puzzles. This problem assumes a large image, which is cut into equal square pieces that are arbitrarily rotated and shuffled, and asks to…
In the graph shotgun assembly problem, we are given the balls of radius $r$ around each vertex of a graph and asked to reconstruct the graph. We study the shotgun assembly of the Erd\H{o}s-R\'enyi random graph $\mathcal G(n,p)$ for a wide…
We derive a combinatorial equilibrium for bounded juggling patterns with a random, $q$-geometric throw distribution. The dynamics are analyzed via rook placements on staircase Ferrers boards, which leads to a steady-state distribution…
Sumplete is a logic puzzle famous for being developed by ChatGPT. The puzzle consists of a rectangular grid, with each cell containing a number. The player has to cross out some numbers such that the sum of uncrossed numbers in each row and…
Limiting distributions are derived for the sparse connected components that are present when a random graph on $n$ vertices has approximately $\half n$ edges. In particular, we show that such a graph consists entirely of trees, unicyclic…
Mossel and Ross (2019) introduce the shotgun assembly problem for random graphs: what radius $R$ ensures that the random graph $G$ can be uniquely recovered from its list of rooted $R$-neighborhoods, with high probability? Here we consider…
We consider a randomized algorithm for the unique games problem, using independent multinomial probabilities to assign labels to the vertices of a graph. The expected value of the solution obtained by the algorithm is expressed as a…