Adaptive group testing for consecutive positives (Q2469989)

Suppose that among \(n\) linearly ordered items, there are at most \(d\) defective items, and all of the defectives appear consecutively. Any subset of the items can be pooled together and tested in one test, with the result that either no defectives are present or at least one defective is present. The goal is to determine all defectives. In adaptive testing, the next test is formed once the results of all prior tests are known. The authors determine the exact number of tests needed in the worst case when \(d \leq 3\) or \(d\) is a power of 2, improving on a result for general \(d\) by the reviewer [``Group testing for consecutive positives,'' Ann. Comb. 3, 37--41 (1999; Zbl 0931.05008)].