[next] [prev] [up] Date: Fri, 11 Nov 94 15:36:00 -0500
[next] [prev] [up] From: Mark Longridge <mark.longridge@canrem.com >
[next] ~~~ [up] Subject: <U, R> Searches
Jerry asks, in his message of Sun, 6 Nov 1994 09:15:37 (EST):

This is not a shift invariance question, but rather two
questions about your searches. One question is, do you perform
separate searches for q-turns and h-turns, or only for h-turns?

The <U, R> group searches are q-turns only, but if I see a way to
compress it a bit by eye I do so. For example:

UR2 = U3 R3 U3 R2 U1 R1 U1 R3 U3 R1 U1 (R1 U3)^2 R3 U3

...was reduced to

UR2 = U2 R3 U3 R2 U1 R1 U1 R3 U3 R1 U1 (R1 U3)^2 R3

The second question is, how on earth do you keep track
of all those processes in your searches?

With the computer hardware I'm using (486-DX40 with 4 megs) and
my current algorithm I created a file "ur.dat" which is a flat
ascii file. It contains all the processes which generate distinct
positions up to 12 q turns. I also have the file "ursum.is" which
contains all the `cubesums' for each element of <U, R>.

My program "x3bin.exe" loads the "ursum.is" database into memory
and it does a binary search on the cubesums to try and find a
match for the current position. If not found, it turns the
current cube and tries again, with longer and longer sequences
until a match is found.

Using this method I have found a process for all <U, R> positions
with the longest being 22 q turns (so far). The hardest positions
can take as long as a couple of hours. I have no idea what the
antipodes look like at this time, but I'll probably try the
random approach soon.

Jerry continues:

>p183 6 Twist      R1 U3 R2 U3 R1 D3 U3 R1 U3 R3 D2 R3 U3 R1 D3 U3
>                  (18 q  or  16 h  moves)
                    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This process was found using the Kociemba algorithm in a program
written by Dik Winter, which I ran on a Sun4. This program uses
h turns in it's searches and uses all 6 generators.

After inspecting the original process found by the program,
I was able to manually reduce it somewhat, resulting in p183 above.

The original process....

Solution (13+ 4=17): R1 U1 D1 R3 U1 R1 D2 R1 U1 R3 U1 D1 R3 U1 R2 U1 R2
That is (or as Dan would say i.e.) 13 h turns in phase 1 and 4 turns
in phase 2. Hmmm, looks like I used the inverse of the original.

Jerry Continues:

I have been asked how I search
so many positions. I have answered the question before, but I guess
another part of the answer that I haven't mentioned is that I don't
keep up with processes at all, only positions. If I am asked to provide
processes, I can do so, but it is a very painful task. I have thought
about keeping up with processes, but I am quite sure that if I did
so it would reduce the number of positions I could search.

Well, that explains the fact you counted the number of antipodes but
had no processes for them, but do you know what they look like?
If you can tell me what one of the 87 positions at 25 q turns
looks like, I should be able to generate a sequence for it.

-> Mark <-
Email: mark.longridge@canrem.com


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