Algorithmic Ways for Mathematical Puzzles by Ryuhei Uehara

Algorithmic Ways for Mathematical Puzzles by Ryuhei Uehara

Algorithmic Ways for Mathematical Puzzles introduces puzzles from all over the world, past and present, from the perspective of theoretical computer science. Certain types of puzzles have contributed greatly to the development of this field. In fact, the latest puzzles often provide new research themes for computer scientists, whether the puzzle designer intended this outcome or not.

This book explores the current landscape, including such unsolved problems that are still extant. The contents of this book can be read by high school students with reasonable mathematical comprehension skills, but from an academic level it is mainly targeted at undergraduate and graduate students with an interest in algorithms and an appetite for puzzles.

Features

• Presents a wonderfully engaging teaching resource for a class on algorithmics
• Full of interesting and previously unpublished puzzles
• Copiously illustrated in full color.

Ryuhei Uehara is a Professor in the School of Information Science at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), where he also serves as Vice President and Director of the JAIST Gallery. He received the B.E., M.E., and Ph.D. degrees from The University of Electro-Communications in 1989, 1991, and 1998, respectively. Before joining JAIST in 2004, he held academic positions at Tokyo Woman’s Christian University and Komazawa University and worked as a researcher at Canon Inc.. His research interests include computational complexity, algorithms, graph theory, computational origami, and the theory of games and puzzles.

He has published extensively on the computational complexity of puzzles and recreational mathematics from the viewpoint of theoretical computer science. He is Chair of the Japan Chapter of the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science (EATCS). He has also been a visiting researcher at the University of Waterloo, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ETH Zürich, Simon Fraser University, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, and Université libre de Bruxelles.