[r-t] 147 TDMM

Richard Smith richard at ex-parrot.com
Tue Sep 28 16:21:54 UTC 2010


> THE EXTENTS
>
> Because the search first finds plans, and the number of 
> plans (modulo rotation) is a fairly managable 4614, it's 
> fairly easy to get a good idea of what's there.  And a 
> quick scan through the list of plans shows that there are 
> some interesting plans that are new (at least to me). 
> I'll give a breakdown of what's there in a later email.

I'm going to start by cataloguing those plans that can be 
explained simply in terms of well-understood splices, 
probably in two separate emails.  This will then leave the 
shorter list of plans that deserve further study.

This email covers all plans with one or two methods.  That 
means there's nothing new in this email as splicing two 
methods (at least with a fixed treble) is well understood.


SINGLE METHOD PLANS

As we've got 75 methods (modulo lead splices and lead-end 
variants), 75 of the 4614 plans contain just a single 
method.

The fact that the plans only include a single method doesn't 
mean that they cannot produce extents of spliced -- for 
example, we can easily produce an 8-method extent of spliced 
using Old Oxford's lead-splices and lead-end variants. 
Similarly an extent of Beverley, Surfleet, Berwick and 
Hexham is derived from one of these single method plans.


SIMPLE SPLICES

Let's call a splice 'simple' if it can involve just two 
methods.  So for example the three-lead splice between York 
and Durham is a simple splice -- sure, we can continue by 
combining, say, course of Beverley into the touch, but this 
is optional -- the touch works with just York and Durham and 
so the three-lead splice is 'simple'.

On the other hand, the grid splice with Ipswich, Bourne and 
Cambridge is not simple as all three methods are an integral 
part of the splice -- we cannot get an extent of just 
Ipswich and Bourne, for example.

For the remainder of this email, I shall refer to methods 
using their standard two-letter abbreviations.  These are 
give on John Warboy's website:

   http://website.lineone.net/~jswcomps/comp06.htm#TD

It's well understood how to generate a complete list of 
simple splices.  I'm not sure an explanation of this has 
ever been covered explicitly on this list, though it has 
been mentioned in passing.  But I'm not going to break this 
discussion to explain how to do it -- though I might write 
another email on it.

Splices are usually described in terms of the minimum number 
of leads of the method that can be inserted.  For TDMMs, 
this number can be 1, 2, 3, 5 or 6.  In practice 2-lead 
splices are rare and do not occur amonst any of the standard 
147.  The most common form a of a 5-lead splice is the 
course-splice where the five leads to be replaced form a 
course.  There are no non-course 5-lead splices using 
methods from the 147.  Let's take these types of splices one 
by one.


LEAD SPLICES

The following lead splices exist amongst the standard 147.

   (i) Using the D1, D2, D3 & D4 underworks

   [Ci, Ks, Ls, Sd] / [Cf, Dk, Ny, Oc]            J/M
   [Cw, Ns, Sl, Wr] / [Cb, Ng, Ol, Wi]            K/N
   [Cd, Ce, Sw, Va]                               J

   (ii) Using the S1, S2, S3 & S4 underworks

   [Ba, Cs, Fg, Sk] / [Bg, Kn, Rs, Wl]            J/M
   [Bt, Le, Md, Pv]                               H

   (iii) Using the Westminster & Allandale underworks

   [Ad, Ws]                                       G
   [Co, Li]                                       H
   [Ck, Wt] / [Dt, Po]                            K/N

   (iv) Using the Beverley & Surfleet underworks

   [Bk, He] / [Bv, Su]                            H/L
   [Ed, Kh] / [By, Pm]                            H/L
   [Ch, Mu]                                       G

A note on notation.  [Bk, He] / [Bv, Su] means that Bk and 
He are lead splices and that Bv and Su are their 2nds place 
lead-end variants and which also form a pair of lead 
splices.  Whether you consider He and Bv to be lead splices 
is simply a matter of definition and of no great relevance 
here.  The letters in the last column are the lead-end 
orders.

Because lead splices were excluded when reducing the list of 
methods to 75, they do not appear in the list of plans.

