Tag: Project Euler

  • Magic 5-gon Ring — Project Euler (Problem 68)

    Magic 5-gon Ring — Project Euler (Problem 68)

    Yet another exciting math problem that requires an algorithmic approach to arrive at a quick solution! There is a pen-paper approach to it too, but this post assumes we’re more interested in discussing the programming angle.

    First, the problem:

    Working clockwise, and starting from the group of three with the numerically lowest external node (4,3,2 in this example), each solution can be described uniquely. For example, the above solution can be described by the set: 4,3,2; 6,2,1; 5,1,3.

    It is possible to complete the ring with four different totals: 9, 10, 11, and 12. There are eight solutions in total.

    Total Solution Set:
    9 4,2,3; 5,3,1; 6,1,2
    9 4,3,2; 6,2,1; 5,1,3
    10 2,3,5; 4,5,1; 6,1,3
    10 2,5,3; 6,3,1; 4,1,5
    11 1,4,6; 3,6,2; 5,2,4
    11 1,6,4; 5,4,2; 3,2,6
    12 1,5,6; 2,6,4; 3,4,5
    12 1,6,5; 3,5,4; 2,4,6
    By concatenating each group it is possible to form 9-digit strings; the maximum string for a 3-gon ring is 432621513.

    Problem

    Using the numbers 1 to 10, and depending on arrangements, it is possible to form 16- and 17-digit strings. What is the maximum 16-digit string for a “magic5-gon ring?

    Algorithm

    In attempting this problem, I choose to label the 5 inner nodes as i, j, k, l, and m.
    α, β, γ, δ, and θ being the corresponding outer nodes.

    Let x be the sum total of each triplet line, i.e.,

    x = α + i + j = β + j + k = γ + k + l = δ + l + m = θ + m + i

    magic5gon

    First Observation:
    For the string to be 16-digits, 10 has to be in the outer ring, as each number in the inner ring is included in the string twice. Next, we fill the inner ring in an iterative manner.

    Second Observation:
    There 9 numbers to choose from for the inner ring — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.
    5 have to be chosen. This can be done in 9C5 = 126 ways.
    According to circular permutation, if there are n distinct numbers to be arranged in a circle, this can be done in (n-1)! ways, where (n-1)! = (n-1).(n-2).(n-3)…3.2.1. So 5 distinct numbers can be arranged in 4! permutations, i.e., in 24 ways around a circle, or pentagonal ring, to be more precise.
    So in all, this problem can be solved in 126×24 = 3024 iterations.

    Third Observation:
    For every possible permutation of an inner-ring arrangement, there can be one or more values of x (triplet line-sum) that serve as a possible contenders for a “magic” string whose triplets add up to the same number, x. To ensure this, we only need that the values of α through θ of the outer ring are distinct, different from the inner ring, with the greatest of these equal to 10.
    Depending on the relative positioning of the numbers in the inner ring, one can narrow the range of x-values one might have to check for each permutation. To zero-down on such a range, let’s look at an example. Shown in the figure below is a randomly chosen permutation of number in the inner ring – 7, 2, 3, 4 and 5, in that order.

    magic5gonInstance

    So 10, 9, 8, 6 and 1 must fill the outer circle. It’s easy to notice that the 5, 7 pair is the greatest adjacent pair. So whatever x is, it has to be at least 5 + 7 + 1 = 13 (1 being the smallest number of the outer ring). Likewise,  2, 3 is the smallest adjacent pair, so whatever x is, it can’t be any more than 2 + 3+ 10 = 15 (10 being the largest number of the outer ring). This leaves us with a narrow range of x-values to check – 13, 14 and 15.

    Next, we arrange the 5 triplets in clock-wise direction starting with the triplet with the smallest number in the outer ring to form a candidate string. This exercise when done for each of the 3024 permutations will shortlist a range of candidates, of which, the maximum is chosen.

    That’s all there is to the problem!

    Here’s the Python Code. It executes in about a tenth of a second!

    from itertools import permutations
    from itertools import combinations
    # array of candidate solutions empty at the beginning
    record = []
    # choose 5 numbers for inner cells between 1 and 9; there are 9C5 combinations
    # the problem ask for a 16-digit number, so 10 is not to be included in inner cells
    cells = range(1,10)
    inner_cells = [map(int,comb) for comb in combinations(cells,5)]
    # code to calculate min and max couple in an array
    def minCouple(array):
    answer = array[0]+array[-1]
    for i in xrange(len(array)-1):
    coupleSum = array[i] + array[i+1]
    if coupleSum < answer:
    answer = coupleSum
    return answer
    def maxCouple(array):
    answer = 0
    for i in xrange(len(array)-1):
    if i==0:
    coupleSum = array[0]+ array[-1]
    if coupleSum > answer:
    answer = coupleSum
    else:
    coupleSum = array[i]+ array[i+1]
    if coupleSum > answer:
    answer = coupleSum
    return answer
    # Algorithm
    for array in inner_cells:
    pivot = array[0]
    perm_array = array[1:]
    perms = [map(int,perm) for perm in permutations(perm_array,4)]
    for perm in perms:
    checkArray = perm
    checkArray.insert(0,pivot)
    outerRing = [el for el in range(1,11) if el not in checkArray]
    xMax = minCouple(checkArray) + max(outerRing)
    xMin = maxCouple(checkArray) + min(outerRing)
    if xMax >= xMin:
    for x in xrange(xMin, xMax+1):
    i = checkArray[0]
    j = checkArray[1]
    k = checkArray[2]
    l = checkArray[3]
    m = checkArray[4]
    alpha = x-i-j
    beta = x-j-k
    gamma = x-k-l
    delta = x-l-m
    theta = x-m-i
    outerCalculated = [alpha, beta, gamma, delta, theta]
    if sorted(outerCalculated) == sorted(outerRing):
    a = [alpha, i, j]
    b = [beta, j, k]
    c = [gamma, k, l]
    d = [delta, l, m]
    e = [theta, m, i]
    min_val = min(alpha, beta, gamma, delta, theta)
    if alpha == min_val:
    append = a+b+c+d+e
    elif beta == min_val:
    append = b+c+d+e+a
    elif gamma == min_val:
    append = c+d+e+a+b
    elif delta == min_val:
    append = d+e+a+b+c
    elif theta == min_val:
    append = e+a+b+c+d
    l = [str(i) for i in append]
    s = ''.join(l)
    integer_list = int(s)
    record.append(integer_list)
    print max(record)
    view raw euler68.py hosted with ❤ by GitHub

    Ans: 6531031914842725

  • Maximum Path Sum — Dynamic Programming Algorithm

    Maximum Path Sum — Dynamic Programming Algorithm

    I came across this problem recently that required solving for the maximum-sum path in a triangle array.

