Rubik

12.
Rubiks Magic Cube Robert Snapp

snapp@cs.uvm.edu
Department of Computer Science University of Vermont
Robert R. Snapp 2012
12. Rubiks Magic Cube
CS 32, Fall 2012
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Rubiks Magic Cube

Ern Rubik invented this celebrated puzzle in 1974. When completed, each of the six faces displays a common color, usually white, yellow, red, orange, blue and green. Questions:
1
How many different ways can six colors be assigned to the six faces? How are the colors of each pair of opposite faces related at right?
Rubiks standard color arrangement.
The cube actually consists of 26 visible cubies, consisting of 6 single faced, centers, which are stationary. 12 double faced, edges. 8 triple faced, corners.
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David Singmasters Notation

David Singmaster1 published one of the rst analyses of the Magic Cube. He introduced the following notation:
U
U , for the Upper face, F , for the Front face, D , for the Down face, B , for the Back face, L, for the Left face, and R, for the Right face.
F D L
Note that the Magic Cube can be oriented 24 ways within this coordinate system: the upper face can be chosen 6 different ways. for each upper face, the front face can be chosen 4 different ways.
4 D 24.
1. David Singmaster, Notes on Rubiks Magic Cube, Enslow, Hillside, NJ, 1981.
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Singmasters Operations: U
Once the cube has been positioned, we dene a set of rotation operations that maintain the orientation of the center cubies. For example, U denotes a quarter turn of the Upper face in the clockwise direction.
U2 U 2 denotes a half turn of the Upper face. (N.B., U 2 D U U .) U 0 denotes a quarter turn of the Upper face in
the counter-clockwise direction. (N.B., U 0 D U 3 .)
U0
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Singmasters Operations: F
F denotes a quarter turn of the Front face in the

clockwise direction.
F 2 denotes a half turn of the Front face. (N.B., F 2 D FF .)
F2
F 0 denotes a quarter turn of the Front face in the counter-clockwise direction. (N.B., F 0 D F 3 .)
F0
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Singmasters Operations: D
D denotes a quarter turn of the Down face in the

D 2 denotes a half turn of the Down face. (N.B., D 2 D DD .)
D2
D 0 denotes a quarter turn of the Down face in

the counter-clockwise direction. (N.B., D 0 D D 3 .)
D0
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Singmasters Operations: B
B denotes a quarter turn of the Back face in the

B 2 denotes a half turn of the Back face. (N.B., B 2 D BB .)
B2
B 0 denotes a quarter turn of the Back face in the counter-clockwise direction. (N.B., B 0 D B 3 .)
B0
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Singmasters Operations: L
L denotes a quarter turn of the Left face in the

L2 denotes a half turn of the Left face. (N.B., L2 D LL.)
L2
L0 denotes a quarter turn of the Left face in the counter-clockwise direction. (N.B., L0 D L3 .)
L0
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Singmasters Operations: R
R denotes a quarter turn of the Right face in the

R2 denotes a half turn of the Right face. (N.B., R2 D RR.)
R2
R0 denotes a quarter turn of the Right face in the counter-clockwise direction. (N.B., R0 D R3 .)
R0
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Restore the Cube: Outline

Part I: Restore the upper face. 1. Restore the upper edges. 2. Restore the upper corners.
Part II: Restore the middle layer. 3. Turn the entire cube upside down. 4. Restore the middle edges.
Part III: Restore the nal face. 5. 6. 7. 8. Invert the upper edges. Reposition the upper edges. Reposition the upper corners. Twist the upper corners.
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Part I: Step 1 Restore the Upper Cross

1a Select a color for the upper face (e.g, green), and an adjacent color for the front face (e.g., white). 1b Identify the cubie that belongs in the upper-front (uf ) edge, e.g., the green-white edge. It should be easy to bring this cubie to the correct location. 1c If this colors of the uf edge need to be ipped, then apply the sequence
F 0 UL0 U 0 :
1d Rotate the entire cube one-quarter turn, and repeat the above until all four upper edges are in place. You should see a green cross.
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Part I: Step 2 Restore the Upper Corners