Unfortunately it is not possible to include both J and M 
variants in an extent (without also including other lead-end 
orders).  This means that the Old Oxford group is the only 
one of these that can give an eight method extent.  This 
plan is responsible for 55% of the 5.86 x 10^21 extents. 
This is because there are 4^30 lead splices and 2796 
possible callings (allowing 2nds, 4ths and 6ths lead ends). 
Multiplying these together gives 3.2 x 10^21 extents.


COURSE SPLICES

The following is a table of all course splices using methods 
from the 147.  This table was calculated from first 
principles (and is much the same as the one in Michael 
Foulds' books on spliced TDMM) rather than extracted from 
the results of the search.

   Br, [Cw, Ns, Sl, Wr] / [Cb, Ng, Ol, Wi], Ma        o
   Ab, Ro / Lf, Ne
   [Ci, Ks, Ls, Sd], Ox / [Cf, Dk, Ny, Oc], Ms        o #
   Nf, Pr / Cm, Ip                                    o
   [Bk, He] / [Bv, Su], Du                            o

   [Ba, Cs, Fg, Sk], Do / [Bg, Kn, Rs, Wl], Ey        o #
   [Ck, Wt] / [Ad, Ws], [Dt, Po]                       +
   Wh / Cl, Nb                                        o
   Mo / [Ch, Mu], Nw                                  o
   C1, Mp                                             o

   C3, Pn
   [Bt, Le, Md, Pv], Cx                               o
   Av, [Cd, Ce, Sw, Va]                               o
   Cu, Lo                                              +

Notation.  As with lead splices, a slash separates 6th 
place and 2nds place methods.  Where a group of methods are 
enclosed in square brackets, they are lead splices.  An o 
denotes that the course splice is just a half-lead variant, 
often with a set of lead splices.  A # notes that the line 
contains three separate course splices, e.g. Ox, Ms and the 
eight lead splices are three sets of course splices.  A + 
notes that multiple backworks are present.

It's worth calculating the number of plans that can be 
accounted for solely in terms of course splices.  This is 
worthwhile because the easiest way of checking that there's 
nothing interesting hidden amongst the list of 
seemingly-ordinary plans is by checking that the search 
found the predicted number.

With six courses, we would expect 2^6 = 64 plans.  However, 
our list of 4614 plans exclude rotations and reflections, 
and many of the 64 plans will just be rotations of each 
other.

If we apply the splice zero times, then we have a single 
method plan (already considered above).  All ways of 
applying it once are equivalent -- we can always rotate / 
reflect the plan so that the splice is applied to the 123456 
l.h.

What about two applications?  Put succinctly, are all 
choices of two courses equivalent?  We know that from the 
plain course we can reach any other course using just one 
bob -- therefore all pairs of (distinct) courses are related 
by cycling three coursing bells and are thus equivalent.

By symmetry, four, five and six applications of the splice 
will be the same as two, one and zero respectively.  This 
just leaves the case of three applications of the course 
splice.  Are all choices of three courses equivalent?  No. 
For example, we know that a block of three bobs can join the 
three tenors-together courses, but the same is not true of 
the three split-tenors courses.

We know that any two courses must share two coursing pairs. 
Three distinct courses cannot all share two coursing pairs 
because there are only 10 pairs in total and 3*(5-2)+2 > 10. 
So they must either all share a single coursing pair (as the 
tenors together courses do, which is what allows them to be 
joined by a Q-set of bobs on this pair) or none (as the 
split tenors courses do).

How many of each type of choice of three courses are there? 
Once we've selected two courses, there are four remaining. 
Two of the unselected courses each share a (different) 
single coursing pair with the two courses, and therefore the 
other two do not share any coursing pair with both the 
already chosen courses.  One way of looking at this is that 
courses A,B,C can be joined with a block of three homes, 
A,D,B with a block of three before, but A,B,E and A,B,F 
cannot be joined in any order using a block of three calls. 
So of the 20 ways of selecting three courses, 10 share a 
single coursing pair, and 10 do not.  Once rotations and 
reflectins have been factored out, this just leaves two ways 
of selecting three courses.

So we have 1+1+2+1+1 = 6 plans for course splices (excluding 
those that none of one or other method).  The table above 
has 18 course splices (noting that the two lines marked with 
a # each contain three pairs of course splices).  This means 
that 108 = 18 * 6 out of the 4614 plans can be explained 
just in terms of a single course splices, perhaps applied 
multiple times.


