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JOURNALS // Teoriya Veroyatnostei i ee Primeneniya // Archive

Teor. Veroyatnost. i Primenen., 2021 Volume 66, Issue 4, Pages 889–894 (Mi tvp5506)

A path formula for the sock sorting problem

S. Korbel, P. Mörters

Mathematisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, Weyertal 86-90, Köln, Germany

Abstract: Suppose that $n$ different pairs of socks are put in a tumble dryer. When the dryer is finished, socks are taken out one by one. If a sock matches one of the socks on the sorting table, both are removed; otherwise, it is put on the table until its partner emerges from the dryer. We note the number of socks on the table after each of the $2n$ socks is taken from the dryer, and we give an explicit formula for the probability that this sequence equals a given sequence of length $2n$.

Keywords: Daniel Bernoulli's matching problem, sorting of socks.

Received: 09.06.2021
Accepted: 06.07.2021

DOI: 10.4213/tvp5506


 English version:
Theory of Probability and its Applications, 2022, 66:4, 708–712

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© Steklov Math. Inst. of RAS, 2024