Related papers: Solution Numbers for Eight Blocks to Madness Puzzl…

We exhibit an explicit family $\mathcal{B}$ of $30$ subsets (``blocks'') of size $6$ of $[60]=\{1,2,\dots,60\}$ with the following property: for every $6$-subset $S\subset[60]$, there exists a block $B\in\mathcal{B}$ such that $|S\cap B|\ge…

We study the solubility of cubic equations over the integers. Assuming a necessary congruence condition, the existence of such solutions is established when the $h$-invariant of $C$ is at least $14$, improving on work of Davenport-Lewis and…

It is proved that if we partition a $d$-dimensional cube into $n^d$ small cubes and color the small cubes into $m+1$ colors then there exists a monochromatic connected component consisting of at least $f(d, m) n^{d-m}$ small cubes.

Mossel and Ross raised the question of when a random colouring of a graph can be reconstructed from local information, namely the colourings (with multiplicity) of balls of given radius. In this paper, we are concerned with random…

The 15 puzzle is a classic reconfiguration puzzle with fifteen uniquely labeled unit squares within a $4 \times 4$ board in which the goal is to slide the squares (without ever overlapping) into a target configuration. By generalizing the…

Motivated by finding planar embeddings that lead to drawings with favorable aesthetics, we study the problems MINMAXFACE and UNIFORMFACES of embedding a given biconnected multi-graph such that the largest face is as small as possible and…

We list all perfect colorings of $Z^2$ by 9 or less colors. Keywords: perfect colorings, equitable partitions

We consider the problem of $2$-coloring geometric hypergraphs. Specifically, we show that there is a constant $m$ such that any finite set of points in the plane $\mathcal{S} \subset {\mathbb R}^2$ can be $2$-colored such that every…

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 $\bar{P}$ be a sequence of length $2n$ in which each element of $\{1,2,...,n\}$ occurs twice. Let $P'$ be a closed curve in a closed surface $S$ having $n$ points of simple auto-intersections, inducing a 4-regular graph embedded in $S$…

In this paper, we present a curious experiment with the hot list strategy in solving sliding block puzzles by paramodulation. The hot list strategy is one of the look-ahead strategies using paramodulation in automated reasoning. We define…

The resolutions and maximal sets of compatible resolutions of all 2-(120,8,1) designs arising frommaximal (120,8)-arcs in the known projective planes of order 16 are computed. It is shown that each of these designs is embeddable in a unique…

Using computational algebraic geometry techniques and Hilbert bases of polyhedral cones we derive explicit formulas and generating functions for the number of magic squares and magic cubes.

Satisfiability solving has been used to tackle a range of long-standing open math problems in recent years. We add another success by solving a geometry problem that originated a century ago. In the 1930s, Esther Klein's exploration of…

We prove that the two-colouring number of any planar graph is at most 8. This resolves a question of Kierstead et al. [SIAM J. Discrete Math.~23 (2009), 1548--1560]. The result is optimal.

We generalize classical triangular Schubert puzzles to puzzles with convex polygonal boundary. We give these puzzles a geometric Schubert calculus interpretation and derive novel combinatorial commutativity statements, using purely…

This article describes sixteen different ways to traverse d-dimensional space recursively in a way that is well-defined for any number of dimensions. Each of these traversals has distinct properties that may be beneficial for certain…

Total coloring of a graph is a coloring of its vertices and edges such that adjacent or incident elements receive distinct colors. Total coloring conjecture (stipulating that the total chromatic number of a graph $G$ is at most…

We prove that every 2-connected, cubic, planar graph with faces of size at most 6 is Hamiltonian, and show that the 6-face condition is tight. Our results push the connectivity condition of the Barnette-Goodey conjecture to the weakest…

We investigate a version of Waring's Problem over quaternion rings, focusing on cubes in quaternion rings with integer coefficients. We determine the global upper and lower bounds for the number of cubes necessary to represent all such…