Mind Switches in Futurama and Stargate
Ron Evans, Lihua Huang
TL;DR
This paper explores the minimal number of transpositions needed to express certain permutations and applies these findings to analyze mind-switching scenarios depicted in sci-fi series Futurama and Stargate SG-1.
Contribution
It provides a mathematical solution to the minimal transposition decomposition problem and applies it to real-world inspired mind-switching models from popular science fiction.
Findings
Derived the minimal number of transpositions for specific permutations
Connected permutation theory to mind-switching scenarios in TV series
Provided mathematical insights into fictional mind-transfer processes
Abstract
Let P be a permutation expressed as a product of nontrivial disjoint cycles. When writing P as a product of distinct transpositions none equal to a factor of P, what is the smallest number of transpositions that can be used? We answer this question and give applications to mind-switching problems that have arisen in connection with the popular sci-fi television series Futurama and Stargate SG-1.
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Taxonomy
TopicsAlgorithms and Data Compression · Genome Rearrangement Algorithms · graph theory and CDMA systems