    Problem18
    To copy the above triangle array:

    75
    95 64
    17 47 82
    18 35 87 10
    20 04 82 47 65
    19 01 23 75 03 34
    88 02 77 73 07 63 67
    99 65 04 28 06 16 70 92
    41 41 26 56 83 40 80 70 33
    41 48 72 33 47 32 37 16 94 29
    53 71 44 65 25 43 91 52 97 51 14
    70 11 33 28 77 73 17 78 39 68 17 57
    91 71 52 38 17 14 91 43 58 50 27 29 48
    63 66 04 68 89 53 67 30 73 16 69 87 40 31
    04 62 98 27 23 09 70 98 73 93 38 53 60 04 23
    view raw euler18.txt hosted with ❤ by GitHub

    As can be seen, there are 15 levels to this tree (including the top most node). Therefore, there are 214 possible routes to scan in order to check for the maximum sum using brute force. As there are only 214 (16384) routes, it is possible to solve this problem by trying every route. However, doing the same using brute force on a triangle array of 100 levels would take several billion years to solve using a computer that checks through say, 1012 routes per second. A greedy algorithm might per-chance work for the particular 4-level example problem stated above, but will not always work, and in most cases won’t. For instance, for the 100-level problem:

    59
    73 41
    52 40 09
    26 53 06 34
    10 51 87 86 81
    61 95 66 57 25 68
    90 81 80 38 92 67 73
    30 28 51 76 81 18 75 44
    84 14 95 87 62 81 17 78 58
    21 46 71 58 02 79 62 39 31 09
    56 34 35 53 78 31 81 18 90 93 15
    78 53 04 21 84 93 32 13 97 11 37 51
    45 03 81 79 05 18 78 86 13 30 63 99 95
    39 87 96 28 03 38 42 17 82 87 58 07 22 57
    06 17 51 17 07 93 09 07 75 97 95 78 87 08 53
    67 66 59 60 88 99 94 65 55 77 55 34 27 53 78 28
    76 40 41 04 87 16 09 42 75 69 23 97 30 60 10 79 87
    12 10 44 26 21 36 32 84 98 60 13 12 36 16 63 31 91 35
    70 39 06 05 55 27 38 48 28 22 34 35 62 62 15 14 94 89 86
    66 56 68 84 96 21 34 34 34 81 62 40 65 54 62 05 98 03 02 60
    38 89 46 37 99 54 34 53 36 14 70 26 02 90 45 13 31 61 83 73 47
    36 10 63 96 60 49 41 05 37 42 14 58 84 93 96 17 09 43 05 43 06 59
    66 57 87 57 61 28 37 51 84 73 79 15 39 95 88 87 43 39 11 86 77 74 18
    54 42 05 79 30 49 99 73 46 37 50 02 45 09 54 52 27 95 27 65 19 45 26 45
    71 39 17 78 76 29 52 90 18 99 78 19 35 62 71 19 23 65 93 85 49 33 75 09 02
    33 24 47 61 60 55 32 88 57 55 91 54 46 57 07 77 98 52 80 99 24 25 46 78 79 05
    92 09 13 55 10 67 26 78 76 82 63 49 51 31 24 68 05 57 07 54 69 21 67 43 17 63 12
    24 59 06 08 98 74 66 26 61 60 13 03 09 09 24 30 71 08 88 70 72 70 29 90 11 82 41 34
    66 82 67 04 36 60 92 77 91 85 62 49 59 61 30 90 29 94 26 41 89 04 53 22 83 41 09 74 90
    48 28 26 37 28 52 77 26 51 32 18 98 79 36 62 13 17 08 19 54 89 29 73 68 42 14 08 16 70 37
    37 60 69 70 72 71 09 59 13 60 38 13 57 36 09 30 43 89 30 39 15 02 44 73 05 73 26 63 56 86 12
    55 55 85 50 62 99 84 77 28 85 03 21 27 22 19 26 82 69 54 04 13 07 85 14 01 15 70 59 89 95 10 19
    04 09 31 92 91 38 92 86 98 75 21 05 64 42 62 84 36 20 73 42 21 23 22 51 51 79 25 45 85 53 03 43 22
    75 63 02 49 14 12 89 14 60 78 92 16 44 82 38 30 72 11 46 52 90 27 08 65 78 03 85 41 57 79 39 52 33 48
    78 27 56 56 39 13 19 43 86 72 58 95 39 07 04 34 21 98 39 15 39 84 89 69 84 46 37 57 59 35 59 50 26 15 93
    42 89 36 27 78 91 24 11 17 41 05 94 07 69 51 96 03 96 47 90 90 45 91 20 50 56 10 32 36 49 04 53 85 92 25 65
    52 09 61 30 61 97 66 21 96 92 98 90 06 34 96 60 32 69 68 33 75 84 18 31 71 50 84 63 03 03 19 11 28 42 75 45 45
    61 31 61 68 96 34 49 39 05 71 76 59 62 67 06 47 96 99 34 21 32 47 52 07 71 60 42 72 94 56 82 83 84 40 94 87 82 46
    01 20 60 14 17 38 26 78 66 81 45 95 18 51 98 81 48 16 53 88 37 52 69 95 72 93 22 34 98 20 54 27 73 61 56 63 60 34 63
    93 42 94 83 47 61 27 51 79 79 45 01 44 73 31 70 83 42 88 25 53 51 30 15 65 94 80 44 61 84 12 77 02 62 02 65 94 42 14 94
    32 73 09 67 68 29 74 98 10 19 85 48 38 31 85 67 53 93 93 77 47 67 39 72 94 53 18 43 77 40 78 32 29 59 24 06 02 83 50 60 66
    32 01 44 30 16 51 15 81 98 15 10 62 86 79 50 62 45 60 70 38 31 85 65 61 64 06 69 84 14 22 56 43 09 48 66 69 83 91 60 40 36 61
    92 48 22 99 15 95 64 43 01 16 94 02 99 19 17 69 11 58 97 56 89 31 77 45 67 96 12 73 08 20 36 47 81 44 50 64 68 85 40 81 85 52 09
