Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content

The kissing problem: How to end a gathering when everyone kisses everyone else goodbye

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

This paper introduces the kissing problem: given a rectangular room with n people in it, what is the most efficient way for each pair of people to kiss each other goodbye? The room is viewed as a set of pixels that form a subset of the integer grid. At most one person can stand on a pixel at once, and people move horizontally or vertically. In order to move into a pixel in time step t, the pixel must be empty in time step t-1. The paper gives one algorithm for kissing everyone goodbye. (1) This algorithm is a 4 + o(1)-approximation algorithm in a crowded room (e.g., only one unoccupied pixel). (2) It is a 10 + o(1)-approximation algorithm for kissing in a comfortable room (e.g., at most half the pixels are empty). (3) It is a 25+o(1)-approximation for kissing in a sparse room.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationFun with Algorithms - 6th International Conference, FUN 2012, Proceedings
Pages28-39
Number of pages12
DOIs
StatePublished - 2012
Event6th International Conference on Fun with Algorithms, FUN 2012 - Venice, Italy
Duration: Jun 4 2012Jun 6 2012

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume7288 LNCS

Conference

Conference6th International Conference on Fun with Algorithms, FUN 2012
Country/TerritoryItaly
CityVenice
Period06/4/1206/6/12

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The kissing problem: How to end a gathering when everyone kisses everyone else goodbye'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this