Rubik's cubes and HPC

One of the results of the survey I did a couple months ago was that you guys told me you’d like to see more news on discoveries facilitated by HPC, so I’m always on the lookout for the new and novel to report back.

Submitted forthwith: the Rubik’s cube, solved in 26 moves or less.

BBC News carried a story earlier this summer

The research has proved that a Rubik’s cube can be returned to its original state in no more than 26 moves. The supercomputer took 63 hours to crank out the proof which goes one better than the previous best solution.

The study brings scientists one step closer to finding the so-called “God’s Number” which is the minimum number of moves needed to solve any disordered Rubik’s cube.

It is so named because God would only need the smallest number of moves to solve a cube. Theoretical work suggests that God’s Number is in the “low 20s”.

Tip o’ the hat to the Dik Idee blog.

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