    91 35 92 45 32 84 62 15 19 64 21 66 06 01 52 80 62 59 12 25 88 28 91 50 40 16 22 99 92 79 87 51 21 77 74 77 07 42 38 42 74 83 02 05
    46 19 77 66 24 18 05 32 02 84 31 99 92 58 96 72 91 36 62 99 55 29 53 42 12 37 26 58 89 50 66 19 82 75 12 48 24 87 91 85 02 07 03 76 86
    99 98 84 93 07 17 33 61 92 20 66 60 24 66 40 30 67 05 37 29 24 96 03 27 70 62 13 04 45 47 59 88 43 20 66 15 46 92 30 04 71 66 78 70 53 99
    67 60 38 06 88 04 17 72 10 99 71 07 42 25 54 05 26 64 91 50 45 71 06 30 67 48 69 82 08 56 80 67 18 46 66 63 01 20 08 80 47 07 91 16 03 79 87
    18 54 78 49 80 48 77 40 68 23 60 88 58 80 33 57 11 69 55 53 64 02 94 49 60 92 16 35 81 21 82 96 25 24 96 18 02 05 49 03 50 77 06 32 84 27 18 38
    68 01 50 04 03 21 42 94 53 24 89 05 92 26 52 36 68 11 85 01 04 42 02 45 15 06 50 04 53 73 25 74 81 88 98 21 67 84 79 97 99 20 95 04 40 46 02 58 87
    94 10 02 78 88 52 21 03 88 60 06 53 49 71 20 91 12 65 07 49 21 22 11 41 58 99 36 16 09 48 17 24 52 36 23 15 72 16 84 56 02 99 43 76 81 71 29 39 49 17
    64 39 59 84 86 16 17 66 03 09 43 06 64 18 63 29 68 06 23 07 87 14 26 35 17 12 98 41 53 64 78 18 98 27 28 84 80 67 75 62 10 11 76 90 54 10 05 54 41 39 66
    43 83 18 37 32 31 52 29 95 47 08 76 35 11 04 53 35 43 34 10 52 57 12 36 20 39 40 55 78 44 07 31 38 26 08 15 56 88 86 01 52 62 10 24 32 05 60 65 53 28 57 99
    03 50 03 52 07 73 49 92 66 80 01 46 08 67 25 36 73 93 07 42 25 53 13 96 76 83 87 90 54 89 78 22 78 91 73 51 69 09 79 94 83 53 09 40 69 62 10 79 49 47 03 81 30
    71 54 73 33 51 76 59 54 79 37 56 45 84 17 62 21 98 69 41 95 65 24 39 37 62 03 24 48 54 64 46 82 71 78 33 67 09 16 96 68 52 74 79 68 32 21 13 78 96 60 09 69 20 36
    73 26 21 44 46 38 17 83 65 98 07 23 52 46 61 97 33 13 60 31 70 15 36 77 31 58 56 93 75 68 21 36 69 53 90 75 25 82 39 50 65 94 29 30 11 33 11 13 96 02 56 47 07 49 02
    76 46 73 30 10 20 60 70 14 56 34 26 37 39 48 24 55 76 84 91 39 86 95 61 50 14 53 93 64 67 37 31 10 84 42 70 48 20 10 72 60 61 84 79 69 65 99 73 89 25 85 48 92 56 97 16
    03 14 80 27 22 30 44 27 67 75 79 32 51 54 81 29 65 14 19 04 13 82 04 91 43 40 12 52 29 99 07 76 60 25 01 07 61 71 37 92 40 47 99 66 57 01 43 44 22 40 53 53 09 69 26 81 07
    49 80 56 90 93 87 47 13 75 28 87 23 72 79 32 18 27 20 28 10 37 59 21 18 70 04 79 96 03 31 45 71 81 06 14 18 17 05 31 50 92 79 23 47 09 39 47 91 43 54 69 47 42 95 62 46 32 85
    37 18 62 85 87 28 64 05 77 51 47 26 30 65 05 70 65 75 59 80 42 52 25 20 44 10 92 17 71 95 52 14 77 13 24 55 11 65 26 91 01 30 63 15 49 48 41 17 67 47 03 68 20 90 98 32 04 40 68
    90 51 58 60 06 55 23 68 05 19 76 94 82 36 96 43 38 90 87 28 33 83 05 17 70 83 96 93 06 04 78 47 80 06 23 84 75 23 87 72 99 14 50 98 92 38 90 64 61 58 76 94 36 66 87 80 51 35 61 38
    57 95 64 06 53 36 82 51 40 33 47 14 07 98 78 65 39 58 53 06 50 53 04 69 40 68 36 69 75 78 75 60 03 32 39 24 74 47 26 90 13 40 44 71 90 76 51 24 36 50 25 45 70 80 61 80 61 43 90 64 11
    18 29 86 56 68 42 79 10 42 44 30 12 96 18 23 18 52 59 02 99 67 46 60 86 43 38 55 17 44 93 42 21 55 14 47 34 55 16 49 24 23 29 96 51 55 10 46 53 27 92 27 46 63 57 30 65 43 27 21 20 24 83
    81 72 93 19 69 52 48 01 13 83 92 69 20 48 69 59 20 62 05 42 28 89 90 99 32 72 84 17 08 87 36 03 60 31 36 36 81 26 97 36 48 54 56 56 27 16 91 08 23 11 87 99 33 47 02 14 44 73 70 99 43 35 33
    90 56 61 86 56 12 70 59 63 32 01 15 81 47 71 76 95 32 65 80 54 70 34 51 40 45 33 04 64 55 78 68 88 47 31 47 68 87 03 84 23 44 89 72 35 08 31 76 63 26 90 85 96 67 65 91 19 14 17 86 04 71 32 95
    37 13 04 22 64 37 37 28 56 62 86 33 07 37 10 44 52 82 52 06 19 52 57 75 90 26 91 24 06 21 14 67 76 30 46 14 35 89 89 41 03 64 56 97 87 63 22 34 03 79 17 45 11 53 25 56 96 61 23 18 63 31 37 37 47
    77 23 26 70 72 76 77 04 28 64 71 69 14 85 96 54 95 48 06 62 99 83 86 77 97 75 71 66 30 19 57 90 33 01 60 61 14 12 90 99 32 77 56 41 18 14 87 49 10 14 90 64 18 50 21 74 14 16 88 05 45 73 82 47 74 44
    22 97 41 13 34 31 54 61 56 94 03 24 59 27 98 77 04 09 37 40 12 26 87 09 71 70 07 18 64 57 80 21 12 71 83 94 60 39 73 79 73 19 97 32 64 29 41 07 48 84 85 67 12 74 95 20 24 52 41 67 56 61 29 93 35 72 69
    72 23 63 66 01 11 07 30 52 56 95 16 65 26 83 90 50 74 60 18 16 48 43 77 37 11 99 98 30 94 91 26 62 73 45 12 87 73 47 27 01 88 66 99 21 41 95 80 02 53 23 32 61 48 32 43 43 83 14 66 95 91 19 81 80 67 25 88