SIX-LEAD SPLICES

The following is a table of all 6-lead splices using methods 
from the 147.

   Do, No                                               2
   Bl, Wk                                               2
   [Bk, He], Pr, Wa / Bs, [Bv, Su], Cm                  3 [3]
   [Ed, Kh], Os, Wf
     / Bh, [Bt, Le, Md, Pv], Bw, [By, Pm], Cc, Mp       3 [6]
   Ml / [Co, Li], Fo                                    3

   [Ba, Cs, Fg, Sk], [Ci, Ks, Ls, Sd], Pe, Ri, Wv
     / [Bg, Kn, Rs, Wl], Bp, [Cf, Dk, Ny, Oc], Cn, Dn   4 [5]
   Br, Lv / Ki, Ma                                      4
   Ab, Hu / Bo, Ne                                      4
   Km, Sh / Ti, Tr                                      4
   Ct, Cy / Ak, Cz                                      4

   Lu, Mo / Nw, Ww                                      4
   [Cd, Ce, Sw, Va], Ke                                 4
   Bc, [Cw, Ns, Sl, Wr] / Bm, [Cb, Ng, Ol, Wi]          5
   Pn, So                                               5
   Bn, Lo                                               5

   Cx, We                                               5
   [Ch, Mu], Cl, Gl                                     6 [3]

Notation.  As above, a slash separates lead end variants, 
and lead splices are enclosed in square brakcets.  The 
number in the right-hand column is the fixed (pivot) bell 
for the splice.  Where a number is given in square brackets 
at the end of the line, this is number of groups of mutually 
six-lead splicing methods on the line.

Counting the plans that these are responsible for is 
trivial.  Because the splice uses all six rows where a given 
bell pivots, up to rotation, there is exactly one way of 
applying the splice once, one way of applying it twice, one 
way of applying three times, and one way of applying if four 
times.  (Zero or five applications results in a single 
method extent, already considered above.)

The table above has 17 lines, but four rows list multiple 
six-lead splices.  With n six-lead splice clusters (i.e. a 
row marked [n]), there are n(n-1)/2 separate pairs of 
six-lead splicers.  This gives 17-4 + 2*(3*2/2) + 5*4/2 + 
6*5/2 = 44 six-lead splices.

This means that 176 = 44 * 4 out of the 4614 plans can be 
explained just in terms of a single 6-lead splices, perhaps 
applied multiple times.


THREE-LEAD SPLICES

   [Ad, Ws], Di                                   2&3  +
   Du, Yo                                         2&3 *
   Ca, Gl                                         2&3  +
   Cl, Cu                                         2&3  +
   Cr, [Cw, Ns, Sl, Wr] / [Cb, Ng, Ol, Wi], El    2&4  +

   [Ck, Wt], Wo / [Dt, Po], Sa                    2&4  +
   Nm, Pn                                         2&4
   Lo, We                                         2&4 *
   Ro, St / Lf, Wm                                2&5 *
   [Bt, Le, Md, Pv], [Co, Li]                     2&5  +

   [Ba, Cs, Fg, Sk], Hu / [Bg, Kn, Rs, Wl], Bo    2&6  +
   Km, Sn / Qu, Tr                                2&6
   Ct, Mo / Ak, Nw                                2&6 *
   Br, Hm / Ma, Ta                                3&5 *
   Hu, Lv / Bo, Ki                                3&5

   Cy, Lu / Cz, Ww                                3&5 *
   C2, C3                                         3&5 *
   Ev, Wo / Sa, Te                                3&6
   Bn, Cx                                         3&6 *
   Di, Ms                                         4&5

   Av, Ca                                         4&5 *

(Notation.  As with lead splices, a slash separates 6th 
place and 2nds place methods.  Where a group of methods are 
enclosed in square brackets, they are lead splices.  The 
numbers in the right-hand column are the fixed place bells 
for the splice.  A * notes that the splice works like 
London and Wells by swapping 34.16.34 for 14.36.46 at the 
half-lead.  A + notes that multiple backworks are present.)


With 30 leads in the extent, we can apply the 3-lead splice 
any number of times from 0 to 10.  Another way of looking at 
this is that there are ten ways of choosing a pair of bells 
from the five working bells (10 = 5*4/2).  This means that 
there are 2^10 different plans for each extent.  However, 
our list of 4614 plans exclude rotations and reflections, 
and many of the 1024 = 2^10 will just be rotations of each 
other which complicates things a bit.

