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Questions tagged [permutations]

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Permutations are arrangements of the numbers $1,\ldots,n$ in an arbitrary order.

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65
votes
3answers
13k views

In-place algorithm for interleaving an array

You are given an array of $2n$ elements $$a_1, a_2, \dots, a_n, b_1, b_2, \dots b_n$$ The task is to interleave the array, using an in-place algorithm such that the resulting array looks like $$...
18
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2answers
886 views

What's harder: Shuffling a sorted deck or sorting a shuffled one?

You have an array of $n$ distinct elements. You have access to a comparator (a black box function taking two elements $a$ and $b$ and returning true iff $a < b$) and a truly random source of bits (...
14
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1answer
476 views

Interesting problem on sorting

Given a tube with numbered balls (random). The tube has holes to remove a ball. Consider the following steps for one operation: You can pick one or more balls from the holes and remember the order in ...
13
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2answers
266 views

Counting permutations whose elements are not exactly their index ± M

I was recently asked this problem in an algorithmic interview and failed to solve it. Given two values N and M, you have to count the number of permutations of length N (using numbers from 1 to N) ...
13
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2answers
737 views

Efficient algorithm to generate two diffuse, deranged permutations of a multiset at random

Background $\newcommand\ms[1]{\mathsf #1}\def\msD{\ms D}\def\msS{\ms S}\def\mfS{\mathfrak S}\newcommand\mfm[1]{#1}\def\po{\color{#f63}{\mfm{1}}}\def\pc{\color{#6c0}{\mfm{c}}}\def\pt{\color{#08d}{\mfm{...
11
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1answer
2k views

Indexing into a pattern database - Korf's Optimal Rubik's Cube solution

As a fun project, I've been working on a C# implementation of Richard Korf's - Finding Optimal Solutions to Rubik's Cube Using Pattern Databases. https://www.cs.princeton.edu/courses/archive/fall06/...
9
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2answers
967 views

Is there a “sorting” algorithm which returns a random permutation when using a coin-flip comparator?

Inspired by this question in which the asker wants to know if the running time changes when the comparator used in a standard search algorithm is replaced by a fair coin-flip, and also Microsoft's ...
9
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2answers
235 views

Find an optimal ordering

I came across this problem and am struggling to find a way to approach it. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Suppose we are given a matrix $\{-1, 0, 1\}^{n\ \times\ k} $, for example, ...
9
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2answers
2k views

Alternative to Hamming distance for permutations

I have two strings, where one is a permutation of the other. I was wondering if there is an alternative to Hamming distance where instead of finding the minimum number of substitutions required, it ...
9
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2answers
390 views

Subset sum problem for permutations

Given permutations $g_1,\,\ldots, g_m \in S_n$ of size $n$ and target permutation $g \in S_n$, decide if there exists a subset of $\{g_1,\, \ldots, g_m\}$, which composition in some order (or, ...
9
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3answers
2k views

Finding number of smaller elements for each element in an array efficiently

I am stuck on this problem: Given an array $A$ of the first $n$ natural numbers randomly permuted, an array $B$ is constructed, such that $B(k)$ is the number of elements from $A(1)$ to $A(k-1)...
8
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4answers
945 views

Stack Permutation Algorithm

I was recently designing a Forth stack machine. I have an atomic instruction which rotates the top N elements. For example if the top of the stack is on the left, then say the N=3 rotate instruction ...
8
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1answer
568 views

Searching the space of permutations

I'm given n objects, and a set of n permutations of these n objects (out of n! total permutations). There is a true underlying permutation, which I know is one among the set of n permutations, but I ...
7
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1answer
634 views

How hard is this constrained $n$-rooks problem?

I asked this over on math.stackexchange.com, then I found out about this forum. Suppose you have an $(n\times n)$-chessboard, together with a constraining function $C : n \times n \to 2$ where $C(i,j)...
7
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2answers
676 views

Given a permutation of 0..N-1, determine the index of that permutation in the lexicographic ordering of all permutations of 0..N-1, in linear time

There are various $\mathcal O(n \log n)$ or worse solutions, but I'm looking for one that runs in $\mathcal O(n)$, or a proof that none exist.
6
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3answers
4k views

What's a uniform shuffle?