    08 62 32 18 92 14 83 71 37 96 11 83 39 99 05 16 23 27 10 67 02 25 44 11 55 31 46 64 41 56 44 74 26 81 51 31 45 85 87 09 81 95 22 28 76 69 46 48 64 87 67 76 27 89 31 11 74 16 62 03 60 94 42 47 09 34 94 93 72
    56 18 90 18 42 17 42 32 14 86 06 53 33 95 99 35 29 15 44 20 49 59 25 54 34 59 84 21 23 54 35 90 78 16 93 13 37 88 54 19 86 67 68 55 66 84 65 42 98 37 87 56 33 28 58 38 28 38 66 27 52 21 81 15 08 22 97 32 85 27
    91 53 40 28 13 34 91 25 01 63 50 37 22 49 71 58 32 28 30 18 68 94 23 83 63 62 94 76 80 41 90 22 82 52 29 12 18 56 10 08 35 14 37 57 23 65 67 40 72 39 93 39 70 89 40 34 07 46 94 22 20 05 53 64 56 30 05 56 61 88 27
    23 95 11 12 37 69 68 24 66 10 87 70 43 50 75 07 62 41 83 58 95 93 89 79 45 39 02 22 05 22 95 43 62 11 68 29 17 40 26 44 25 71 87 16 70 85 19 25 59 94 90 41 41 80 61 70 55 60 84 33 95 76 42 63 15 09 03 40 38 12 03 32
    09 84 56 80 61 55 85 97 16 94 82 94 98 57 84 30 84 48 93 90 71 05 95 90 73 17 30 98 40 64 65 89 07 79 09 19 56 36 42 30 23 69 73 72 07 05 27 61 24 31 43 48 71 84 21 28 26 65 65 59 65 74 77 20 10 81 61 84 95 08 52 23 70
    47 81 28 09 98 51 67 64 35 51 59 36 92 82 77 65 80 24 72 53 22 07 27 10 21 28 30 22 48 82 80 48 56 20 14 43 18 25 50 95 90 31 77 08 09 48 44 80 90 22 93 45 82 17 13 96 25 26 08 73 34 99 06 49 24 06 83 51 40 14 15 10 25 01
    54 25 10 81 30 64 24 74 75 80 36 75 82 60 22 69 72 91 45 67 03 62 79 54 89 74 44 83 64 96 66 73 44 30 74 50 37 05 09 97 70 01 60 46 37 91 39 75 75 18 58 52 72 78 51 81 86 52 08 97 01 46 43 66 98 62 81 18 70 93 73 08 32 46 34
    96 80 82 07 59 71 92 53 19 20 88 66 03 26 26 10 24 27 50 82 94 73 63 08 51 33 22 45 19 13 58 33 90 15 22 50 36 13 55 06 35 47 82 52 33 61 36 27 28 46 98 14 73 20 73 32 16 26 80 53 47 66 76 38 94 45 02 01 22 52 47 96 64 58 52 39
    88 46 23 39 74 63 81 64 20 90 33 33 76 55 58 26 10 46 42 26 74 74 12 83 32 43 09 02 73 55 86 54 85 34 28 23 29 79 91 62 47 41 82 87 99 22 48 90 20 05 96 75 95 04 43 28 81 39 81 01 28 42 78 25 39 77 90 57 58 98 17 36 73 22 63 74 51
    29 39 74 94 95 78 64 24 38 86 63 87 93 06 70 92 22 16 80 64 29 52 20 27 23 50 14 13 87 15 72 96 81 22 08 49 72 30 70 24 79 31 16 64 59 21 89 34 96 91 48 76 43 53 88 01 57 80 23 81 90 79 58 01 80 87 17 99 86 90 72 63 32 69 14 28 88 69
    37 17 71 95 56 93 71 35 43 45 04 98 92 94 84 96 11 30 31 27 31 60 92 03 48 05 98 91 86 94 35 90 90 08 48 19 33 28 68 37 59 26 65 96 50 68 22 07 09 49 34 31 77 49 43 06 75 17 81 87 61 79 52 26 27 72 29 50 07 98 86 01 17 10 46 64 24 18 56
    51 30 25 94 88 85 79 91 40 33 63 84 49 67 98 92 15 26 75 19 82 05 18 78 65 93 61 48 91 43 59 41 70 51 22 15 92 81 67 91 46 98 11 11 65 31 66 10 98 65 83 21 05 56 05 98 73 67 46 74 69 34 08 30 05 52 07 98 32 95 30 94 65 50 24 63 28 81 99 57
    19 23 61 36 09 89 71 98 65 17 30 29 89 26 79 74 94 11 44 48 97 54 81 55 39 66 69 45 28 47 13 86 15 76 74 70 84 32 36 33 79 20 78 14 41 47 89 28 81 05 99 66 81 86 38 26 06 25 13 60 54 55 23 53 27 05 89 25 23 11 13 54 59 54 56 34 16 24 53 44 06
    13 40 57 72 21 15 60 08 04 19 11 98 34 45 09 97 86 71 03 15 56 19 15 44 97 31 90 04 87 87 76 08 12 30 24 62 84 28 12 85 82 53 99 52 13 94 06 65 97 86 09 50 94 68 69 74 30 67 87 94 63 07 78 27 80 36 69 41 06 92 32 78 37 82 30 05 18 87 99 72 19 99
    44 20 55 77 69 91 27 31 28 81 80 27 02 07 97 23 95 98 12 25 75 29 47 71 07 47 78 39 41 59 27 76 13 15 66 61 68 35 69 86 16 53 67 63 99 85 41 56 08 28 33 40 94 76 90 85 31 70 24 65 84 65 99 82 19 25 54 37 21 46 33 02 52 99 51 33 26 04 87 02 08 18 96
    54 42 61 45 91 06 64 79 80 82 32 16 83 63 42 49 19 78 65 97 40 42 14 61 49 34 04 18 25 98 59 30 82 72 26 88 54 36 21 75 03 88 99 53 46 51 55 78 22 94 34 40 68 87 84 25 30 76 25 08 92 84 42 61 40 38 09 99 40 23 29 39 46 55 10 90 35 84 56 70 63 23 91 39
    52 92 03 71 89 07 09 37 68 66 58 20 44 92 51 56 13 71 79 99 26 37 02 06 16 67 36 52 58 16 79 73 56 60 59 27 44 77 94 82 20 50 98 33 09 87 94 37 40 83 64 83 58 85 17 76 53 02 83 52 22 27 39 20 48 92 45 21 09 42 24 23 12 37 52 28 50 78 79 20 86 62 73 20 59