If we apply the splice zero times, then we have a single 
method plan (already considered above).  All ways of 
applying it once are equivalent -- we can always rotate / 
reflect the plan so that the splice is applied to the 123456 
l.h.  With two applications, either the two applications 
share a fixed bell (e.g. 2&3 and 2&4) or they do not (e.g. 
2&3 and 4&5).  Up to rotation and reflection, that's the 
only choice left.  We can show these diagramatically with 
letters A-E indicating the five working bells and a 
representing each application of the splice by joining the 
two fixed bells.

   (1.1)  A --- B     C     D     E

   (2.1)  A --- B --- C     D     E

   (2.2)  A --- B     C --- D     E

With three applications, we apparently have four 
possibilities.

   (3.1)  A --- B --- C     D --- E

   (3.2)  A --- B --- C --- D     E

   (3.3)  A --- B --- C     E
                |
                |
                D

   (3.4)  A --- B     D     E
           \   /
            \ /
             C

However, this isn't what the search found.  For example, it 
found five plans (up to rotation and reflection) containing 
21 leads of London and 6 of Wells -- (3.2) appeared twice.

The reason is to do with parity.  Because the plan only uses 
in-course l.h.s and l.e.s we can only rotate or reflect the 
plan by an even permutation.  In (3.1), A and C are 
equivalent as are D and E.  When rotating (3.1), if we find 
we need an odd permutation, we simply swap the labels on A 
and C and use an even permutation.

But with (3.2) we can't do that.  Yes, A and D are 
equivalent as are B and C.  But we cannot indepdently swap 
labels on one pair of these -- if we swap the labels on A 
and D we also need to swap the labels on B and C for the 
graph to remain unaltered.  This means we cannot simply 
relabel so that an odd permutation 'rotation' converts into 
an even permutation.  The result is that there are two 
versions of (3.2) which we might term a right-handed and a 
left-handed version.

What of four applications of the splice?

   (4.1)  A --- B --- C --- D --- E      [has l+r versions]

   (4.2)  A --- B --- C --- D
                      |
                      |
                      E

   (4.3)  A --- B --- D     E
           \   /
            \ /
             C

   (4.4)  A --- B     D --- E
           \   /
            \ /
             C

   (4.5)  A --- B     E
          |     |
          |     |
          C --- D

   (4.6)        A
                |
                |
          B --- C --- D
                |
                |
                E

And finally, for five applications:

   (5.1)  A --- B --- C       [l+r variants]
           \         /
            \       /
             D --- E

   (5.2)  A --- B --- C
          |     |
          |     |
          D --- E

   (5.3)  A --- B --- C --- D
           \   /
            \ /
             E

   (5.4)  A --- B --- C --- D     [l+r variants]
                 \   /
                  \ /
                   E

   (5.5)        A
                |
                |
          B --- C --- D
           \   /
            \ /
             E

   (5.6)  A --- B     E
           \   / \
            \ /   \
             C --- D

Six or more applications of the splice are, by symmetry, the 
same as four or fewer.  This gives the total number of plans 
for a 3-lead splice as: 1+2+5+7+8+7+5+2+1 = 38.  There are 
21 3-leads splices in the table above, so that means that 
3-lead splices are responsible for 798 = 21 * 38 of the 4614 
plans.


SUMMARY

Scanning through the results of the search, I find 1157 
plans with one or two methods.  If I add the numbers above, 
I get:

   Single method plans .  . . . . . . . . .   75
   Course splices . . . . . . . . . . . . .  108
   Six-lead splices . . . . . . . . . . . .  176
   Three-lead splices . . . . . . . . . . .  798
   ---------------------------------------------
   TOTAL  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1157

This isn't surprising.  As I noted at the beginning of the 
email, the theory of spliced with just two methods is well 
understood and we wouldn't expect to find anything new. 
However, this has been a productive exercise on two counts. 
First, it increases my confidence that the search results 
are correct as it agrees with the already well-tested theory 
on splicing two methods.  Secondly, it has allowed me to 
work out techniques for counting extents -- for example, 
identifying the potential problem with chirality (handness) 
of certain three-lead splices.

Of course, with 3459 plans left to study, there's still 
plenty to do!

RAS




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