Counting Connected and Disconnected Ways to Assemble a Jigsaw Puzzle

Prarthana Agrawal; Abdurrahman Hadi Erturk; Ard A. Louis

Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 2607.11923

Counting Connected and Disconnected Ways to Assemble a Jigsaw Puzzle

Prarthana Agrawal·Abdurrahman Hadi Erturk·Ard A. Louis

View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

A jigsaw puzzle may be assembled in many different ways. Some assembly sequences remain connected throughout, while others temporarily build separate parts of the puzzle before joining them together. By representing the puzzle as a graph, these assembly sequences become vertex orderings that can be counted using recent results from graph theory. We apply this framework to enumerate three natural assembly strategies: connected assembly, assembly beginning from several disconnected pieces, and assembly in which new disconnected sections may be started during the process. The resulting counts reveal that, even for modest puzzle sizes, connectivity-preserving assembly sequences are greatly outnumbered by those that pass through disconnected intermediate stages.

Explore related subjects

math.GM

Keep this discovery

BibTeX RIS

Prarthana Agrawal, Abdurrahman Hadi Erturk, Ard A. Louis. 2026-07-09. Counting Connected and Disconnected Ways to Assemble a Jigsaw Puzzle. https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.11923

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Average Chord Lengths in a Triangle

Let $P$ be a point inside a triangle $T$. We consider the average length of the chords of $T$ through $P$, where the direction of the chord is chosen uniformly. An elementary formula is obtained in terms of the distances from $P$ to the sides and vertices of the triangle. Several classical triangle centers give especially simple specializations. For example, if $I$ is the incenter, then \[ M_T(I)=\frac{2r}{\pi} \log\left(\cot\frac A4\cot\frac B4\cot\frac C4\right). \] Our main result is the sharp inequality \[ M_T(P)\le \frac{p}{\pi\sqrt3}\log(2+\sqrt3), \] valid simultaneously for every triangle of perimeter $p$ and every interior point $P$. Thus, among all such pairs $(T,P)$, the largest possible average chord length occurs only when $T$ is equilateral and $P$ is its center. The proof is an elementary symmetrization argument. We close with brief remarks relating the problem to the radial center of a convex body, the electrostatic potential center of a triangle, and dual quermassintegrals.

math.GM↗

arXiv2026

The decrease in sectional curvature of the Fisher--Rao manifold of beta distributions

In the paper, the author develops a general convexity lemma and applies it to demonstrate the monotonic decrease of a function involving polygamma functions, arising from the sectional curvature of the Fisher--Rao manifold of beta distributions.

math.GM↗

arXiv2026

A Proof of Liu's Conjecture on the Fundamental Triangle Inequality

Let $a,b,c$ be the side lengths of a triangle, and let $R$ and $r$ denote its circumradius and inradius, respectively. We prove a conjecture of Liu stating that \[\sum_{\mathrm{cyc}} \left(\frac{a(b+c-a)}{bc}\right)^k \geq 2+\left(\frac{2r}{R}\right)^k,~~k>1, \] with the reverse inequality for $0<k<1$. The proof reduces the problem to three positive variables with fixed sum and product. We also determine the equality cases.

math.GM↗