2a For each corner cubie in the Down layer that belongs in the Upper layer:
i Rotate the Down layer (using the D operation) until this cubie is directly below its desired postion. Rotate the entire cube so that the desired position is under your right thumb (upper-right-front position). ii Apply the operation R0 D 0 RD one, three, or ve times, until this corner cubie is in the correct position, with the correct orientation. (This will not destroy the cross, obtained in Step 1.)
urf
drf
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Part I: Step 2 Restore the Upper Corners (cont.)

2b For each Upper layer corner cubie that is incorrectly placed, or incorrectly rotated,
i Rotate the entire cube until the misplaced cubie is under your right thumb. ii Place the cubie in the Down layer using R0 D 0 RD: iii Then apply step 2a (above) to move this cubie in the correct position.
2c Apply the above steps until the entire upper layer is complete.
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Part I: Step 2 Restore the Upper Corners (cont.)
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Part II: Step 3 Turn the Cube Upside Down

Turn the entire cube upside down, so that the completed green layer is the bottom (or down) layer. The new upper layer should have a blue center.
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Part II: Step 4 Restore the Middle Layer

The key operation is RU 0 R0 FR0 F 0 RU 0 which swaps and inverts ul and fr. 4a Rotate the entire cube until a front-right (fr) edge is incorrect, or ipped. (Assume the right edge of the white face is incorrect.) 4b Locate the correct edge (e.g., the red-white edge). Case A: If the correct edge is in the middle layer:
i Rotate the entire cube so that the correct edge is a front-right (fr) edge. (Note, the red-white edge is in the middle layer.) ii Perform the sequence RU 0 R0 FR0 F 0 RU 0 which will place the correct edge in the upper layer (at ul ). iii Apply Case B.
ul fr
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Part II: Step 4 Restore the Middle Layer (cont.)

Case B: If the correct edge is on the top layer: i Ensure that the misplaced edge is still the front-right (fr ) edge. ii Rotate the upper layer (using U operations) so that the correct edge is an upper-left (ul ) edge. iii Apply the operation RU 0 R0 FR0 F 0 RU 0 . iv If the correct edge needs to be ipped, apply Case C. Case C: If a middle edge is ipped in the correct location: i Apply the operation RU 0 R0 FR0 F 0 RU 0 twice.
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Part II: Step 4 Restore the Middle Layer (cont.)
The top row illustrates two successive occurrences of Case B. The left two diagrams show how the red-yellow edge is moved into its correct position with RU 0 R0 FR0 F 0 RU 0 . The right two, show how the orange-yellow edge is moved into its correct position by the same operation.
The bottom row illustrates an occurrence of Case B, that leads to a Case C. First the orange-white edge is moved into its correct position, but with an incorrect orientation. Applying RU 0 R0 FR0 F 0 RU 0 moves it back into the top layer, but ipped. A third application, brings the orange-white edge into the correct position and orientation.
Part III: Restoring the Upper Layer

Now that the bottom and middle layers are complete, every cubie in the upper layer has a single blue face. In order to restore the upper face, one needs to 5. Flip the edge cubies so that the blue face of each faces upwards. 6. Move the edge cubies to their nal locations, without destroying their orientation. 7. Move the corner cubies to their nal locations. 8. Rotate the corner cubies (in place) so that the blue face of each faces upwards.
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Part III: Step 5 Flip the New Upper Edges

5. Orient the cube so that it matches one of the four orientations:
Blue Dot
Blue Corner
Blue Line
Blue Cross
a. If the Blue Cross is displayed, move on to Step 6. b. If the Blue Cross is not displayed, apply the maneuver
FRUR0 U 0 F 0
and repeat Step 5 as many times as required.
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Part III: Step 6 Restore the New Upper Edges

