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mathematical puzzle

THE DOT-TOWN SUICIDES


12 November 2009
PME EDL
Tzu-Shin Hsieh
Each resident of Dot-Town
carries a red or blue dot o
n his (or her) forehead, but
if he ever figures out what
color it is, he kills himself.
Each evening the residents gather;
one day a stranger comes and tells
them something—anything—nont
rivial about the number of blue do
ts.

@#$%&
PROVE THAT EVENTUALLY EVERY RESIDENT KILL
S HIMSELF.
Comment: Here by “a nontrivial statement” we mean a stat
ement that for some other numbers of blue dots would n
ot have been true.

SOLUTION

Assumption
• n residents in Dot-Town
• b of which carry a blue dot
• stranger provide a nonempty set X of values

X ⊂ {0, 1, 2, . . . , n}, b ∉ X
if b-1 ∈ X

if b+1 ∈ X
If no one kills himself the first night, neither b − 1
nor b + 1 is in X.
 the set X of not-possible values of b is increased.
Note that the proof shows that n nights suffice.
The full n nights are needed only when
X = {0} and all dots are the same color
X = {n} and n ≤ 2.
X = {0 , 1, 2, 3, 4 } and all dots are the same color

X = {n} and n = 2

X = {n} and n =1
SUMMARY

• The Importance of “Nontrivial Statement”


• Deduction of knowledge from knowledge.
THANK YOU

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