MIT Libraries Puzzle Challenge

Puzzle Archive: Fall 2008 Puzzle 1 Solution

See the unsolved puzzle here.
Or go back to the Puzzle Archive.

Released October 10, 2008; deadline was October 21, 2008.

The first step is to recognize that the bold and italicized (and outlined, on the PDF) letters spell "SPIE Digital Library." The SPIE Digital Library is a database containing the full text of journals and conference proceedings published by SPIE (Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers) in the fields of optics, photonics, and imaging.

Since these all look like conference names, we'll look in the Proceedings section. Many of the clues also involve multiplication, and so we know we're probably looking for numbers to use instead of conference names. A good (and correct!) choice of a number which corresponds to a conference title is the SPIE volume number. Finding all of the SPIE volume numbers for the conferences listed results in the following number list:

Clue	Math	Result
(Acquisition, Tracking, and Pointing XX)	6238	6238
(Advances in Optical Structure Systems) x 5	1303 x 5	6515
(Biomedical Optoelectronics in Clinical Chemistry and Biotechnology) x 3	2629 x 3	7887
(Characterization, Propagation, and Simulation of Sources and Backgrounds II) x 241	1687 x 241	406567
(Color Imaging VIII: Processing, Hardcopy, and Applications)/2	5008/2	2504
(Gradient Index, Miniature, and Diffractive Optical Systems)	3778	3778
(Head-Mounted Displays) x 307	2735 x 307	839645
(ICONO ’95: Fundamentals of Laser-Matter Interaction) x 2	2796 x 2	5592
(Imaging Spectrometry VIII)/7	4816/7	688
(Instruments for Optics and Optoelectronic Inspection and Control) x (Medical Imaging 1999: PACS Design and Evaluation: Engineering and Clinical Issues)	4223 x 3662	15464626
(Intelligent Manufacturing)	5263	5263
(Investigative Image Processing II) x (Optomechatronic Computer-Vision Systems II) x 2	4709 x 6718 x 2	63270124
(Laser Diode Technology and Applications II) x 7	1219 x 7	8533
(Laser Interferometry VIII: Applications) x (Laser Optics ’95: Biomedical Applications of Lasers) x 3	2861 x 2769 x 3	23766327
(Laser Source and System Technology for Defense and Security II)/4	6216/4	1554
(Lasers in Urology, Gynecology, and General Surgery) x 3	1879 x 3	5637
(Machine Vision Applications, Architectures, and Systems Integration III) x 2	2347 x 2	4694
(New Frontiers in Stellar Interferometry) x 148	5491 x 148	812668
(Ophthalmic Technologies VI) x 3	2673 x 3	8019
(Optical Diagnostics of Living Cells V) x 34	4622 x 34	157148
(Optical Fiber and Fiber Component Mechanical Reliability and Testing) x 2	4215 x 2	8430
(Optical Manufacturing and Testing IV) x (Storage and Retrieval for Image and Video Databases II) x 5	4451 x 2185 x 5	48627175
(Optics in Atmospheric Propagation and Adaptive Systems VII)/2	5572/2	2786
(Photochemotherapy: Photodynamic Therapy and Other Modalities) x 2	2625 x 2	5250
(ANSWER WOULD GO HERE)	????	????
(Quantum Dots, Nanoparticles, and Nanoclusters)/3	5361/3	1787
(Saratov Fall Meeting 2004: Optical Technologies in Biophysics and Medicine VI)	5771	5771
(Selected Papers from International Conference on Optics and Optoelectronics ‘98) x 89	3729 x 89	331881
(Solid State Crystals in Optoelectronics and Semiconductor Technology) x 2	3179 x 2	6358
(Stray Radiation in Optical Systems) x 5	1331 x 5	6655
(Three-Dimensional Image Capture and Applications VII)/8	6056/8	757
(Tribute to Warren Smith: A Legacy in Lens Design and Optical Engineering)	5865	5865
(Videometrics II) x 3	2067 x 3	6201

These numbers fit the requirements for lengths in the grid: 2 three-digit numbers, 22 four-digit numbers (including the one we know is four digits but don't know the actual number), 5 six-digit numbers, and 4 eight-digit numbers. Thus, we fit these numbers into the grid; the solution is shown below:

The highlighted boxes give the number 4047, the only number that was not in the list. Therefore this must be the volume number that corresponds to the answer of the puzzle. We can go back to the SPIE Digital Library and look up volume 4047 to find that the answer to the puzzle is QUANTUM COMPUTING. We verify the answer by noting that the clues were in alphabetical order, and were the title Quantum Computing to be in that list, it would fit in order right where the "Answer would go here" is.

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