相关论文: Baron Munchhausen's Sequence
We investigate a coin-weighing puzzle that appeared in the Moscow Math Olympiad in 1991. We generalize the puzzle by varying the number of participating coins, and deduce an upper bound on the number of weighings needed to solve the puzzle…
I introduce, solve and generalize a new coin puzzle that involves parallel weighings.
We establish fun parallels between coin-weighing puzzles and knights-and-knaves puzzles.
In 2007, a new variety of the well-known problem of identifying a counterfeit coin using a balance scale was introduced in the sixth International Kolmogorov Math Tournament. This paper offers a comprehensive overview of this new problem by…
In this paper we investigate the problem of sorting a set of $n$ coins, each with distinct but unknown weights, using an unusual scale. The classical version of this problem, which has been well-studied, gives the user a binary scale,…
This work deals with a classic problem: "Given a set of coins among which there is a counterfeit coin of a different weight, find this counterfeit coin using ordinary balance scales, with the minimum number of weighings possible, and…
"The Baron's omni-sequence", B(n), first defined by Khovanova and Lewis (2011), is a sequence that gives for each n the minimum number of weighings on balance scales that can verify the correct labeling of n identically-looking coins with…
We introduce a new family of one-player games, involving the movement of coins from one configuration to another. Moves are restricted so that a coin can be placed only in a position that is adjacent to at least two other coins. The goal of…
As in many coin puzzles, we have several identical-looking coins, with one of them fake and the rest real. The real coins weigh the same. Our fake coin is special in that it can change its weight. The coin can pretend to be a real coin, a…
We discuss several coin-weighing problems in which coins are known to be of three different weights and only a balance scale can be used. We start with the task of sorting coins when the pans of the scale can fit only one coin. We prove…
We discuss coin-weighing problems with a new type of coin: a chameleon. A chameleon coin can mimic a fake or a real coin, and it can choose which coin to mimic for each weighing independently. We consider a mix of $N$ coins that include…
We present a method for solving polynomial equations over idempotent omega-continuous semirings. The idea is to iterate over the semiring of functions rather than the semiring of interest, and only evaluate when needed. The key operation is…
We discuss a problem initially thought for the Mathematical Olympiad but which has several interpretations. The recurrence sequences involved in this problem may be generalized to recurrence sequences related to a much larger set of…
Finding a counterfeit coin with the different weight from a set of visually identical coin using a balance, usually a two-armed balance, known as the balance question, is an intersting and inspiring question. Its variants involve…
Fake coin problems using balance scales to identify one fake coin and its type among n coins (n > 2) were solved by Dyson in 1946. Dyson gave adaptive solutions with the minimum number of weighings where later weighings may be dependent on…
Consider a coin tossing experiment which consists of tossing one of two coins at a time, according to a renewal process. The first coin is fair and the second has probability $1/2 + \theta$, $\theta \in [-1/2,1/2]$, $\theta$ unknown but…
Binomial distributions capture the probabilities of `heads' outcomes when a (biased) coin is tossed multiple times. The coin may be identified with a distribution on the two-element set {0,1}, where the 1 outcome corresponds to `head'. One…
The sudoku puzzles have a long history, with variations going back more than a hundred years, but its current and perhaps surprising world-wide prominence goes back to certain initiatives and then puzzle-generating computer programmes from…
Given a set of coins arranged in a line, we remove heads-up coins one at a time and flip any adjacent coins after each removal. The coin-removal problem is to determine for which arrangements of coins it is possible to remove all of the…
Suppose we are given a set of t coins which look identical, but a known number s of them are counterfeit, with a known weight different from the others. Our problem is to locate the counterfeits by weighing subsets of the t coins, with as…