Even $1 \times n$ Edge-Matching and Jigsaw Puzzles are Really Hard

Jeffrey Bosboom; Erik D. Demaine; Martin L. Demaine; Adam Hesterberg; Pasin Manurangsi; Anak Yodpinyanee

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arXiv · 1701.00146

Even $1 \times n$ Edge-Matching and Jigsaw Puzzles are Really Hard

Jeffrey Bosboom·Erik D. Demaine·Martin L. Demaine·Adam Hesterberg·Pasin Manurangsi·Anak Yodpinyanee

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Abstract

We prove the computational intractability of rotating and placing $n$ square tiles into a $1 \times n$ array such that adjacent tiles are compatible--either equal edge colors, as in edge-matching puzzles, or matching tab/pocket shapes, as in jigsaw puzzles. Beyond basic NP-hardness, we prove that it is NP-hard even to approximately maximize the number of placed tiles (allowing blanks), while satisfying the compatibility constraint between nonblank tiles, within a factor of 0.9999999851. (On the other hand, there is an easy $1 \over 2$-approximation.) This is the first (correct) proof of inapproximability for edge-matching and jigsaw puzzles. Along the way, we prove NP-hardness of distinguishing, for a directed graph on $n$ nodes, between having a Hamiltonian path (length $n-1$) and having at most $0.999999284 (n-1)$ edges that form a vertex-disjoint union of paths. We use this gap hardness and gap-preserving reductions to establish similar gap hardness for $1 \times n$ jigsaw and edge-matching puzzles.

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Jeffrey Bosboom, Erik D. Demaine, Martin L. Demaine, Adam Hesterberg, Pasin Manurangsi, Anak Yodpinyanee. 2016-12-31. Even $1 \times n$ Edge-Matching and Jigsaw Puzzles are Really Hard. https://arxiv.org/abs/1701.00146

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