What does it mean exactly a "uniform shuffle" algorithm ? Is this method considered a uniform shuffle ? ...
6
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3answers
151 views

Maximal derangements

When one shuffles playing cards, the goal is evidently to achieve a possibly big derangement of a given deck. For manual shuffling there are terms like inshuffle, outshuffle etc. I like to know ...
6
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2answers
128 views

Invertible function that randomizes order

I am looking for an invertible discrete function $f:\{0,1,2,\dots,n-1\} \to \{0,1,2,\dots,n-1\}$ for some given integer $n$. I want $f(0),f(1),\dots,f(n-1)$ to return all the integers in range $[0..n)...
6
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2answers
173 views

Algorithm to compose identity from a set of permutations

Given a subset P of all the possible permutations of a fixed set of elements, is there a non-exponential or optimized algorithm for computing the smallest composition of P that yields the identity ...
6
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1answer
116 views

Index matching algorithm without hash-based data structures?

I am programming in C, so I do not want to implement a hash-based datastructure such as a hashset or hashmap/dictionary. However, I need to solve the following task in linear time. Given two arrays $...
6
votes
1answer
160 views

Chernoff-Hoeffding bounds for the number of nonzeros in a submatrix

Consider a $n \times n$ matrix $A$ with $k$ nonzero entries. Assume every row and every column of $A$ has at most $\sqrt{k}$ nonzeros. Permute uniformly at random the rows and the columns of $A$. ...
6
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1answer
212 views

Error correcting permutation code

Let's say you have $n$ symbols. You can encode a $\log_2(n!)$-bit message by permutating the symbols. I will call this a permutation code (if you have seen this concept before, I would love to see a ...
6
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0answers
1k views

What is the intuition behind Heap's Algorithm?

I am trying to get an intuition for Heap's Algorithm which is used to generate permutations of a given set. What I can't understand is why if n is even the letter swapped is i and when n is odd the ...
6
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0answers
233 views

Is greedy minimax permutation rejecting sorting optimal?

I sketch an impractical, theoretical comparison sort. Initialize a list of all $n!$ permutations of size $n$. For each possible pair of indices $i, j$, count how many permutations would get rejected ...
5
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3answers
2k views

How should I design a hash table where all the keys are permutations?

I need to create a hash table to store values for (possibly all) permutations of 123456789, which is exactly 362 880 keys. Given that I know how all the keys look ...
5
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2answers
144 views

Chernoff-like Concentration Bounds on Permutations

Suppose I have $n$ balls. Among them, there are $m \leq n$ black balls and the other $n - m$ balls are white. Fix a random permutation $\pi$ over these balls and denote by $Y_i$ the number of black ...
5
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1answer
97 views

Rearrange a sequence of real numbers to satisfy polynomial inequalities

Assume we fix a degree $d$ polynomials $f$ of $k$ variables. (If it helps, let $t$ be the number of terms in $f$). Consider a list of real numbers $a_1,\ldots,a_n$, does there exist a permutation $\pi$...
5
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1answer
354 views

Random permutations by probability matrix

I have the following problem: I need to generate $\ell$ random permutations each of length $n$ from a list of $m$ elements ($m \ge n$) by a predefined probability matrix $P$ of size $n$ x $m$. ...
5
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2answers
159 views

Word tiling, where you must use each tile exactly once

Given words $w_1,\ldots,w_n$ in binary alphabet and another word $w$, decide if $w$ can be written as a product $w = w_{i_1} \cdots w_{i_n}$ (in the monoid $\{0,1\}^\ast$) for some permutation of ...
5
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2answers
93 views

Algorithm for factoring elements of permutation groups?

You can solve a Rubik's cube by factoring its permutation into a sequence of "elementary" permutations (a subset of permutations that is sufficient to construct every other permutation in the group). ...
5
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1answer
152 views

Permutation of words that have matched parentheses

Let $L$ denote the (context-free) language of matched parentheses over the alphabet $\Sigma$. Consider the following problem: Input: words $x_1,\dots,x_n \in \Sigma^*$ Question: does there exist a ...
5
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1answer
85 views

Applying a permutation on a sequence with multiplication

We are given a sequence of $n$ numbers called $\alpha$ and an arbitrary number $x$. Give an algorithm to find a permutation $\pi$ of size $n$ such that $\sum_{i=1}^n{\alpha_i.\pi_i} = x$ or tell if ...
4
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4answers
205 views

Enumerating all partial permutations of given length in lexicographic order

I need to generate all unique tuples of length k chosen from a series of unique, positive integers. In my case n choose k will have n=10, 1 <= k <= 10; and the series I am choosing from is { 0, ...
4
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3answers
2k views

