Message #154

From: David Vanderschel <DvdS@Austin.RR.com>
Subject: Rubik and group theory
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 14:55:23 -0500

Regarding Liat’s "good books", on Wednesday, May 25,
<temaotheos@mail.ru> wished:
> I’d like to look through that good books, if they
> connect to Rubiks cube. Could you provide a link,
> preferably, as electronic document.

> …

> In Maple math package there is a worksheet for
> 2x2x2 cube "Group theory via Rubiks Cube"
> http://www.maplesoft.com/applications/app_center_view.aspx?AID=11
> Unfortunately, no visualization is implied.

The fellow who wrote the MAPLE package, one
Prof. W. D. Joyner, has his own Web page on
Permutation Puzzles in general:

http://web.usna.navy.mil/~wdj/rubik.html

From there is a link to his lecture notes for a course
he has taught in group theory which is actually based
on Rubik’s Cube:

http://web.usna.navy.mil/~wdj/rubik_nts.htm

Surely this must be the comprehensive reference on the
subject. Those notes will tell almost anyone more
than they really want to know about the relationship
of Rubik’s Cube to group theory. The notes have been
published in book form, but you can still access the
material effectively enough from the Web. Though the
course goes deeply into Rubik, it is taught without
assuming that the student has prior knowledge of group
theory. The concepts you can learn from
Prof. Joyner’s course extend to the 4D puzzle as well.

Regards,
David V.