    54 96 80 15 91 90 99 70 10 09 58 90 93 50 81 99 54 38 36 10 30 11 35 84 16 45 82 18 11 97 36 43 96 79 97 65 40 48 23 19 17 31 64 52 65 65 37 32 65 76 99 79 34 65 79 27 55 33 03 01 33 27 61 28 66 08 04 70 49 46 48 83 01 45 19 96 13 81 14 21 31 79 93 85 50 05
    92 92 48 84 59 98 31 53 23 27 15 22 79 95 24 76 05 79 16 93 97 89 38 89 42 83 02 88 94 95 82 21 01 97 48 39 31 78 09 65 50 56 97 61 01 07 65 27 21 23 14 15 80 97 44 78 49 35 33 45 81 74 34 05 31 57 09 38 94 07 69 54 69 32 65 68 46 68 78 90 24 28 49 51 45 86 35
    41 63 89 76 87 31 86 09 46 14 87 82 22 29 47 16 13 10 70 72 82 95 48 64 58 43 13 75 42 69 21 12 67 13 64 85 58 23 98 09 37 76 05 22 31 12 66 50 29 99 86 72 45 25 10 28 19 06 90 43 29 31 67 79 46 25 74 14 97 35 76 37 65 46 23 82 06 22 30 76 93 66 94 17 96 13 20 72
    63 40 78 08 52 09 90 41 70 28 36 14 46 44 85 96 24 52 58 15 87 37 05 98 99 39 13 61 76 38 44 99 83 74 90 22 53 80 56 98 30 51 63 39 44 30 91 91 04 22 27 73 17 35 53 18 35 45 54 56 27 78 48 13 69 36 44 38 71 25 30 56 15 22 73 43 32 69 59 25 93 83 45 11 34 94 44 39 92
    12 36 56 88 13 96 16 12 55 54 11 47 19 78 17 17 68 81 77 51 42 55 99 85 66 27 81 79 93 42 65 61 69 74 14 01 18 56 12 01 58 37 91 22 42 66 83 25 19 04 96 41 25 45 18 69 96 88 36 93 10 12 98 32 44 83 83 04 72 91 04 27 73 07 34 37 71 60 59 31 01 54 54 44 96 93 83 36 04 45
    30 18 22 20 42 96 65 79 17 41 55 69 94 81 29 80 91 31 85 25 47 26 43 49 02 99 34 67 99 76 16 14 15 93 08 32 99 44 61 77 67 50 43 55 87 55 53 72 17 46 62 25 50 99 73 05 93 48 17 31 70 80 59 09 44 59 45 13 74 66 58 94 87 73 16 14 85 38 74 99 64 23 79 28 71 42 20 37 82 31 23
    51 96 39 65 46 71 56 13 29 68 53 86 45 33 51 49 12 91 21 21 76 85 02 17 98 15 46 12 60 21 88 30 92 83 44 59 42 50 27 88 46 86 94 73 45 54 23 24 14 10 94 21 20 34 23 51 04 83 99 75 90 63 60 16 22 33 83 70 11 32 10 50 29 30 83 46 11 05 31 17 86 42 49 01 44 63 28 60 07 78 95 40
    44 61 89 59 04 49 51 27 69 71 46 76 44 04 09 34 56 39 15 06 94 91 75 90 65 27 56 23 74 06 23 33 36 69 14 39 05 34 35 57 33 22 76 46 56 10 61 65 98 09 16 69 04 62 65 18 99 76 49 18 72 66 73 83 82 40 76 31 89 91 27 88 17 35 41 35 32 51 32 67 52 68 74 85 80 57 07 11 62 66 47 22 67
    65 37 19 97 26 17 16 24 24 17 50 37 64 82 24 36 32 11 68 34 69 31 32 89 79 93 96 68 49 90 14 23 04 04 67 99 81 74 70 74 36 96 68 09 64 39 88 35 54 89 96 58 66 27 88 97 32 14 06 35 78 20 71 06 85 66 57 02 58 91 72 05 29 56 73 48 86 52 09 93 22 57 79 42 12 01 31 68 17 59 63 76 07 77
    73 81 14 13 17 20 11 09 01 83 08 85 91 70 84 63 62 77 37 07 47 01 59 95 39 69 39 21 99 09 87 02 97 16 92 36 74 71 90 66 33 73 73 75 52 91 11 12 26 53 05 26 26 48 61 50 90 65 01 87 42 47 74 35 22 73 24 26 56 70 52 05 48 41 31 18 83 27 21 39 80 85 26 08 44 02 71 07 63 22 05 52 19 08 20
    17 25 21 11 72 93 33 49 64 23 53 82 03 13 91 65 85 02 40 05 42 31 77 42 05 36 06 54 04 58 07 76 87 83 25 57 66 12 74 33 85 37 74 32 20 69 03 97 91 68 82 44 19 14 89 28 85 85 80 53 34 87 58 98 88 78 48 65 98 40 11 57 10 67 70 81 60 79 74 72 97 59 79 47 30 20 54 80 89 91 14 05 33 36 79 39
    60 85 59 39 60 07 57 76 77 92 06 35 15 72 23 41 45 52 95 18 64 79 86 53 56 31 69 11 91 31 84 50 44 82 22 81 41 40 30 42 30 91 48 94 74 76 64 58 74 25 96 57 14 19 03 99 28 83 15 75 99 01 89 85 79 50 03 95 32 67 44 08 07 41 62 64 29 20 14 76 26 55 48 71 69 66 19 72 44 25 14 01 48 74 12 98 07
    64 66 84 24 18 16 27 48 20 14 47 69 30 86 48 40 23 16 61 21 51 50 26 47 35 33 91 28 78 64 43 68 04 79 51 08 19 60 52 95 06 68 46 86 35 97 27 58 04 65 30 58 99 12 12 75 91 39 50 31 42 64 70 04 46 07 98 73 98 93 37 89 77 91 64 71 64 65 66 21 78 62 81 74 42 20 83 70 73 95 78 45 92 27 34 53 71 15
    30 11 85 31 34 71 13 48 05 14 44 03 19 67 23 73 19 57 06 90 94 72 57 69 81 62 59 68 88 57 55 69 49 13 07 87 97 80 89 05 71 05 05 26 38 40 16 62 45 99 18 38 98 24 21 26 62 74 69 04 85 57 77 35 58 67 91 79 79 57 86 28 66 34 72 51 76 78 36 95 63 90 08 78 47 63 45 31 22 70 52 48 79 94 15 77 61 67 68
    23 33 44 81 80 92 93 75 94 88 23 61 39 76 22 03 28 94 32 06 49 65 41 34 18 23 08 47 62 60 03 63 33 13 80 52 31 54 73 43 70 26 16 69 57 87 83 31 03 93 70 81 47 95 77 44 29 68 39 51 56 59 63 07 25 70 07 77 43 53 64 03 94 42 95 39 18 01 66 21 16 97 20 50 90 16 70 10 95 69 29 06 25 61 41 26 15 59 63 35
    view raw euler67.txt hosted with ❤ by GitHub

