Related papers: The change-making problem for six coin values and …
The problem of change-point estimation is considered under a general framework where the data are generated by unknown stationary ergodic process distributions. In this context, the consistent estimation of the number of change-points is…
Let k_1,...,k_d be positive integers, and D be a subset of [k_1]x...x[k_d], whose complement can be decomposed into disjoint sets of the form {x_1}x...x{x_{s-1}}x[k_s]x{x_{s+1}}x...x{x_d}. We conjecture that the number of elements of D can…
Minimal balanced collections are a generalization of partitions of a finite set of n elements and have important applications in cooperative game theory and discrete mathematics. However, their number is not known beyond n = 4. In this…
Graph coloring is a fundamental problem in combinatorics with many applications in practice. In this problem, the vertices in a given graph must be colored by using the least number of colors in such a way that a vertex has a different…
Given a linear system, we consider the problem of finding a small set of variables to affect with an input so that the resulting system is controllable. We show that this problem is NP-hard; indeed, we show that even approximating the…
For a positive integer $m>1$, if the generalized Markoff equation $a^2+b^2+c^2=3abc+m$ has a solution triple, then it has infinitely many solutions. We show that all positive solution triples are generated by a finite set of triples that we…
The (classical) problem of characterizing and enumerating permutations that can be sorted using two stacks connected in series is still largely open. In the present paper we address a related problem, in which we impose restrictions both on…
We study variants of the \emph{Frobenius coin-exchange problem}: given $n$ positive relatively prime parameters, what is the largest integer that cannot be represented as a nonnegative integral linear combination of the given integers? This…
Dealing with multi-objective problems by using generation methods has some interesting advantages since it provides the decision-maker with the complete information about the set of non-dominated points (Pareto front) and a clear overview…
Coin-flipping is a fundamental task in two-party cryptography where two remote mistrustful parties wish to generate a shared uniformly random bit. While quantum protocols promising near-perfect security exist for weak coin-flipping -- when…
A minimal permutation representation of a finite group G is a faithful G-set with the smallest possible size. We study the structure of such representations and show that for certain groups they may be obtained by a greedy construction. In…
In the Colored Bin Packing problem a set of items with varying weights and colors must be packed into bins of uniform weight limit such that no two items of the same color may be packed adjacently within a bin. We solve this problem for the…
We study the problem of cutting a length-$n$ string of positive real numbers into $k$ pieces so that every piece has sum at least $b$. The problem can also be phrased as transforming such a string into a new one by merging adjacent numbers.…
For a finite group $G$, the size of a minimum generating set of $G$ is denoted by $d(G)$. Given a finite group $G$ and an integer $k$, deciding if $d(G)\leq k$ is known as the minimum generating set (MIN-GEN) problem. A group $G$ of order…
Given a set $V$, a subset $S$, and a permutation $\pi$ of $V$, we say that $\pi$ permutes $S$ if $\pi (S) \cap S = \emptyset$. Given a collection $\cS = \{V; S_1,\ldots , S_m\}$, where $S_i \subseteq V ~~(i=1,\ldots ,m)$, we say that $\cS$…
The random greedy algorithm for constructing a large partial Steiner-Triple-System is defined as follows. We begin with a complete graph on $n$ vertices and proceed to remove the edges of triangles one at a time, where each triangle removed…
The counterfeit coin problem requires us to find all false coins from a given bunch of coins using a balance scale. We assume that the balance scale gives us only ``balanced'' or ``tilted'' information and that we know the number k of false…
This paper investigates two issues on identification of switched linear systems: persistence of excitation and numerical algorithms. The main contribution is a much weaker condition on the regressor to be persistently exciting that…
Can a list of binary strings be ordered so that consecutive strings differ in a single bit? Can a list of permutations be ordered so that consecutive permutations differ by a swap? Can a list of non-crossing set partitions be ordered so…
We study a variant of online bin packing, called colorful bin packing. In this problem, items that are presented one by one are to be packed into bins of size 1. Each item i has a size s_i \in [0,1] and a color c_i \in C, where C is a set…