Constructions, bounds, and algorithms for peaceable queens

TL;DR

This paper advances the understanding of the peaceable queens problem by establishing new bounds on the maximum number of queens that can be placed without attacking each other, using optimization and algorithmic methods.

Contribution

It introduces improved bounds for the problem on regular and toroidal boards, and develops algorithms for finding optimal placements, providing evidence for the optimality of known constructions.

Findings

Established upper bound of 0.1716n^2 for regular boards.

Provided explicit constructions for lower bounds.

Developed a non-linear optimization approach and a local search algorithm.

Abstract

The peaceable queens problem asks to determine the maximum number $a(n)$ such that there is a placement of $a(n)$ white queens and $a(n)$ black queens on an $n \times n$ chessboard so that no queen can capture any queen of the opposite color. In this paper, we consider the peaceable queens problem and its variant on the toroidal board. For the regular board, we show that $a(n) \leq 0.1716n^2$, for all sufficiently large $n$. This improves on the bound $a(n) \leq 0.25n^2$ of van Bommel and MacEachern. For the toroidal board, we provide new upper and lower bounds. Somewhat surprisingly, our bounds show that there is a sharp contrast in behaviour between the odd torus and the even torus. Our lower bounds are given by explicit constructions. For the upper bounds, we formulate the problem as a non-linear optimization problem with at most $100$ variables, regardless of the size of the board. We solve our non-linear program exactly using modern optimization software. We also provide a local search algorithm and a software implementation which converges very rapidly to solutions which appear optimal. Our algorithm is sufficiently robust that it works on both the regular and toroidal boards. For example, for the regular board, the algorithm quickly finds the so-called Ainley construction. Thus, our work provides some further evidence that the Ainley construction is indeed optimal.