    The Algorithm

    Solving such a problem would require a powerful approach – and surely enough, there is an algorithm that solves the 100-level problem in a fraction of a second. Here’s a brief sketch of the algorithm:

    You have such triangle:

       3
      7 4
     2 4 6  
    8 5 9 3
    

    Let’s say you’re on the penultimate level 2 4 6 and you have to iterate over it.

    From 2, you can go to either 8 or 5, so 8 is better (maximize you result by 3) so you calculate the first sum 8 + 2 = 10

    From 4, you can go to either 5 or 9, so 9 is better (maximize you result by 4) so you calculate the second sum 9 + 4 = 13

    From 6, you can go to either 9 or 3, so 9 is better again (maximize you result by 6) so you calculate the third sum 9 + 6 = 15

    This is the end of first iteration and you got the line of sums 10 13 15.

    Now you’ve got triangle of lower dimension:

          3
       7    4
    10   13    15  
    

    Keep going this way…

             3
         20    19
    

    …and you finally arrive at 23 as the answer.

    The Code

    Now for the Python code. I first store the 100-level triangle array in a text file, euler67.txt
    I read the triangle array into Python and successively update the penultimate row and delete the last row according to the algorithm discussed above.

    # Read the problem matrix into a triangle array in python
    filename = 'euler67.txt'
    with open(filename, "r") as ins:
    array = []
    for line in ins:
    array.append(line)
    # Convert the triangle arry entries into integers
    newArray = []
    for i in array:
    j = i.split(' ')
    k = [int(n) for n in j]
    newArray.append(k)
    l = len(newArray)
    # Algorithm to calculate Maximum Path Sum
    for i in range(l-1):
    array1 = newArray[-1]
    array2 = newArray[-2]
    for j in range(len(array2)):
    array2[j] += max(array1[j], array1[j+1])
    newArray.pop(-1)
    newArray[-1] = array2
    print newArray[0][0]
    view raw euler67.py hosted with ❤ by GitHub

    This code is the key to solving problems 18 and 67 of Project Euler.
    Problem 18
    Ans: 1074
    Problem 67
    Ans: 7273

  • Collatz Conjecture — What You Need to Know

    Collatz Conjecture — What You Need to Know

    Like many of my previous posts, this post too has something to do with a Project Euler problem. Here’s a sketch of the Colatz Conjecture.

    The following iterative sequence is defined for the set of positive integers:

    n → n/2 (n is even)
    n → 3n + 1 (n is odd)

    Using the rule above and starting with 13, we generate the following sequence:

    13 → 40 → 20 → 10 → 5 → 16 → 8 → 4 → 2 → 1

    So basically, it’s just this. Take any natural number n. If n is even, divide it by 2 to get n / 2. If n is odd, multiply it by 3 and add 1 to obtain 3n + 1. Repeat the process indefinitely. The conjecture is that no matter what number you start with, you will always eventually reach 1. The property has aptly been called oneness! But perhaps oneness has its pitfalls too…

    If the conjecture is false, it can only be because there is some starting number which gives rise to a sequence that does not contain 1. Such a sequence might enter a repeating cycle that excludes 1, or increase without bound. No such sequence has been found.

    Question
    It can be seen that the sequence:
    13 → 40 → 20 → 10 → 5 → 16 → 8 → 4 → 2 → 1
    contains 10 terms. Although it has not been proved yet (Collatz Problem), it is thought that all starting numbers finish at 1. Which starting number, under one million, produces the longest chain?

    NOTE: Once the chain starts the terms are allowed to go above one million.

    HUGE HINT:

    Histogram of stopping times for the numbers 1 to 100 million. Stopping time is on the x axis, frequency on the y axis.

    Approach 1 (A naïve, but straigh forward method)

    # Longest Collatz Sequence under a million
    # Function listing collatz sequence for a number
    def collatz(n):
    "function listing collatz sequence for a positive integer"
    coll = []
    coll.append(n)
    while n != 1:
    if n % 2 == 0:
    n = n/2
    coll.append(n)
    else:
    n = 3*n + 1
    coll.append(n)
    return coll
    longest = 0
    j = 0
    for i in xrange(1, 1000000):
    lencoll = len(collatz(i))
    if lencoll > longest:
    longest = lencoll
    j = i
    print j
    view raw euler14.py hosted with ❤ by GitHub

    Approach 2 (Smart, quick method that uses dynamic programming with the help of dictionaries)

    collatz = {1:1}
    def Collatz(n):
    global collatz
    if not collatz.has_key(n):
    if n%2 == 0:
    collatz[n] = Collatz(n/2) + 1
    else:
    collatz[n] = Collatz(3*n + 1) + 1
    return collatz[n]
    for j in range(1000000,0,-1):
    Collatz(j)
    print collatz.keys()[collatz.values().index(max(collatz.values()))]
    view raw euler14.py hosted with ❤ by GitHub

    I couldn’t help appreciate the elegance of the second algorithm. It’ll be well worth perusing if you don’t get it at one go. [Hint: It keeps track of the number of terms of a particular sequence as values assigned to keys of a Python dictionary]

    Ans: 837799

  • Large sum — Project Euler (Problem 13)

    This isn’t much of a problem really, but since I’m posting solutions to all the Project Euler problems I solve, I’ve been OCD’d into posting this one too. Besides, it illustrates the simplifying power of Python as a language?

    Anyway… here’s the problem:

    Work out the first ten digits of the sum of the following one-hundred 50-digit numbers:

