Problem of The Day: Find the Duplicate Number

Problem Statement

Given an array of integers nums containing n + 1 integers where each integer is in the range [1, n] inclusive.

There is only one repeated number in nums, return this repeated number.

You must solve the problem without modifying the array nums and uses only constant extra space.

 

Example 1:

Input: nums = [1,3,4,2,2]
Output: 2
Example 2:

Input: nums = [3,1,3,4,2]
Output: 3
 

Constraints:

1 <= n <= 10^5
nums.length == n + 1
1 <= nums[i] <= n
All the integers in nums appear only once except for precisely one integer which appears two or more times.

Cyclic Sort Apporach

class Solution:
    def findDuplicate(self, nums: List[int]) -> int:
        while nums[0] != nums[nums[0]]:
            nums[nums[0]], nums[0] = nums[0], nums[nums[0]]
        return nums[0]

Tortoise and Hare Approach

class Solution:
    def findDuplicate(self, nums):
        # Find the intersection point of the two runners.
        tortoise = hare = nums[0]
        while True:
            tortoise = nums[tortoise]
            hare = nums[nums[hare]]
            if tortoise == hare:
                break
        
        # Find the "entrance" to the cycle.
        tortoise = nums[0]
        while tortoise != hare:
            tortoise = nums[tortoise]
            hare = nums[hare]
        
        return hare