Is there a specific search paradigm for finding pairs in a set?












0












$begingroup$


I'm dealing with a very common problem in computer programming that involves, for example 4 people to be divided into 2 pairs. Mathematically, this is just a permutations problem, and the number of possibilities would be 4!/(2! * 2^2) = 3.



In computer programming, when searching for these specific solutions, a programmer would just recurse through the possible solutions. For example --



int solve(void) {
int i, count = 0;
for (i = 0; i < n; i++) {
if (partners[i] == -1) {
break;
}
}

// if all the pairs are matched with each other
if (i == n) {
return check() ? 1 : 0;
}

for (int j = i + 1; j < n; j++) {
if (partners[j] == -1) {
partners[i] = j;
partners[j] = i;

// recurse back through to find all possible sets of pairs with this configuration
count += solve();
partners[i] = partners[j] = -1;
}
}
return count;
}


Now, what I found interesting was that when you draw a permutation tree diagram, you see that the unique solutions for this problem arise naturally in this pattern:
Permutation Tree. This pattern goes on as the number of people increases. Taking all that into account, my question is, is this simple recursive function a unique search paradigm (like BFS or DFS) that models the behavior/pattern seen in the tree? If not, could an algorithm be designed that models that pattern?



I'm a high school student, and I'm comfortable with basic and intermediate algorithm design concepts, but I'm still learning, so if you could, please explain your answer in more depth than usual.










share|cite|improve this question









$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    Why is this a permutation problem? What is check()?
    $endgroup$
    – Somos
    Jan 3 at 22:10










  • $begingroup$
    check() is not relevant to the problem, it's just another part of the program I'm writing. The function above finds the different possibilities of perfect matchings, and I'm visualizing the complete graph as the entire set of permutations, and the perfect matchings as certain permutations obtained by the search function.
    $endgroup$
    – user2300851
    Jan 3 at 22:23
















0












$begingroup$


I'm dealing with a very common problem in computer programming that involves, for example 4 people to be divided into 2 pairs. Mathematically, this is just a permutations problem, and the number of possibilities would be 4!/(2! * 2^2) = 3.



In computer programming, when searching for these specific solutions, a programmer would just recurse through the possible solutions. For example --



int solve(void) {
int i, count = 0;
for (i = 0; i < n; i++) {
if (partners[i] == -1) {
break;
}
}

// if all the pairs are matched with each other
if (i == n) {
return check() ? 1 : 0;
}

for (int j = i + 1; j < n; j++) {
if (partners[j] == -1) {
partners[i] = j;
partners[j] = i;

// recurse back through to find all possible sets of pairs with this configuration
count += solve();
partners[i] = partners[j] = -1;
}
}
return count;
}


Now, what I found interesting was that when you draw a permutation tree diagram, you see that the unique solutions for this problem arise naturally in this pattern:
Permutation Tree. This pattern goes on as the number of people increases. Taking all that into account, my question is, is this simple recursive function a unique search paradigm (like BFS or DFS) that models the behavior/pattern seen in the tree? If not, could an algorithm be designed that models that pattern?



I'm a high school student, and I'm comfortable with basic and intermediate algorithm design concepts, but I'm still learning, so if you could, please explain your answer in more depth than usual.










share|cite|improve this question









$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    Why is this a permutation problem? What is check()?
    $endgroup$
    – Somos
    Jan 3 at 22:10










  • $begingroup$
    check() is not relevant to the problem, it's just another part of the program I'm writing. The function above finds the different possibilities of perfect matchings, and I'm visualizing the complete graph as the entire set of permutations, and the perfect matchings as certain permutations obtained by the search function.
    $endgroup$
    – user2300851
    Jan 3 at 22:23














0












0








0





$begingroup$


I'm dealing with a very common problem in computer programming that involves, for example 4 people to be divided into 2 pairs. Mathematically, this is just a permutations problem, and the number of possibilities would be 4!/(2! * 2^2) = 3.



In computer programming, when searching for these specific solutions, a programmer would just recurse through the possible solutions. For example --



int solve(void) {
int i, count = 0;
for (i = 0; i < n; i++) {
if (partners[i] == -1) {
break;
}
}

// if all the pairs are matched with each other
if (i == n) {
return check() ? 1 : 0;
}

for (int j = i + 1; j < n; j++) {
if (partners[j] == -1) {
partners[i] = j;
partners[j] = i;

// recurse back through to find all possible sets of pairs with this configuration
count += solve();
partners[i] = partners[j] = -1;
}
}
return count;
}


Now, what I found interesting was that when you draw a permutation tree diagram, you see that the unique solutions for this problem arise naturally in this pattern:
Permutation Tree. This pattern goes on as the number of people increases. Taking all that into account, my question is, is this simple recursive function a unique search paradigm (like BFS or DFS) that models the behavior/pattern seen in the tree? If not, could an algorithm be designed that models that pattern?