     37107287533902102798797998220837590246510135740250
    46376937677490009712648124896970078050417018260538
    74324986199524741059474233309513058123726617309629
    91942213363574161572522430563301811072406154908250
    23067588207539346171171980310421047513778063246676
    89261670696623633820136378418383684178734361726757
    28112879812849979408065481931592621691275889832738
    44274228917432520321923589422876796487670272189318
    47451445736001306439091167216856844588711603153276
    70386486105843025439939619828917593665686757934951
    62176457141856560629502157223196586755079324193331
    64906352462741904929101432445813822663347944758178
    92575867718337217661963751590579239728245598838407
    58203565325359399008402633568948830189458628227828
    80181199384826282014278194139940567587151170094390
    35398664372827112653829987240784473053190104293586
    86515506006295864861532075273371959191420517255829
    71693888707715466499115593487603532921714970056938
    54370070576826684624621495650076471787294438377604
    53282654108756828443191190634694037855217779295145
    36123272525000296071075082563815656710885258350721
    45876576172410976447339110607218265236877223636045
    17423706905851860660448207621209813287860733969412
    81142660418086830619328460811191061556940512689692
    51934325451728388641918047049293215058642563049483
    62467221648435076201727918039944693004732956340691
    15732444386908125794514089057706229429197107928209
    55037687525678773091862540744969844508330393682126
    18336384825330154686196124348767681297534375946515
    80386287592878490201521685554828717201219257766954
    78182833757993103614740356856449095527097864797581
    16726320100436897842553539920931837441497806860984
    48403098129077791799088218795327364475675590848030
    87086987551392711854517078544161852424320693150332
    59959406895756536782107074926966537676326235447210
    69793950679652694742597709739166693763042633987085
    41052684708299085211399427365734116182760315001271
    65378607361501080857009149939512557028198746004375
    35829035317434717326932123578154982629742552737307
    94953759765105305946966067683156574377167401875275
    88902802571733229619176668713819931811048770190271
    25267680276078003013678680992525463401061632866526
    36270218540497705585629946580636237993140746255962
    24074486908231174977792365466257246923322810917141
    91430288197103288597806669760892938638285025333403
    34413065578016127815921815005561868836468420090470
    23053081172816430487623791969842487255036638784583
    11487696932154902810424020138335124462181441773470
    63783299490636259666498587618221225225512486764533
    67720186971698544312419572409913959008952310058822
    95548255300263520781532296796249481641953868218774
    76085327132285723110424803456124867697064507995236
    37774242535411291684276865538926205024910326572967
    23701913275725675285653248258265463092207058596522
    29798860272258331913126375147341994889534765745501
    18495701454879288984856827726077713721403798879715
    38298203783031473527721580348144513491373226651381
    34829543829199918180278916522431027392251122869539
    40957953066405232632538044100059654939159879593635
    29746152185502371307642255121183693803580388584903
    41698116222072977186158236678424689157993532961922
    62467957194401269043877107275048102390895523597457
    23189706772547915061505504953922979530901129967519
    86188088225875314529584099251203829009407770775672
    11306739708304724483816533873502340845647058077308
    82959174767140363198008187129011875491310547126581
    97623331044818386269515456334926366572897563400500
    42846280183517070527831839425882145521227251250327
    55121603546981200581762165212827652751691296897789
    32238195734329339946437501907836945765883352399886
    75506164965184775180738168837861091527357929701337
    62177842752192623401942399639168044983993173312731
    32924185707147349566916674687634660915035914677504
    99518671430235219628894890102423325116913619626622
    73267460800591547471830798392868535206946944540724
    76841822524674417161514036427982273348055556214818
    97142617910342598647204516893989422179826088076852
    87783646182799346313767754307809363333018982642090
    10848802521674670883215120185883543223812876952786
    71329612474782464538636993009049310363619763878039
    62184073572399794223406235393808339651327408011116
    66627891981488087797941876876144230030984490851411
    60661826293682836764744779239180335110989069790714
    85786944089552990653640447425576083659976645795096
    66024396409905389607120198219976047599490197230297
    64913982680032973156037120041377903785566085089252
    16730939319872750275468906903707539413042652315011
    94809377245048795150954100921645863754710598436791
    78639167021187492431995700641917969777599028300699
    15368713711936614952811305876380278410754449733078
    40789923115535562561142322423255033685442488917353
    44889911501440648020369068063960672322193204149535
    41503128880339536053299340368006977710650566631954
    81234880673210146739058568557934581403627822703280
    82616570773948327592232845941706525094512325230608
    22918802058777319719839450180888072429661980811197
    77158542502016545090413245809786882778948721859617
    72107838435069186155435662884062257473692284509516
    20849603980134001723930671666823555245252804609722
    53503534226472524250874054075591789781264330331690
    The solution:
    I first copy the problem matrix to a .txt file, in this case, euler13.txt
    The solution is cake really, and I don’t care whether this was worth posting on my blog or not coz I wasted my time solving this problem anyway, and it shouldn’t have been for nothing!
    # Read the problem matrix into an array in python
    filename = 'euler13.txt'
    with open(filename, "r") as ins:
    array = []
    for line in ins:
    array.append(line)
    # Convert the array into an array of integers
    newArray = []
    for i in array:
    newArray.append(int(i))
    # Sum up the array and print the first 10 numbers of the sum as a string
    arraySum = sum(newArray)
    print str(arraySum)[:10]
    view raw euler13.py hosted with ❤ by GitHub
    Ans: 5537376230
  • Highly Divisible Triangular Number — Project Euler (Problem 12)

    Highly Divisible Triangular Number — Project Euler (Problem 12)

    All n numbers are Triangle Numbers. They’re called so, because they can be represented in the form of a triangular grid of points where the first row contains a single element and each subsequent row contains one more element than the previous one.

    TriangularNumber_900

    Problem 12 of Project Euler asks for the first triangle number with more than 500 divisors.

    These are the factors of the first seven triangle numbers:

    1 = 1: 1
    2 = 3: 1,3
    3 = 6: 1,2,3,6
    4 = 10: 1,2,5,10
    ∑5 = 15: 1,3,5,15
    ∑6 = 21: 1,3,7,21
    ∑7 = 28: 1,2,4,7,14,28

    Here’s how I proceeded:

    First Step: Find the smallest number with 500 divisors. Seems like a good starting point to begin our search.
    Second Step: Starting at the number found in the previous step, search for the next triangle number. Check to see whether this number has 500+ divisors. If yes, this is the number we were looking for, else…
    Third Step: Check n for which ∑n = triangle number found in the previous step
    Fourth Step: Add (n+1) to the last triangle number found, to find the next triangle number. Check whether this number has 500+ divisors. If yes, this number is the answer. If not, repeat Fourth Step till the process terminates.

    Now for the details:

    The First Step isn’t exactly a piece of cake, but necessary to reduce computation time. I solved this with a bit of mental math. The main tool for the feat is the prime number decomposition theorem:

    Every integer N is the product of powers of prime numbers

    N = pαqβ· … · rγ
    Where p, q, …, r are prime, while α, β, …, γ are positive integers. Such representation is unique up to the order of the prime factors.
    If N is a power of a prime, N = pα, then it has α + 1 factors:
    1, p, …, pα-1, pα
    The total number of factors of N equals (α + 1)(β + 1) … (γ + 1)

    500 = 2 x 2 x 5 x 5 x 5
    So, the number in question should be of the form abq4r4s4 where a, b, q, r, s are primes that minimize abq4r4s4. This is satisfied by 7x11x24x34x54 = 62370000. This marks the end of the First Step which is where we start our search for our magic number.

    The next 3 steps would need helper functions defined as below:

    from math import *
    # Function to calculate the number of divisors of integer n
    def divisors(n):
    limit = int(sqrt(n))
    divisors_list = []
    for i in range(1, limit+1, 1):
    if n % i == 0:
    divisors_list.append(i)
    if i != n/i:
    divisors_list.append(n/i)
    return len(divisors_list)
    # Function to check for triangle number
    def isTriangleNumber(n):
    a = int(sqrt(2*n))
    return 0.5*a*(a+1) == n
    # Function to calculate the last term of the series adding up to the triangle number
    def lastTerm(n):
    if isTriangleNumber(n):
    return int(sqrt(2*n))
    else:
    return None

    As can be seen from the above code, the algorithm to calculate divisors of an integer is as follows:
    1. Start by inputting a number n
    2. Let an int variable limit = √n
    3. Run a loop from i = 1 to  i = limit
        3.1 if n is divisible by i
    3.1.1 Add i to the list of divisors
    3.1.2 if i and n/i are unequal, add n/i to the list too.
    4. End

    Finally, executing the 4 steps mentioned earlier can be done like so (the code took less than 2s to arrive at the answer):

    # First Step
    # First number 'check' to have 500 divisors
    check = 2**4 * 3**4 * 5**4 * 7 * 11
    # Second Step
    # Starting from 'check', iterate sequentially checking for the next 'triangle' number
    while not isTriangleNumber(check):
    check += 1
    # Third and Fourth Steps
    # Calculate the last term of the series ('seriesLastTerm') that adds up to the newly calculated triangle number 'check'
    seriesLastTerm = lastTerm(check)
    # Iterate over triangle numbers checking for divisors > 500
    while divisors(check) <= 500:
    # add the next term to check to get the next triangle number
    check += (seriesLastTerm + 1)
    seriesLastTerm += 1
    print check

