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A007673
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Number of coins needed for ApSimon's mints problem.
(Formerly M1109)
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0
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OFFSET
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1,2
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COMMENTS
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Suppose there are two types of coins (genuine and counterfeit) with different weights, only one of the weights known, and n independent mints each making coins of only one of the two types. Then a(n) is the minimum number of coins needed to determine in two weighings which mints are making counterfeit coins. - Charles R Greathouse IV, Jun 16 2014
Guy and Nowakowski give a(6) <=38 and a(7)<=74. Li improves this to a(6) <=31 and a(7)<=64. a(6)=28 is given by exhaustive search of all variants up to 27 coins and the solution (0,1,2,1,8,10), (1,2,2,5,5,0) with 1+2+2+5+8+10=28 coins. David Applegate finds a(7)=51 with (12,12,7,7,1,2,0), (12,0,8,2,7,3,2). - R. J. Mathar, Jun 20 2014
The unique solution for a(8)=90 is (27,1,12,12,6,1,0,4), (3,15,13,3,7,6,6,4) as determined by exhaustive search. There are a total of three solutions for a(7)=51: the one given above, (15,10,6,1,2,1,0), (0,10,9,7,4,4,2), and (15,6,9,1,4,3,1), (0,10,6,7,4,4,2). - David Applegate, Jul 03 2014
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REFERENCES
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Hugh ApSimon, Mathematical Byways in Ayling, Beeling and Ceiling, Oxford University Press (1991).
N. J. A. Sloane and Simon Plouffe, The Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences, Academic Press, 1995 (includes this sequence).
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LINKS
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EXAMPLE
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A pair of coin vectors gives a solution if every nonempty subset sum has a different ratio. (1,2,1,0) and (4,0,1,1) is a solution for 4 mints using 4+2+1+1=8 coins because 1:4, 2:0, 1:1, 0:1, (1+2):(4+0)=3:4, (1+1):(4+1)=2:5, (1+0):(4+1)=1:5, (2+1):(0+1)=3:1, (2+0):(0+1)=2:1, (1+0):(1+1)=1:2, (1+2+1):(4+0+1)=4:5, (1+1+0):(4+1+1)=2:6, (2+1+0):(0+1+1)=3:2, (1+2+0):(4+0+1)=3:5, (1+2+1+0):(4+0+1+1)=4:6 are all distinct ratios.
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CROSSREFS
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KEYWORD
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hard,nonn,more,nice
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AUTHOR
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EXTENSIONS
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STATUS
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approved
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