Related papers: Gourds: a sliding-block puzzle with turning
We define an $n$-gon to be any convex polygon with $n$ vertices. Let $V$ represent the set of vertices of the polygon. A proper $k$-coloring refers to a function, $f$ : $V$ $\rightarrow$ $\{1, 2, 3, ... k\}$, such that for any two vertices…
Sudoku is a popular combinatorial puzzle. A new method of solving Sudoku is presented, which involves formulating a puzzle as a special type of transportation problem. This model allows one to solve puzzles with more than one solution,…
The following game in a similar formulation to Petri nets and chip-firing games is studied: Given a finite collection of baskets, each has an infinite number of balls of the same value. Initially, a ball from some basket is chosen to put on…
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…
We consider the problem of $q$-colouring a $k$-uniform random hypergraph, where $q,k \geq 3$, and determine the rigidity threshold. For edge densities above the rigidity threshold, we show that almost all solutions have a linear number of…
In this paper a closed form expression for the number of tilings of an $n\times n$ square border with $1\times 1$ and $2\times1$ cuisenaire rods is proved using a transition matrix approach. This problem is then generalised to $m\times n$…
A fast multigrid solver is presented for high-order accurate Stokes problems discretised by local discontinuous Galerkin (LDG) methods. The multigrid algorithm consists of a simple V-cycle, using an element-wise block Gauss-Seidel smoother.…
Suppose that you add rigid bars between points in the plane, and suppose that a constant fraction $q$ of the points moves freely in the whole plane; the remaining fraction is constrained to move on fixed lines called sliders. When does a…
We study the existence of an $n$-fold rotationally symmetric placement of a symmetric graph in the plane allowing a continuous deformation that preserves the symmetry and the distances between adjacent vertices. We show that such a flexible…
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…
A great number of robotics applications demand the rearrangement of many mobile objects, e.g., organizing products on shelves, shuffling containers at shipping ports, reconfiguring fleets of mobile robots, and so on. To boost the throughput…
Shikaku is a pencil puzzle consisting of a rectangular grid, with some cells containing a number. The player has to partition the grid into rectangles such that each rectangle contains exactly one number equal to the area of that rectangle.…
Recently, due to the widespread diffusion of smart-phones, mobile puzzle games have experienced a huge increase in their popularity. A successful puzzle has to be both captivating and challenging, and it has been suggested that this…
We present a nondeterministic model of computation based on reversing edge directions in weighted directed graphs with minimum in-flow constraints on vertices. Deciding whether this simple graph model can be manipulated in order to reverse…
We introduce and examine the {\em Holiday Gathering Problem} which models the difficulty that couples have when trying to decide with which parents should they spend the holiday. Our goal is to schedule the family gatherings so that the…
We consider Flipping Coins, a partizan version of the impartial game Turning Turtles, played on lines of coins. We show the values of this game are numbers, and these are found by first applying a reduction, then decomposing the position…
This puzzle, often called the "Reverse the Triangle Puzzle," appears regularly in puzzle books. Four rows consisting of 1 coin in row 1, 2 coins in row 2, 3 coins in row 3, and 4 coins in row 4 form the shape of a triangle. What is the…
Finding Hamitonian Cycles in square grid graphs is a well studied and important questions. More recent work has extended these results to triangular and hexagonal grids, as well as further restricted versions. In this paper, we examine a…
Inspired by the allure of additive fabrication, we pose the problem of origami design from a new perspective: how can we grow a folded surface in three dimensions from a seed so that it is guaranteed to be isometric to the plane? We solve…
The 1-2-3 conjecture has been solved positively in 2024 for finite graphs and by extension for infinite graphs which are locally finite. The solution is non-constructive, and finding explicit solutions for large (or infinite) graphs is very…