I'm a high school student, and I'm comfortable with basic and intermediate algorithm design concepts, but I'm still learning, so if you could, please explain your answer in more depth than usual.










share|cite|improve this question









$endgroup$




I'm dealing with a very common problem in computer programming that involves, for example 4 people to be divided into 2 pairs. Mathematically, this is just a permutations problem, and the number of possibilities would be 4!/(2! * 2^2) = 3.



In computer programming, when searching for these specific solutions, a programmer would just recurse through the possible solutions. For example --



int solve(void) {
int i, count = 0;
for (i = 0; i < n; i++) {
if (partners[i] == -1) {
break;
}
}

// if all the pairs are matched with each other
if (i == n) {
return check() ? 1 : 0;
}

for (int j = i + 1; j < n; j++) {
if (partners[j] == -1) {
partners[i] = j;
partners[j] = i;

// recurse back through to find all possible sets of pairs with this configuration
count += solve();
partners[i] = partners[j] = -1;
}
}
return count;
}


Now, what I found interesting was that when you draw a permutation tree diagram, you see that the unique solutions for this problem arise naturally in this pattern:
Permutation Tree. This pattern goes on as the number of people increases. Taking all that into account, my question is, is this simple recursive function a unique search paradigm (like BFS or DFS) that models the behavior/pattern seen in the tree? If not, could an algorithm be designed that models that pattern?



I'm a high school student, and I'm comfortable with basic and intermediate algorithm design concepts, but I'm still learning, so if you could, please explain your answer in more depth than usual.







permutations algorithms computer-science trees recursive-algorithms






share|cite|improve this question













share|cite|improve this question











share|cite|improve this question




share|cite|improve this question










asked Jan 3 at 20:22









user2300851user2300851

1




1












  • $begingroup$
    Why is this a permutation problem? What is check()?
    $endgroup$
    – Somos
    Jan 3 at 22:10










  • $begingroup$
    check() is not relevant to the problem, it's just another part of the program I'm writing. The function above finds the different possibilities of perfect matchings, and I'm visualizing the complete graph as the entire set of permutations, and the perfect matchings as certain permutations obtained by the search function.
    $endgroup$
    – user2300851
    Jan 3 at 22:23


















  • $begingroup$
    Why is this a permutation problem? What is check()?
    $endgroup$
    – Somos
    Jan 3 at 22:10










  • $begingroup$
    check() is not relevant to the problem, it's just another part of the program I'm writing. The function above finds the different possibilities of perfect matchings, and I'm visualizing the complete graph as the entire set of permutations, and the perfect matchings as certain permutations obtained by the search function.
    $endgroup$
    – user2300851
    Jan 3 at 22:23
















$begingroup$
Why is this a permutation problem? What is check()?
$endgroup$
– Somos
Jan 3 at 22:10




$begingroup$
Why is this a permutation problem? What is check()?
$endgroup$
– Somos
Jan 3 at 22:10












$begingroup$
check() is not relevant to the problem, it's just another part of the program I'm writing. The function above finds the different possibilities of perfect matchings, and I'm visualizing the complete graph as the entire set of permutations, and the perfect matchings as certain permutations obtained by the search function.
$endgroup$
– user2300851
Jan 3 at 22:23




$begingroup$
check() is not relevant to the problem, it's just another part of the program I'm writing. The function above finds the different possibilities of perfect matchings, and I'm visualizing the complete graph as the entire set of permutations, and the perfect matchings as certain permutations obtained by the search function.
$endgroup$
– user2300851
Jan 3 at 22:23










0






active

oldest

votes











Your Answer





StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
});
});
}, "mathjax-editing");

StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "69"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});

function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: true,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: 10,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});


}
});














draft saved

draft discarded


















StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3060962%2fis-there-a-specific-search-paradigm-for-finding-pairs-in-a-set%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown

























0






active

oldest

votes








0






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes
















draft saved

draft discarded




















































Thanks for contributing an answer to Mathematics Stack Exchange!


  • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

But avoid



  • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

  • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




draft saved


draft discarded














StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3060962%2fis-there-a-specific-search-paradigm-for-finding-pairs-in-a-set%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown





















































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown

































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown







Popular posts from this blog

Bressuire

Cabo Verde

Gyllenstierna