Number of ways to fill a 2xN grid with M colors

This question was asked in the onsite regionals for ACM ICPC 2013 at Amritapuri. In short, the question asked to find the number of ways to fill a $ 2\times N$ grid with $M$ colors such that no two ...
4
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2answers
12k views

Using backtracking to find all possible permutations in a string

I came across this algorithm in a book, and have been struggling to understand the basic idea. The books says it uses backtracking to print all possible permutations of the characters in a string. In ...
4
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2answers
465 views

Mathematically determine if two strings are permutations of each other

I've come across many coding exercises that require me to determine whether or not two strings are permutations of each other and I've repeatedly wondered if it would be possible to convert each ...
4
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1answer
1k views

Minimizing inversions in an array with a single swap

This was asked in the (very) recently concluded Hackerrank Worldcup. Paraphrased: Given a permutation $a$ of integers from $1$ to $N$, how can I minimize the number of inversions by a single swap ...
4
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4answers
3k views

Rearrange an array using swap with 0

This is a Google interview question. I got it from a website. You have two arrays source and target, containing two permutations of the numbers [0..n-1]. You would ...
4
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1answer
145 views

Indexing Edge Permutations for the Rubik's Cube

I'm working on a Rubik's Cube solver that implements Korf's algorithm, as published in his 1997 paper, Finding Optimal Solutions to Rubik's Cube Using Pattern Databases. His method involves creating ...
4
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1answer
34 views

# of permutations satisfying special inequalties of each element0

Recently I was solving a counting problem, which needed this subproblem to be solved: Given integers $n$ and $t$ (where $1 \le t \le n$) and a decreasing function $f$, find the number of permutations ...
4
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0answers
189 views

Data structures for ordering noisy data

In a certain robotics application, I encountered a problem in which we need to determine the order of positions of several robots on $\mathbb{R}$. Each measurement that we take of robot positions is ...
4
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0answers
154 views

Computing parity of a permutation in a streaming-fashion way

I'm looking for a one-pass algorithm which computes parity of a permutation. I assume that an input permutation is given by stream $\pi[1], \pi[2], \cdots, \pi[n]$. The output should be the parity of ...
3
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2answers
816 views

Deriving the average number of inversions across all permutations

In the answer by Raphael to the question "Is there a system behind the magic of algorithm analysis?", there is an equation: $$\qquad\displaystyle \mathbb{E}[C_{\text{swaps}}] = \frac{1}{n!} \sum_{A} \...
3
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2answers
262 views

Shuffling a file on disk using $O(\log n)$ memory

How do you shuffle the bytes in a file (bytes for simplicity) on disk with a small, $O(\log n)$, amount of memory and preferably in-place? If the file had size $2^m$, then we can first split the file ...
3
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1answer
78 views

existence of a permutation that satisfies order-constraints

I would like to know if there is a simple algorithm for checking the existence of a permutation that satisfies a number of order-constraints. For example, suppose we have a set (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) and a ...
3
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1answer
389 views

Count number of special onto functions

We define an onto function from $[n] \times [n]$ to $[n-2] \cup \{0\}$ as follows, where $[n] = \{1,2,3,\ldots ,n\}$, $$f : [n] \times [n] \rightarrow [n-2] \cup \{0\}.$$ 1) $f(x,x) = 0$. 2) $f(x,y)...
3
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1answer
2k views

Are permutations of context-free languages context-free?

Given a context-free language $L$, define the language $p(L)$ as containing all permutations of strings in $L$ (i.e. all strings in $L$ such that the order of symbols is not important). Is $p(L)$ ...
3
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4answers
213 views

Optimization problem where penalty is sensitive to permutation

Say, I have the situation where I am looking into all the possibilities to obtain a value of e.g. 20 (exactly) by taking all possible combinations of sums using values from 1 to 5. While doing this, I ...
3
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1answer
484 views

Lexicographically k-th small string

The origin problem is here. Now it is deleted. Suppose I have 3 'available' copies of a, 2 of b, 3 of ...
3
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2answers
255 views

O(B) algorithm to find positions of all permutations of smaller string in a bigger string with length B - how is this possible?

Context: I've been working through Cracking the Code Interview and on page 70 the book asserts that there is a O(B) solution to this problem. If s = little string and S = len(s) b = big string and ...

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