    Ans: 76576500

  • Consecutive Prime Sum — Project Euler (Problem 50)

    Consecutive Prime Sum — Project Euler (Problem 50)

    Many problems in Project Euler relate to working with primes. I use primesieve-python to help solve such problems. It consists of Python bindings for the primesieve C++ library. Generates primes orders of magnitude faster than any pure Python code. Features:

    • Generate a list of primes
    • Count primes and prime k-tuplets
    • Print primes and prime k-tuplets
    • Find the nth prime
    • Iterate over primes using little memory

    Anyway, here’s Problem 50 from Project Euler:

    ProjectEuler50

    Here’s how I did it:

    # Question: Which prime, below one-million, can be written as the sum of the most consecutive primes
    from primesieve import *
    from math import *
    # Generate list of primes under a million
    primes_under_million = generate_primes(10**6)
    # Sum of consecutive primes is of order 0.5(n^2)(logn)
    # Calculate 'n' so that sum of consecutive primes is less than a million (and not necessarily prime)
    nsum = 1
    n = 1
    while nsum < 10**6:
    nsum = 0.5*(n**2)*(log(n, e))
    n += 1
    # Calculate index so that sum of first 'index' consecutive primes is under a million and also prime
    primes_subset = primes_under_million[:n]
    nsum = sum(primes_under_million[:n])
    while nsum > 10**6:
    n -= 1
    nsum = sum(primes_under_million[:n])
    primes_sum = 0
    index = 0
    for i in range(len(primes_subset)):
    if i % 2 == 1:
    pass
    else:
    sumprimes = sum(primes_subset[:i])
    if sumprimes > primes_sum and sumprimes < 10**6 and sumprimes in primes_under_million:
    primes_sum = sumprimes
    index = i
    # Print out sum of consecutive primes till 'index', index, n
    # print primes_sum, index, n
    # Check consecutive primes within a range (index to n) such that their number is greater than index and maximum
    j = index + 1
    start = 0
    while j <= n:
    while (j-start) >= (n-index):
    sumprimes = sum(primes_subset[start:j])
    if sumprimes > primes_sum and sumprimes in primes_under_million:
    primes_sum = sumprimes
    start += 1
    j += 1
    start = 0
    print primes_sum
    view raw euler50.py hosted with ❤ by GitHub

    Answer: 997651

  • Largest Product in a Grid — Project Euler (Problem 11)

    Largest Product in a Grid — Project Euler (Problem 11)

    I started solving Project Euler problems this month. Check out the Project Euler tab of this blog for a list of the problems I’ve solved (with solutions) till date. Here’s a problem you might find interesting:

    ProjectEuler11

    Here’s my solution using Python (I basically search through the entire matrix which is of O() complexity):

    I first copy the maxtrix into a text file euler11.txt so that it can be later read into Python

    08 02 22 97 38 15 00 40 00 75 04 05 07 78 52 12 50 77 91 08
    49 49 99 40 17 81 18 57 60 87 17 40 98 43 69 48 04 56 62 00
    81 49 31 73 55 79 14 29 93 71 40 67 53 88 30 03 49 13 36 65
    52 70 95 23 04 60 11 42 69 24 68 56 01 32 56 71 37 02 36 91
    22 31 16 71 51 67 63 89 41 92 36 54 22 40 40 28 66 33 13 80
    24 47 32 60 99 03 45 02 44 75 33 53 78 36 84 20 35 17 12 50
    32 98 81 28 64 23 67 10 26 38 40 67 59 54 70 66 18 38 64 70
    67 26 20 68 02 62 12 20 95 63 94 39 63 08 40 91 66 49 94 21
    24 55 58 05 66 73 99 26 97 17 78 78 96 83 14 88 34 89 63 72
    21 36 23 09 75 00 76 44 20 45 35 14 00 61 33 97 34 31 33 95
    78 17 53 28 22 75 31 67 15 94 03 80 04 62 16 14 09 53 56 92
    16 39 05 42 96 35 31 47 55 58 88 24 00 17 54 24 36 29 85 57
    86 56 00 48 35 71 89 07 05 44 44 37 44 60 21 58 51 54 17 58
    19 80 81 68 05 94 47 69 28 73 92 13 86 52 17 77 04 89 55 40
    04 52 08 83 97 35 99 16 07 97 57 32 16 26 26 79 33 27 98 66
    88 36 68 87 57 62 20 72 03 46 33 67 46 55 12 32 63 93 53 69
    04 42 16 73 38 25 39 11 24 94 72 18 08 46 29 32 40 62 76 36
    20 69 36 41 72 30 23 88 34 62 99 69 82 67 59 85 74 04 36 16
    20 73 35 29 78 31 90 01 74 31 49 71 48 86 81 16 23 57 05 54
    01 70 54 71 83 51 54 69 16 92 33 48 61 43 52 01 89 19 67 48
    view raw euler11.txt hosted with ❤ by GitHub

    I then execute the following code from the same working directory as euler11.txt
    # import numpy module for matrix operations
    from numpy import *
    # read the file with the matrix of numbers
    filename = 'euler11.txt'
    # store each line of the file into an array
    with open(filename, "r") as ins:
    array = []
    for line in ins:
    array.append(line)
    print array
    # create a new array that converts the number strings into number integers
    newArray = []
    for i in array:
    j = i.split(' ')
    k = [int(n) for n in j]
    newArray.append(k)
    print newArray
    # convert the array of integers into a matrix of integers
    problemMatrix = matrix(newArray)
    print problemMatrix
    # set initial maximum product to be a dummy number, say 1
    maxProd = 1
    # search all combinations for maximum product
    for i in range(16):
    for j in range(16):
    prod1 = problemMatrix[i,j]*problemMatrix[i+1,j]*problemMatrix[i+2,j]*problemMatrix[i+3,j]
    if prod1 > maxProd:
    maxProd = prod1
    prod2 = problemMatrix[i,j]*problemMatrix[i,j+1]*problemMatrix[i,j+2]*problemMatrix[i,j+3]
    if prod2 > maxProd:
    maxProd = prod2
    prod3 = problemMatrix[i,j]*problemMatrix[i+1,j+1]*problemMatrix[i+2,j+2]*problemMatrix[i+3,j+3]
    if prod3 > maxProd:
    maxProd = prod3
    prod4 = problemMatrix[19-i,j]*problemMatrix[18-i,j+1]*problemMatrix[17-i,j+2]*problemMatrix[16-i,j+3]
    if prod4 > maxProd:
    maxProd = prod4
    print maxProd
    view raw euler11.py hosted with ❤ by GitHub

    Answer: 70600674