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A teacher's algorithm

Tags:

algorithm

math

combinatorics

discrete-mathematics

The problem

My mom's a teacher. She recently asked me to write a script that takes a list of students and generates sets of student pairs. Each student should be paired with every other student and no student works with the same student more than once.

For example, let's say she has four students: "Bob", "Lisa", "Duke" and "Tyrone". The script should produce the following output:

{ { "Bob", "Lisa" }, { "Duke", "Tyrone" } }
{ { "Bob", "Duke" }, { "Lisa", "Tyrone" } }
{ { "Bob", "Tyrone" }, { "Lisa", "Duke" } }

Naive attempt

I thought this would be an easy project, but I realized halfway through coding it writing an efficient algorithm to generate the lists was a little bit beyond me. Originally, I wrote this naive implementation in Ruby:

# the list of students
CLASS_LIST = ("A".."H").to_a

# add an extra element to the class list if the class list length is odd
CLASS_LIST << nil if CLASS_LIST.length.odd?

# determine all possible permutations of the class lists
permutations = CLASS_LIST.permutation

# convert all of the permutations into pairs
permutations = permutations.map { |permutation| permutation.each_slice(2).to_a }

puts "PERMUTATIONS LENGTH: " + permutations.length.to_s

# iterate through the permutations and remove all subsequent permutations that contain a matching
# pair
i = 0

while i < permutations.length

  # remove any subsequent permutations that contain pairs already in the current permutation
  permutations.delete_if do |permutation|

    # return true if the current permutation has any elements in common with the other permutation
    permutations.index(permutation) > i and permutations[i].any? do |p1| 
      permutation.any? do |p2| 
        (p1[0] == p2[0] and p1[1] == p2[1]) or (p1[0] == p2[1] and p1[1] == p2[0])
      end
    end
  end

  # increment i
  i += 1
end

permutations.each do |permutation|
  p permutation
end

This implementation was horribly inefficient. When I profiled it, 4 students took 0.093 seconds, 6 students took 0.376 seconds and 8 students took 35 minutes and 32 seconds. Plus, the total number of permutations was unmanagable. 4 students has 24 permutations, 6 has 720 and 8 has 40320.

Asymptotically, the while loop runs in O(n!), the delete_if loop runs in O(n!), the permutations.index and permutations.any? loops run in O(n!) and the inner permutation.any? loop runs in O(n) time, which menas the entire algorithm runs in O(n(n!)^3)! Clearly this solution isn't going to work.

A better approach

I realized early on that I didn't need to loop over every possible pair. Since every student works with every other student exactly once, unioning the result sets should result in every unique possible pair. I decided to start by generating this set. First I looked at every possible combination.

     A    B    C    D    E    F
A  A,A  A,B  A,C  A,D  A,E  A,F
B  B,A  B,B  B,C  B,D  B,E  B,F
C  C,A  C,B  C,C  C,D  C,E  C,F
D  D,A  D,B  D,C  D,D  D,E  D,F
E  E,A  E,B  E,C  E,D  E,E  E,F
F  F,A  F,B  F,C  F,D  F,E  F,F

Then I removed the pairs where the students were working with themselves.

     A    B    C    D    E    F
A       A,B  A,C  A,D  A,E  A,F
B  B,A       B,C  B,D  B,E  B,F
C  C,A  C,B       C,D  C,E  C,F
D  D,A  D,B  D,C       D,E  D,F
E  E,A  E,B  E,C  E,D       E,F
F  F,A  F,B  F,C  F,D  F,E

Finally, I removed the duplicate pairs.

     A    B    C    D    E    F
A       A,B  A,C  A,D  A,E  A,F
B            B,C  B,D  B,E  B,F
C                 C,D  C,E  C,F
D                      D,E  D,F
E                           E,F
F

Generating the pairs was fairly trivial in Ruby.

# generate the set of all possible pairs
UNIQUE_PAIRS = (0..(CLASS_LIST.length - 2)).to_a.map do |row|
  ((row + 1)..(CLASS_LIST.length - 1)).to_a.map do |column|
    [ row, column ]
  end
end.flatten(1)

Next I tried to figure out how to turn these unique pairs into the result sets I was looking for. My idea was to create a set of all of the possible pairs for each list, and then eliminate the pairs that couldn't be used as pairs were added to each list. In my first attempt, I tried to fill out each list before starting on the next:

STEP 0:

LIST 1: { }
LIST 2: { }
LIST 3: { }
LIST 4: { }
LIST 5: { }

AVAILABLE 1: { { A, B }, { A, C }, { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 2: { { A, B }, { A, C }, { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 3: { { A, B }, { A, C }, { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 4: { { A, B }, { A, C }, { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 5: { { A, B }, { A, C }, { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }



STEP 1:

LIST 1: { { A, B } }
LIST 2: { }
LIST 3: { }
LIST 4: { }
LIST 5: { }

AVAILABLE 1: { { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 2: { { A, C }, { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 3: { { A, C }, { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 4: { { A, C }, { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 5: { { A, C }, { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }



