Related papers: Dancing links
We propose a new kind of sliding-block puzzle, called Gourds, where the objective is to rearrange 1 x 2 pieces on a hexagonal grid board of 2n + 1 cells with n pieces, using sliding, turning and pivoting moves. This puzzle has a single…
We give a $O(n)$-time algorithm for determining whether translations of a polyomino with $n$ edges can tile the plane. The algorithm is also a $O(n)$-time algorithm for enumerating all such tilings that are also regular, and we prove that…
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 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…
Detecting if a graph contains a $k$-Clique is one of the most fundamental problems in computer science. The asymptotically fastest algorithm runs in time $O(n^{\omega k/3})$, where $\omega$ is the exponent of Boolean matrix multiplication.…
We study a new reconfiguration problem inspired by classic mechanical puzzles: a colored token is placed on each vertex of a given graph; we are also given a set of distinguished cycles on the graph. We are tasked with rearranging the…
Despite their proficiency in various language tasks, Large Language Models (LLMs) struggle with combinatorial problems like Satisfiability, Traveling Salesman Problem, or even basic arithmetic. We address this gap through a novel trial &…
This paper leverages the framework of algorithms-with-predictions to design data structures for two fundamental dynamic graph problems: incremental topological ordering and cycle detection. In these problems, the input is a directed graph…
Listing triangles is a fundamental graph problem with many applications, and large graphs require fast algorithms. Vertex ordering allows the orientation of edges from lower to higher vertex indices, and state-of-the-art triangle listing…
High-throughput neural network inference requires coordinating many optimization decisions, including parallel tiling, microkernel selection, and data layout. The product of these decisions forms a search space of programs which is…
Recall the classical 15-puzzle, consisting of 15 sliding blocks in a $4\times 4$ grid. Famously, the configuration space of this puzzle consists of two connected components, corresponding to the odd and even permutations of the symmetric…
We explore a method for computing admissible heuristic evaluation functions for search problems. It utilizes pattern databases, which are precomputed tables of the exact cost of solving various subproblems of an existing problem. Unlike…
Several articles deal with tilings with squares and dominoes on 2-dimensional boards, but only a few on boards in 3-dimensional space. We examine a tiling problem with colored cubes and bricks of $(2\times2\times n)$-board in three…
The well-known problem stated by A. Meir and L. Moser consists in tiling the unit square with rectangles (details), whose side lengths equal $1/n\times 1/(n+1)$, where indices~$n$ range from 1 to infinity. Recently, Terence Tao has proved…
In this paper, we consider domino tilings of regions of the form $\mathcal{D} \times [0,n]$, where $\mathcal{D}$ is a simply connected planar region and $n \in \mathbb{N}$. It turns out that, in nontrivial examples, the set of such tilings…
Tantrix is a puzzle to make a loop by connecting lines drawn on hexagonal tiles, and the objective of this research is to solve it by a computer. For this purpose, we give a problem setting of solving Tantrix as arranging tiles in an…
This paper introduces a novel method of adding intrinsic bonuses to task-oriented reward function in order to efficiently facilitate reinforcement learning search. While various bonuses have been designed to date, they are analogous to the…
We study the computational power of the Full-Tilt model of motion planning, where slidable polyominos are moved maximally around a board by way of a sequence of directional ``tilts.'' We focus on the deterministic scenario in which the…
Can you decide if there is a coincidence in the numbers counting two different combinatorial objects? For example, can you decide if two regions in $\mathbb{R}^3$ have the same number of domino tilings? There are two versions of the…
In this paper, we show that the solution to a large class of "tiling" problems is given by a polynomial sequence of binomial type. More specifically, we show that the number of ways to place a fixed set of polyominos on an $n\times n$…