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Competitive Programming

ICPC 2014 - K. Surveillance

State the problem in your own words. Focus on the mathematical or algorithmic core rather than repeating the full statement.

Source sync Apr 19, 2026
Track ICPC
Year 2014
Files TeX, C++, statement assets
Folder competitive_programming/icpc/2014/K-surveillance
ICPC2014TeXC++statement textstatement pdf

Source-first archive entry

This page is built from the copied files in competitive_programming/icpc/2014/K-surveillance. Edit competitive_programming/icpc/2014/K-surveillance/solution.tex to update the written solution and competitive_programming/icpc/2014/K-surveillance/solution.cpp to update the implementation.

The website does not replace those files with hand-maintained HTML. It reads the copied source tree during the build and exposes the exact files below.

Problem Statement

Copied statement text kept beside the solution archive for direct reference.

Problem K
                                         Surveillance
                                    Time Limit: 4 seconds
The International Corporation for Protection and Control (ICPC) develops efficient technology for, well,
protection and control. Naturally, they are keen to have their own headquarters protected and controlled.
Viewed from above, the headquarters building has the shape of a convex polygon. There are several
suitable places around it where cameras can be installed to monitor the building. Each camera covers a
certain range of the polygon sides (building walls), depending on its position. ICPC wants to minimize
the number of cameras needed to cover the whole building.

Input

The input consists of a single test case. Its first line contains two integers n and k (3 ≤ n ≤ 106 and
1 ≤ k ≤ 106 ), where n is the number of walls and k is the number of possible places for installing
cameras. Each of the remaining k lines contains two integers ai and bi (1 ≤ ai , bi ≤ n). These integers
specify which walls a camera at the ith place would cover. If ai ≤ bi then the camera covers each wall j
such that ai ≤ j ≤ bi . If ai > bi then the camera covers each wall j such that ai ≤ j ≤ n or 1 ≤ j ≤ bi .

Output

Display the minimal number of cameras that suffice to cover each wall of the building. The ranges
covered by two cameras may overlap. If the building cannot be covered, display impossible instead.

 Sample Input 1                                       Sample Output 1
 100 7                                                3
 1 50
 50 70
 70 90
 90 40
 20 60
 60 80
 80 20

 Sample Input 2                                       Sample Output 2
 8 2                                                  impossible
 8 3
 5 7

 Sample Input 3                                       Sample Output 3
 8 2                                                  2
 8 4
 5 7

This page is intentionally left blank.

Editorial

Rendered from the copied solution.tex file. The original TeX source remains available below.

Key Observations

  • Write the structural observations that make the problem tractable.

  • State any useful invariant, monotonicity property, graph interpretation, or combinatorial reformulation.

  • If the constraints matter, explain exactly which part of the solution they enable.

Algorithm

  1. Describe the data structures and the state maintained by the algorithm.

  2. Explain the processing order and why it is sufficient.

  3. Mention corner cases explicitly if they affect the implementation.

Correctness Proof

We prove that the algorithm returns the correct answer.

Lemma 1.

State the first key claim.

Proof.

Provide a concise proof.

Lemma 2.

State the next claim if needed.

Proof.

Provide a concise proof.

Theorem.

The algorithm outputs the correct answer for every valid input.

Proof.

Combine the lemmas and finish the argument.

Complexity Analysis

State the running time and memory usage in terms of the input size.

Implementation Notes

  • Mention any non-obvious implementation detail that is easy to get wrong.

  • Mention numeric limits, indexing conventions, or tie-breaking rules if relevant.

Code

Exact copied C++ implementation from solution.cpp.

C++ competitive_programming/icpc/2014/K-surveillance/solution.cpp

Exact copied implementation source.

Raw file
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;

namespace {

void solve() {
    // Fill in the full solution logic for the problem here.
}

}  // namespace

int main() {
    ios::sync_with_stdio(false);
    cin.tie(nullptr);

    solve();
    return 0;
}

Source Files

Exact copied source-of-truth files. Edit solution.tex for the write-up and solution.cpp for the implementation.

TeX write-up competitive_programming/icpc/2014/K-surveillance/solution.tex

Exact copied write-up source.

Raw file
\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\usepackage[margin=1in]{geometry}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb,amsthm}
\usepackage{enumitem}

\title{ICPC World Finals 2014\\K. Surveillance Time Limit: 4 seconds}
\author{}
\date{}

\begin{document}
\maketitle

\section*{Problem Summary}

State the problem in your own words. Focus on the mathematical or algorithmic core rather than repeating the full statement.

\section*{Key Observations}

\begin{itemize}[leftmargin=*]
    \item Write the structural observations that make the problem tractable.
    \item State any useful invariant, monotonicity property, graph interpretation, or combinatorial reformulation.
    \item If the constraints matter, explain exactly which part of the solution they enable.
\end{itemize}

\section*{Algorithm}

\begin{enumerate}[leftmargin=*]
    \item Describe the data structures and the state maintained by the algorithm.
    \item Explain the processing order and why it is sufficient.
    \item Mention corner cases explicitly if they affect the implementation.
\end{enumerate}

\section*{Correctness Proof}

We prove that the algorithm returns the correct answer.

\paragraph{Lemma 1.}
State the first key claim.

\paragraph{Proof.}
Provide a concise proof.

\paragraph{Lemma 2.}
State the next claim if needed.

\paragraph{Proof.}
Provide a concise proof.

\paragraph{Theorem.}
The algorithm outputs the correct answer for every valid input.

\paragraph{Proof.}
Combine the lemmas and finish the argument.

\section*{Complexity Analysis}

State the running time and memory usage in terms of the input size.

\section*{Implementation Notes}

\begin{itemize}[leftmargin=*]
    \item Mention any non-obvious implementation detail that is easy to get wrong.
    \item Mention numeric limits, indexing conventions, or tie-breaking rules if relevant.
\end{itemize}

\end{document}