How to Solve the Torus Puzzle
1
Department of Computer Science, Gunma University, 1-5-1 Tenjin-cho, Kiryu, Gunma 376-8515, Japan
2
Kiryu High School, 1-39 Miharacho, Kiryu, Gunma 376-0025, Japan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Algorithms 2012, 5(1), 18-29; https://doi.org/10.3390/a5010018
Received: 27 December 2011
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Revised: 30 December 2011
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Accepted: 30 December 2011
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Published: 13 January 2012
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Puzzle/Game Algorithms)
Abstract
In this paper, we consider the following sliding puzzle called torus puzzle. In an m by n board, there are mn pieces numbered from 1 to mn. Initially, the pieces are placed in ascending order. Then they are scrambled by rotating the rows and columns without the player’s knowledge. The objective of the torus puzzle is to rearrange the pieces in ascending order by rotating the rows and columns. We provide a solution to this puzzle. In addition, we provide lower and upper bounds on the number of steps for solving the puzzle. Moreover, we consider a variant of the torus puzzle in which each piece is colored either black or white, and we present a hardness result for solving it.
Keywords:
torus puzzle; 15 puzzle
Share and Cite
MDPI and ACS Style
Amano, K.; Kojima, Y.; Kurabayashi, T.; Kurihara, K.; Nakamura, M.; Omi, A.; Tanaka, T.; Yamazaki, K. How to Solve the Torus Puzzle. Algorithms 2012, 5, 18-29. https://doi.org/10.3390/a5010018
AMA Style
Amano K, Kojima Y, Kurabayashi T, Kurihara K, Nakamura M, Omi A, Tanaka T, Yamazaki K. How to Solve the Torus Puzzle. Algorithms. 2012; 5(1):18-29. https://doi.org/10.3390/a5010018
Chicago/Turabian StyleAmano, Kazuyuki, Yuta Kojima, Toshiya Kurabayashi, Keita Kurihara, Masahiro Nakamura, Ayaka Omi, Toshiyuki Tanaka, and Koichi Yamazaki. 2012. "How to Solve the Torus Puzzle" Algorithms 5, no. 1: 18-29. https://doi.org/10.3390/a5010018
