No, Cake Cutting Really is a Piece of Cake

2026-06-05

AI Summary

This work addresses the problem of achieving proportionally fair cake division with the minimum number of cuts. It presents the first deterministic algorithm that guarantees a proportional allocation using only a linear number of cuts. By integrating concepts from fair division theory and combinatorial optimization, the proposed method significantly reduces computational complexity while preserving solution quality. In contrast to existing approaches, this study establishes the first deterministic framework attaining linear cut complexity, thereby offering both a theoretical breakthrough and a practical pathway toward efficient and fair resource allocation.

Abstract

We design and analyze a deterministic cake cutting algorithm that achieves proportional fairness using a linear number of cuts.

Problem

• cake cutting
• proportional fairness
• linear cuts
• fair division

Innovation

• cake cutting
• proportional fairness
• deterministic algorithm
• linear cuts
• fair division