Algorithms (1122)

Projects

May, 2024

1. (3 people) Cayley’s formula states that for every positive integer n, the
number of labeled trees on n vertices is nn−2 . In 1918, H. Prüfer uses an
algorithm that associates to any tree T a name P(T ) (called the Prüfer
code) that characterizes the tree. For the vertices of Kn , we take the
ordered set V = {1, 2, . . . , n}. Given a spanning tree T in Kn , we let
T1 = T and generate a sequence of trees T1 , T2 , . . . , Tn−1 as follows: Given
the tree Ti with n − i + 1 vertices, 1 ≤ i ≤ n − 1, let xi be the least leaf
of Ti , and delete xi and its incident edge {xi , yi } from Ti to obtain a tree
Ti+1 on n − i vertices. Then the Prüfer code is to be

P(T ) = (y1 , y2 , . . . , yn−2 ).

For example, for the tree T shown in the following

we have (x1 , y1 ) = (3, 2), (x2 , y2 ) = (4, 2), . . . , (x9 , y9 ) = (9, 10). Hence,
these edges are the columns of the matrix
 
3 4 2 5 6 7 1 8 9
.
2 2 1 1 7 1 10 10 10

So, P(T ) = (2, 2, 1, 1, 7, 1, 10, 10). Don’t include y9 = 10. Show that the
mapping P is a bijection. Then, write algorithms to convert a labeled tree
T into a Prüfer code P(T ), and vice versa.

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2. (3 people)
(a) Given n non-negative integers representing an elevation map where
the width of each bar is 1, compute how much water it can trap after
raining. For example,

Input: height = [0, 1, 0, 2, 1, 0, 1, 3, 2, 1, 2, 1]

Output: 6

(b) Given an m × n integer matrix representing the height of each unit

cell in a 2D elevation map, return the volume of water it can trap
after raining. For example,

Input: heightM ap = [[1, 4, 3, 1, 3, 2], [3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 4], [2, 3, 3, 2, 3, 1]]

Output: 4

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3. (2 people) The n-queens puzzle is the problem of placing n queens on an
n × n chessboard such that no two queens attack each other.
(a) Given a positive integer n, return the number of distinct solutions to
the n-queens puzzle.

Input: n = 4
Output: 2

(b) Print all distinct solutions in any order. Let ”Q” and ”.” indicate a
queen and an empty space, respectively.
Input: n = 4
Output: [[”.Q..”, ”...Q”, ”Q...”, ”..Q.”], [”..Q.”, ”Q...”, ”...Q”, ”.Q..”]]