STEP 2:

LIST 1: { { A, B }, { C, D } }
LIST 2: { }
LIST 3: { }
LIST 4: { }
LIST 5: { }

AVAILABLE 1: { { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 2: { { A, C }, { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 3: { { A, C }, { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 4: { { A, C }, { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 5: { { A, C }, { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }



STEP 3:

LIST 1: { { A, B }, { C, D }, { E, F } }
LIST 2: { }
LIST 3: { }
LIST 4: { }
LIST 5: { }

AVAILABLE 1: { }
AVAILABLE 2: { { A, C }, { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F } }
AVAILABLE 3: { { A, C }, { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F } }
AVAILABLE 4: { { A, C }, { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F } }
AVAILABLE 5: { { A, C }, { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F } }



STEP 4:

LIST 1: { { A, B }, { C, D }, { E, F } }
LIST 2: { { A, C } }
LIST 3: { }
LIST 4: { }
LIST 5: { }

AVAILABLE 1: { }
AVAILABLE 2: { { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { D, E }, { D, F } }
AVAILABLE 3: { { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F } }
AVAILABLE 4: { { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F } }
AVAILABLE 5: { { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F } }



STEP 5:

LIST 1: { { A, B }, { C, D }, { E, F } }
LIST 2: { { A, C }, { B, D } }
LIST 3: { }
LIST 4: { }
LIST 5: { }

AVAILABLE 1: { }
AVAILABLE 2: { }
AVAILABLE 3: { { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F } }
AVAILABLE 4: { { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F } }
AVAILABLE 5: { { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F } }

This fails at step 6 because there are no possible pairs left to use. Next I tried running the algorithm in the other direction:

STEP 1:

LIST 1: { { A, B } }
LIST 2: { }
LIST 3: { }
LIST 4: { }
LIST 5: { }

AVAILABLE 1: { { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 2: { { A, C }, { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 3: { { A, C }, { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 4: { { A, C }, { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 5: { { A, C }, { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }



STEP 2:

LIST 1: { { A, B } }
LIST 2: { { A, C } }
LIST 3: { }
LIST 4: { }
LIST 5: { }

AVAILABLE 1: { { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 2: { { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 3: { { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 4: { { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 5: { { A, D }, { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }



STEP 3:

LIST 1: { { A, B } }
LIST 2: { { A, C } }
LIST 3: { { A, D } }
LIST 4: { }
LIST 5: { }

AVAILABLE 1: { { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 2: { { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 3: { { B, C }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 4: { { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 5: { { A, E }, { A, F }, { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }



STEP 4:

LIST 1: { { A, B } }
LIST 2: { { A, C } }
LIST 3: { { A, D } }
LIST 4: { { A, E } }
LIST 5: { { A, F } }

AVAILABLE 1: { { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 2: { { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 3: { { B, C }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 4: { { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, F }, { C, D }, { C, F }, { D, F } }
AVAILABLE 5: { { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { C, D }, { C, E }, { D, E } }



STEP 5:

LIST 1: { { A, B } }
LIST 2: { { A, C } }
LIST 3: { { A, D } }
LIST 4: { { A, E } }
LIST 5: { { A, F } }

AVAILABLE 1: { { C, D }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 2: { { B, D }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { D, E }, { D, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 3: { { B, C }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 4: { { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, F }, { C, D }, { C, F }, { D, F } }
AVAILABLE 5: { { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { C, D }, { C, E }, { D, E } }



STEP 6:

LIST 1: { { A, B }, { C, D } }
LIST 2: { { A, C }, { B, D } }
LIST 3: { { A, D } }
LIST 4: { { A, E } }
LIST 5: { { A, F } }

AVAILABLE 1: { { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 2: { { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 3: { { B, C }, { B, E }, { B, F }, { C, E }, { C, F }, { E, F } }
AVAILABLE 4: { { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, F }, { C, F }, { D, F } }
AVAILABLE 5: { { B, C }, { B, D }, { B, E }, { C, E }, { D, E } }

After step 6, it's very clear the algorithm is going to fail.

What's next?

There's clearly some mathematical principal I'm missing here. What's the right way to do this? Thanks for the help in advance!

like image 495
LandonSchropp Avatar asked Dec 11 '22 15:12

LandonSchropp

1 Answers

The classic algorithm for cycling through all pairs is like this:

  1. Have everyone line up in pairs (here, the pairs are 1-5, 2-6, etc.):

    1 2 3 4

    5 6 7 8

  2. To get to the next pairing, have person 1 stand still and everyone else rotate one place to their right:

    1 3 4 8

    2 5 6 7

Repeat step 2 until you run out of new pairings or the need for them, whatever comes first.

The beauty of it all is that it's so simple, you can do it right during a physed class. Or with cards or other tokens, of course.

like image 82
Christopher Creutzig Avatar answered Dec 26 '22 00:12

Christopher Creutzig
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