At this point of the solution, the bottom two layers should be solved, and a blue cross, should appear on the top face. If you are very lucky, the red, white, yellow and orange sides of the blue cross match all four of the corresponding center cubies. (Twist the upper layer using a succession of U operations, to see if this occurs. If so procede to Step 7.) If you are not so lucky, twist the upper layer until exactly one of the sides of the blue cross matches its center cubie. Rotate the cube so that the matching side cubie is in the front face. In the gures below the matching cubie happens to be red.
RWYO
ROWY
RYOW
Apply the sequence RUR0 URU 2 R0 until the sides of the four top edge cubies match.
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Part III: Step 7 Place the Upper Corners

We shall now ensure that each upper corner is in the correct position. (Dont worry now about their orientations; those will be restored in Step 8.)
ulb urb
Compare the colors of each upper corner with those of the adjacent centers. If all three match, even if the orientation is wrong, then this piece is in the correct position. In the diagram at right, the upper-left-front (ulf) corner (red-white-blue) is in the correct position. The upper-right-front (urf ) corner (yellow-orange-blue) is not.
ulf
The key sequence of Step 7 is L0 URU 0 LUR0 U 0 , which rotates (or cycles) the upper three corners (ulf, ulb, urb ), in a clockwise direction, while maintaining the positions and orientation of the remaining 23 cubies.
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Step 7 Place the Upper Corners (cont.)

7a. If no upper corners are in their correct positions, apply L0 URU 0 LUR0 U 0 (once or twice) until one is. Then continue. 7b. If one corner is in its correct position, then rotate the entire cube so that the correctly placed corner is near your right thumb, in the upper-right-front (urf ) position. Then apply L0 URU 0 LUR0 U 0 (once or twice) until all four upper corners are correctly placed.
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Part III: Step 8 Twist the Upper Corners

At this point every cube is in the correct position. However, two or more corners may have an incorrect orientation. The key sequence of Step 8 is R0 D 0 RD , which you already practiced in Step 2. 8a. Rotate the entire cube until an incorrectly oriented (twisted) corner is located near your right thumb. (It should be in the urf position.)
urf
8b. Apply the sequence R0 D 0 RD (two or four times) until this corner cube has the correct orientation. Dont worry about the middle and bottom layers: they are temporarily messed up.
urf
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Part III: Step 8 Twist the Upper Corners (cont.)

8c. Now rotate only the upper layer, by applying one or more U operations, until the next twisted cube is near your right thumb in the urf position.
urf
8d. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until every corner is correctly oriented.
urf
8e. Finally, restore the cube using one or more U operations.
urf
8f. Fix yourself an ice-cream cone.

urf
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Summary
Step upper (green) cross Operations Use the six basic operations to move the desired edge immediately below its home, without moving the other upper edges. Then rotate that face one-half turn. To ip an inverted edge, apply F 0 UL0 U 0 . upper (green) corners Use R0 D 0 RD to swap (and twist) the urf and drf corners. After each misplaced corner has been moved to the down (blue) layer, use the D operator to move it immediately below its home. Then apply R0 D 0 RD a sufcient number of times, so that it is correctly placed and correctly oriented. Easy as pie! Turn the entire cube upside down so that the blue center on top and the completed green face is the new down layer. Goal
ip entire cube
middle edges
Use RU 0 R0 FR0 F 0 RU 0 to swap and ip the ul and fr edges, without displacing the other cubies on the lower two layers.
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Summary (cont.)
Step orient upper edges Operations If the blue facets on the upper face form a corner, rotate the cube so that the corner is at ul, u, and ub. If the upper facets of the upper edges form a blue line, rotate the cube so that the blue line runs from left to right (ul, u, ur). Apply FRUR0 U 0 F 0 until a blue cross is displayed. Apply U until the the uf edge matches the color of the front face. Then apply RUR0 URU 2 R0 until every upper edge matches the side faces. Goal
restore upper edges
place upper corners
If an upper corner is correctly placed, rotate the entire cube so that this becomes the urf corner. Then apply L0 URU 0 LUR0 U 0 until each corner is correctly placed.
urf
twist upper corners
Apply U until urf is twisted. Then apply R0 D 0 RD until this urf is correct. Repeat until every corner is untwisted. Apply U to restore the cube.
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How Many States are in the Cube?

