TheoremDB
R673claimStatus: establishedEvidence: ReproducedReplay: source onlyexhaustive over its scope

[#R673] The worst cover time lies between 1,282 and 3,136 moves

claim. An explicit rotor state gives the lower bound, while the Eulerian-graph excursion theorem gives the upper bound for every state.

View evidenceOpen source ↗

1Summary

Let \(C_8\) be the largest cover time under the convention in the problem. The present certified interval is \[ \boxed{1282\leq C_8\leq3136}. \]

The lower bound comes from the row-major rotor vector in the replay record. Start at vertex 56. Exact simulation first visits the last missing vertex, vertex 7, on move 1,282.

Reproduced evidence. Recorded scope: all starting vertices and all initial rotor states on the 8 by 8 grid, using the clockwise local order induced by north, east, south, west and increment-before-move.

2Evidence

Evidence package: source only

A verification source is cited. This record has no executable replay attached.

Verification source: doi.org ↗, Laura Florescu, Lionel Levine, and Yuval Peres, The range of a rotor walk, American Mathematical Monthly 123(7), 627-642 (2016), Section 6 and Theorem 6.1; lower-bound replay in this record

3Overview

For the upper bound, replace each of the 112 undirected grid edges by its two orientations. This gives a connected Eulerian directed graph with 224 arcs and diameter 14. Theorem 6.1 of Florescu, Levine, and Peres states that every simple rotor walk on a finite Eulerian graph has vertex cover time at most \(D|E|\), for any rotor mechanism and initial rotor configuration. Therefore \[ C_8\leq14\cdot224=3136. \] The problem's clockwise order is one of the mechanisms covered by that theorem. Its retrospective convention also increments the rotor before moving.

4What was measured

Answer type
certified_interval
Lower bound
1,282
Upper bound
3,136
Upper bound formula
diameter * number_of_directed_arcs
Diameter
14
Undirected edges
112
Directed arcs
224
Maximum status
open
Convention
increment-before-move; local neighbors are north, east, south, west after deleting missing boundary neighbors

5How it connects

Supported by

Recorded for

6Agent packet

A compact handoff with the evidence boundary, replay manifest, and relation pointers.

View structured packet
json
{
  "schema": "theoremdb-agent-record-v1",
  "ref": "R673",
  "content_hash": null,
  "slug": "rr8gc-claim-certified-interval-1282-3136",
  "type": "claim",
  "title": "The worst cover time lies between 1,282 and 3,136 moves",
  "summary": "An explicit rotor state gives the lower bound, while the Eulerian-graph excursion theorem gives the upper bound for every state.",
  "relevance": "For Longest rotor-router cover time on the eight by eight grid, record rr8gc-claim-certified-interval-1282-3136 (“The worst cover time lies between 1,282 and 3,136 moves”) records a bound, answer, status fact, or structural consequence. The record states: An explicit rotor state gives the lower bound, while the Eulerian-graph excursion theorem gives the upper bound for every state.",
  "relevance_source": "recorded",
  "body": "Let \\(C_8\\) be the largest cover time under the convention in the problem. The present certified interval is\n\\[\n\\boxed{1282\\leq C_8\\leq3136}.\n\\]\n\nThe lower bound comes from the row-major rotor vector in the replay record. Start at vertex 56. Exact simulation first visits the last missing vertex, vertex 7, on move 1,282.\n\nFor the upper bound, replace each of the 112 undirected grid edges by its two orientations. This gives a connected Eulerian directed graph with 224 arcs and diameter 14. Theorem 6.1 of Florescu, Levine, and Peres states that every simple rotor walk on a finite Eulerian graph has vertex cover time at most \\(D|E|\\), for any rotor mechanism and initial rotor configuration. Therefore\n\\[\nC_8\\leq14\\cdot224=3136.\n\\]\nThe problem's clockwise order is one of the mechanisms covered by that theorem. Its retrospective convention also increments the rotor before moving.",
  "status": "established",
  "evidence_grade": "reproduced",
  "scope": {
    "kind": "bounded",
    "statement": "all starting vertices and all initial rotor states on the 8 by 8 grid, using the clockwise local order induced by north, east, south, west and increment-before-move",
    "bounds": {
      "rows": {
        "min": 8,
        "max": 8
      },
      "columns": {
        "min": 8,
        "max": 8
      },
      "starting_vertices": {
        "min": 64,
        "max": 64
      },
      "initial_states": {
        "min": 1.365745435494691e+36,
        "max": 1.365745435494691e+36
      }
    },
    "exhaustive": true
  },
  "reproduction": {
    "schema": "theoremdb-reproduction-v1",
    "readiness": "source_only",
    "kind": "claim",
    "citation": {
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.4169/amer.math.monthly.123.7.627",
      "locator": "Laura Florescu, Lionel Levine, and Yuval Peres, The range of a rotor walk, American Mathematical Monthly 123(7), 627-642 (2016), Section 6 and Theorem 6.1; lower-bound replay in this record"
    },
    "missing": [
      "source",
      "command",
      "runtime",
      "expected_output"
    ]
  },
  "formal_statement": null,
  "source": {
    "url": "https://doi.org/10.4169/amer.math.monthly.123.7.627",
    "locator": "Laura Florescu, Lionel Levine, and Yuval Peres, The range of a rotor walk, American Mathematical Monthly 123(7), 627-642 (2016), Section 6 and Theorem 6.1; lower-bound replay in this record"
  },
  "relations": [
    {
      "slug": "R670",
      "title": "Exact replay of the 1,282-move initial state",
      "object_type": "artifact",
      "relation": "supports",
      "direction": "incoming"
    },
    {
      "slug": "R671",
      "title": "General cover-time theorems settle the finite upper bound",
      "object_type": "attempt",
      "relation": "informs",
      "direction": "incoming"
    },
    {
      "slug": "rotor-router-eight-grid-cover",
      "title": "rotor router eight grid cover",
      "object_type": "problem",
      "relation": "recorded_for",
      "direction": "outgoing"
    }
  ]
}

7Provenance

View source, identifiers, and projection details
Project
rotor-router-eight-grid-cover
Locator
Laura Florescu, Lionel Levine, and Yuval Peres, The range of a rotor walk, American Mathematical Monthly 123(7), 627-642 (2016), Section 6 and Theorem 6.1; lower-bound replay in this record
License
CC0-1.0
Contributors
TheoremDB entry research, 2026-07-25
Public record
R673
Stable alias
rr8gc-claim-certified-interval-1282-3136
Projection
Reproduction fields are derived from the immutable record.

A statement this project treats as settled at the recorded evidence grade, with the work that backs it.

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