Shuffles to restore the deck
A -card deck is shuffled as follows: split into positions – and –, then interleave so the bottom half (–) takes the odd positions and the top half (–) takes the even positions . What is the minimum number of such shuffles needed to return the deck to its original order?
Show hints (2)+
- The shuffle is a fixed permutation; the answer is its order. This is an in-shuffle of cards.
- Its order is (smallest with ), which is .
Answer
Reveal answer →Final answer
52
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Asked at: Jane Street, Two Sigma