Claim: A 3
3 Rubiks cube can be placed in exactly N D 43; 252; 003; 274; 489; 856; 000
different congurations, using a sequence of legal moves based on L, R, U , D , B and F , more than the number of seconds in 10 billion centuries. Counting this number is sort of like counting the number of anagrams that can be formed from a given set of letters. We thus count permutations. Recall that there are three kinds of cubies: 8 corners, 12 edges, and 6 centers. First note that it is impossible to exchange a three-sided corner with a two-sided edge, and likewise we cant exchange a center with either a corner or edge.
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How Many States are in the Cube?

We will use the multiplication principle to count the number N of congurations that can be obtained by a sequence of the operations, L, R, U , D , B and F . Let,
N1 D number of congurations of the 6 centers N2 D number of congurations of the 12 edges N3 D number of congurations of the 8 corners
Then, our rst estimate of N is
N D N1
N2
N3 :
What is the value of N1 ?
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Estimating N1
Since the locations of the centers are unchanged by each of the six basic operations, they are also unchanged by any sequence of these operations. Thus,
N1 D 1:
Thus,
N D1
N2
N3 :
What is the value of N2 ?
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Estimating N2
Since there are 12 locations (cubicles) for each edge, there are 12 ways to order the edges. In addition, each edge can be ipped in two different ways: e.g., the red-blue edge can be red-side up, or blue-side up. This suggests that there are at most
N2 D 12
ways to arrange the 12 edges. What can we say about N3 ?
212 D 1; 961; 990; 553; 600
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Estimating N3
Since there are 8 corner cubicles (locations for the corners), there are 8 ways to order the corners. In addition each corner can be twisted three different ways. This suggests that, at most,
N3 D 8
ways to arrange the eight corners. Does
38 D 264; 539; 520
N D1
.12
212 /
.8
38 /
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Counting the Congurations of Rubiks Cube

This number,
.12
212 /
.8
38 / D 519; 024; 039; 293; 878; 272; 000
actually represents (exactly) the number of different ways that Rubiks cube can be reassembled, assuming that the centers are not rearranged. Anne Scott (cf., Berlekamp, Conway, Guy, 2004), showed that this value overestimates the correct value of N by a factor of 12.
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Invariants
Consider a puzzle that concerns the value of a variable x . Initially, x D 0. Every second a coin is tossed. If the coin lands heads then we add 4 to x . If the coin lands tails, we subract 2. Here is a sample sequence.
time (s.) coin toss
0 0
1 H 4
2 T 2
3 H 6
4 H 10
5 T 8
6 T 6
7 T 4
8 T 2
9 T 0
10 H 4
Question: Can x ever equal 1?
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Invariants
Correct! The answer is no. Since x begins as an even number, and every possible operation (adding 4 or subtracting 2) preserves evenness, x will always be even. In this context, evenness is said to be an invariant property, or an invariant (for short), of x .
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Invariants and Loyds 14-15 Puzzle
Sam Loyd (18411911) created many popular puzzles, including the celebrated 1415 puzzle, shown above. Can you interchange just tiles labeled 14 and 15, by sliding tiles horizontally or vertically into the space? (Loyd offered a $1000 prize to anyone who could.) How many states are realizable?
Invariants (cont.)
For the space to wind up in the lower-right corner, there must have been an even number of vertical moves, and an even number of horizontal moves. Consequently, only permutations that swap and even number of pieces are possible. For Loyds puzzle, only half of the 16 states are realizable. Anne Scott used invariants to exactly count the number of possible states for Rubiks cube.
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Reexamining the allowed corner twists

