Related papers: Inglenook Shunting Puzzles
In the discrete Tempotron learning problem a neuron receives time varying inputs and for a set of such input sequences ($\mathcal S_-$ set) the neuron must be sub-threshold for all times while for some other sequences ($\mathcal S_+$ set)…
We consider a problem of shuffling a deck of cards with ordered labels. Namely we split the deck of N=k^tq cards (where t>=1 is maximal) into k equally sized stacks and then take the top card off of each stack and sort them by the order of…
The Skorokhod embedding problem is to represent a given probability as the distribution of Brownian motion at a chosen stopping time. Over the last 50 years this has become one of the important classical problems in probability theory and a…
This article aims to explain the Nested Benders algorithm for the solution of large-scale stochastic programming problems in a way that is intelligible to someone coming to it for the first time. In doing so it gives an explanation of…
The safe linear bandit problem is a version of the classical stochastic linear bandit problem where the learner's actions must satisfy an uncertain constraint at all rounds. Due its applicability to many real-world settings, this problem…
This paper presents iNNK, a multiplayer drawing game where human players team up against an NN. The players need to successfully communicate a secret code word to each other through drawings, without being deciphered by the NN. With this…
A rotor configuration on a graph contains in every vertex an infinite ordered sequence of rotors, each is pointing to a neighbor of the vertex. After sampling a configuration according to some probability measure, a rotor walk is a…
The following geometric vehicle scheduling problem has been considered: given continuous curves $f_1, \ldots, f_n : \mathbb{R} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}^2$, find non-negative delays $t_1, \ldots, t_n$ minimizing $\max \{ t_1, \ldots, t_n \}$…
A Fano problem is an enumerative problem of counting $r$-dimensional linear subspaces on a complete intersection in $\mathbb{P}^n$ over a field of arbitrary characteristic, whenever the corresponding Fano scheme is finite. A classical…
A sliding puzzle is a combination puzzle where a player slide pieces along certain routes on a board to reach a certain end-configuration. In this paper, we propose a novel measurement of complexity of massive sliding puzzles with…
Let $S$ be an independent set of a simple undirected graph $G$. Suppose that each vertex of $S$ has a token placed on it. The tokens are allowed to be moved, one at a time, by sliding along the edges of $G$, so that after each move, the…
We study the following combinatorial problem. Given a set of $n$ y-monotone \emph{wires}, a \emph{tangle} determines the order of the wires on a number of horizontal \emph{layers} such that the orders of the wires on any two consecutive…
The problem of existence of closed knight tours for rectangular chessboards was solved by Schwenk in 1991. Last year, in 2011, DeMaio and Mathew provide an extension of this result for 3-dimensional rectangular boards. In this article, we…
Segerman's 15+4 puzzle is a hinged version of the classic 15-puzzle, in which the tiles rotate as they slide around. In 1974, Wilson classified the groups of solutions to sliding block puzzles. We generalize Wilson's result to puzzles like…
We examine a new variant of the classic prisoners and lightswitches puzzle: A warden leads his $n$ prisoners in and out of $r$ rooms, one at a time, in some order, with each prisoner eventually visiting every room an arbitrarily large…
In 1864 W.S.B. Woolhouse formulated the Cotton-Spinning problem. This problem boils down to the following. A piecer works at a spinning mule and walks back and forth to repair broken threads. The question is how far the piecer is expected…
In this paper, we present novel algorithms that efficiently compute a shortest reconfiguration sequence between two given dominating sets in trees and interval graphs under the Token Sliding model. In this problem, a graph is provided along…
We consider a variant of the crash-fault gathering problem called stand-up indulgent gathering (SUIG). In this problem, a group of mobile robots must eventually gather at a single location, which is not known in advance. If no robots crash,…
The Monty Hall puzzle has been solved and dissected in many ways, but always using probabilistic arguments, so it is considered a probability puzzle. In this paper the puzzle is set up as an orthodox statistical problem involving an unknown…
The aim of this survey article is to highlight several notoriously intractable problems about knots and links, as well as to provide a brief discussion of what is known about them.