2023/11/29 by Alexandra Bartas, Denise Lara, Bartas, Alexandra +5
Computer Science · #Combinatorics (math.CO) #Computability, Logic, AI Algorithms #FOS: Mathematics
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2311.18080
openalex publication_date 2023/11/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The 2010 Futurama episode The Prisoner of Benda features a mind swapping machine that swaps the minds of two people at a time with the restriction that the same pair of people cannot use the machine more than once. We show that if a machine swaps n people cyclically with the condition that the same group of people cannot use the machine again, we can find a way to get everyone back. We prove our solution is optimal for when n =3. We also introduce an infinite variant of the mind swapping machine.