Place a 0, 1, or a 2 on each corner face, as shown at right. The initial sums are then computed for each face, and recorded under column I of the table. Sums are also computed following each legal quarter turn. Note that ever entry is a multiple of 3. This latter property is preserved for every sequence of legal operations. However, if one were able to twist a single corner, one-third of a turn, in either direction, the sums of the adjacent faces change to numbers that are not multiples of 3. Consequently, only one-third of the total number of corner twists 38 can be realized using a sequence of legal operations.
2 1 2
2 1
1 2
0 0
1 2
0 0
2 1 1 2
0 0
21 1
Face Sums Face left right upper down front back
I
6 6 0 0 6 6
L
6 6 3 3 3 3
R
6 6 3 3 3 3
U
6 6 0 0 6 6
D
6 6 0 0 6 6
F
3 3 3 3 6 6
B
3 3 3 3 6 6
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Reexamining the allowed edge ips

Place a 0 or 1 on each edge, and construct a stationary blue window for each face, as shown. The initial sum of the values that appear in the blue windows is computed under column I in the table. It can be shown that the window sum will always be a multiple of 2, and even number, after every sequence of operations. (After F U , for example, it equals 6.) However, ipping any single edge results in an odd window sum. Consequently, it is not possible to invert a single edge using a sequence or rotations. Thus only one-half of the 212 edge states are realizable.
sum
1 0 1
1 1
1 0
0 1 0
0 1 1 0
1
1 0
Blue-Window Sums
I
12
L
8
R
8
U
8
D
8
F
8
B
8
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How many states are expressible by the cube?

The nal reduction factor is obtained by observing that only one-half of the 12 8 permutations of the locations of the 12 edges and 8 corners are realizable. Each sequence of operations always moves a multiple of 4 pieces. It is thus impossible to interchange just two corners, or just two edges. Thus,
ND
1 2
1 2
1 3
12
212
38
D 43; 252; 003; 274; 489; 856; 000:
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Some Symmetrical States

Let Fs D FB 0 denote a move called a front slice. Similarly, let Rs D RL0 denote the right slice, and Us D UD 0 denote the upper slice. Dots Chessboard Cross
0 0 Rm Fm Rm Fm
2 2 Fs2 Rs Us
2 2 2 0 R0 L2 Fs2 U 2 Rs Fs D R
0 0 The denitions of Rm , Rm , Fm , and Fm appear below.
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Singmasters Operations: Rm
Start with yellow on top, blue in front, and red at right. Rm denotes a quarter turn of the middle layer (only) parallel to the direction of R. The easiest way to complete this is to rotate both the right face, and the middle layer behind the right face, one quarter turn clockwise, followed by R0 . denotes a half turn of the middle layer behind the right face.
0 Rm denotes a quarter turn of the middle layer, 2 Rm
Rm
2 Rm
behind the right face, in the counter-clockwise 0 3 direction, i.e., parallel to R0 . (N.B., Rm D Rm .)
0 Rm
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Singmasters Operations: Fm
Fm denotes a quarter turn of the middle layer (only) parallel to the direction of F . The easiest
way to complete this is to rotate both the front face, and the middle layer behind the front face, one quarter turn clockwise, followed by F 0 .
2 Fm denotes a half turn of the middle layer
Fm
2 Fm
behind the front face.

0 Fm denotes a quarter turn of the middle layer,
behind the front face, in the counter-clockwise 0 3 direction, i.e., parallel to F 0 . (N.B., Fm D Fm .)
0 Fm
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Singmasters Operations: Um
Um
Um denotes a quarter turn of the middle layer (only) parallel to the direction of U . The easiest
way to complete this is to rotate both the upper face, and the middle layer behind the upper face, one quarter turn clockwise, followed by U 0 .
2 Um denotes a half turn of the middle layer
2 Um
behind the upper face.

