Where Have All the Grasshoppers Gone?

DOI10.1080/00029890.2023.2284611arXiv2211.03870MaRDI QIDQ6124348FDOQ6124348

Authors: János Pach, Gábor Tardos 

Publication date: 27 March 2024

Published in: The American Mathematical Monthly (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: Let $P$ be an $N$-element point set in the plane. Consider $N$ (pointlike) grasshoppers sitting at different points of $P$. In a "legal" move, any one of them can jump over another, and land on its other side at exactly the same distance. After a finite number of legal moves, can the grasshoppers end up at a point set, similar to, but larger than $P$? We present a linear algebraic approach to answer this question. In particular, we solve a problem of Brunck by showing that the answer is yes if $P$ is the vertex set of a regular $N$-gon and $Neq3,4,6$. Some generalizations are also considered.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2211.03870

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Recreational mathematics (00A08) Plane and solid geometry (educational aspects) (97G40) Linear algebra (educational aspects) (97H60) Combinatorics (educational aspects) (97K20)

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