0 Um denotes a quarter turn of the middle layer,
behind the upper face, in the counter-clockwise 3 0 direction, i.e., parallel to U 0 . (N.B., Um D Um .)
0 Um
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References
1 2
Christoph Bandelow, Inside Rubiks Cube and Beyond, Birkhuser, Boston, 1982. Elwyn R. Berlekamp, John H. Conway, and Richard K. Guy, Winning Ways For Your Mathematical Plays, Second Edition, Vol. 4, A. K. Peters, Natick, MA, 2004. John Ewing and Czes Ko sniowski, Puzzle It Out: Cube Groups and Puzzles, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1982. Alexander H. Frey, Jr. and David Singmaster, Handbook of Cubik Math, Enslow, Hillside, NJ, 1982. Martin Gardner, ed., The Mathematical Puzzles of Sam Loyd, Dover, NY, 1959. David Joyner, Adventures in Group Theory: Rubiks Cube, Merlins Magic & Other Mathematical Toys, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2002. Ern Rubik, Tams Varga, Gerzson Kri, Gyrgi Marx, and Tams Vkerdy, Rubiks Cubic Compendium, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1987. David Singmaster, Notes on Rubiks Magic Cube, Enslow, Hillside, NJ, 1981.
5 6
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12.

Rubiks Magic Cube Robert Snapp

Robert R. Snapp 2012

12. Rubiks Magic Cube

CS 32, Fall 2012

Rubiks Magic Cube

Rubiks standard color arrangement.

Robert R. Snapp 2012

12. Rubiks Magic Cube

CS 32, Fall 2012

David Singmasters Notation

Robert R. Snapp 2012

12. Rubiks Magic Cube

CS 32, Fall 2012

F denotes a quarter turn of the Front face in the

F 2 denotes a half turn of the Front face. (N.B., F 2 D FF .)

Robert R. Snapp 2012

12. Rubiks Magic Cube

CS 32, Fall 2012

D denotes a quarter turn of the Down face in the

D 2 denotes a half turn of the Down face. (N.B., D 2 D DD .)

D 0 denotes a quarter turn of the Down face in

Robert R. Snapp 2012

12. Rubiks Magic Cube

CS 32, Fall 2012

B denotes a quarter turn of the Back face in the

B 2 denotes a half turn of the Back face. (N.B., B 2 D BB .)

Robert R. Snapp 2012

12. Rubiks Magic Cube

CS 32, Fall 2012

L denotes a quarter turn of the Left face in the

L2 denotes a half turn of the Left face. (N.B., L2 D LL.)

Robert R. Snapp 2012

12. Rubiks Magic Cube

CS 32, Fall 2012

R denotes a quarter turn of the Right face in the

R2 denotes a half turn of the Right face. (N.B., R2 D RR.)

Robert R. Snapp 2012

12. Rubiks Magic Cube

CS 32, Fall 2012

Restore the Cube: Outline

Robert R. Snapp 2012

12. Rubiks Magic Cube

CS 32, Fall 2012

Part I: Step 1 Restore the Upper Cross

Robert R. Snapp 2012

12. Rubiks Magic Cube

CS 32, Fall 2012

Part I: Step 2 Restore the Upper Corners

Robert R. Snapp 2012

12. Rubiks Magic Cube

CS 32, Fall 2012

Part I: Step 2 Restore the Upper Corners (cont.)

Robert R. Snapp 2012

12. Rubiks Magic Cube

CS 32, Fall 2012

Part I: Step 2 Restore the Upper Corners (cont.)

Robert R. Snapp 2012

12. Rubiks Magic Cube

CS 32, Fall 2012

Part II: Step 3 Turn the Cube Upside Down

Robert R. Snapp 2012

12. Rubiks Magic Cube

CS 32, Fall 2012