Determine position of number in a grid of numbers centered around 0 and increasing in spiral - math

Question

I've got the following grid of numbers centered around 0 and increasing in spiral. I need an algorithm which would receive number in spiral and return x; y - numbers of moves how to get to that number from 0. For example for number 9 it would return -2; -1. For 4 it would be 1; 1.
25|26|... etc.
24| 9|10|11|12
23| 8| 1| 2|13
22| 7| 0| 3|14
21| 6| 5| 4|15
20|19|18|17|16
This spiral can be slightly changed if it would help the algorithm to be better.
Use whatever language you like. I would really appreciate mathematical explanation.
Thank you.

Answer 1

First we need to determine which cycle (distance from center) and sector (north, east, south or west) we are in. Then we can determine the exact position of the number.
The first numbers in each cycle is as follows: 1, 9, 25
This is a quadratic sequence: first(n) = (2n-1)^2 = 4n^2 - 4n + 1
The inverse of this is the cycle-number: cycle(i) = floor((sqrt(i) + 1) / 2)
The length of a cycle is: length(n) = first(n+1) - first(n) = 8n
The sector will then be:
sector(i) = floor(4 * (i - first(cycle(i))) / length(cycle(i)))
Finally, to get the position, we need to extrapolate from the position of the first number in the cycle and sector.
To put it all together:
def first(cycle):
x = 2 * cycle - 1
return x * x
def cycle(index):
return (isqrt(index) + 1)//2
def length(cycle):
return 8 * cycle
def sector(index):
c = cycle(index)
offset = index - first(c)
n = length(c)
return 4 * offset / n
def position(index):
c = cycle(index)
s = sector(index)
offset = index - first(c) - s * length(c) // 4
if s == 0: #north
return -c, -c + offset + 1
if s == 1: #east
return -c + offset + 1, c
if s == 2: #south
return c, c - offset - 1
# else, west
return c - offset - 1, -c
def isqrt(x):
"""Calculates the integer square root of a number"""
if x < 0:
raise ValueError('square root not defined for negative numbers')
n = int(x)
if n == 0:
return 0
a, b = divmod(n.bit_length(), 2)
x = 2**(a+b)
while True:
y = (x + n//x)//2
if y >= x:
return x
x = y
Example:
>>> position(9)
(-2, -1)
>>> position(4)
(1, 1)
>>> position(123456)
(-176, 80)

Answer 2

Do you mean something like this? I did not implement any algorithm and the code can be written better but it works - that's always a start :) Just change the threshold value for whatever you wish and you'll get the result.
static int threshold=14, x=0, y=0;
public static void main(String[] args) {
int yChange=1, xChange=1, count=0;
while( !end(count) ){
for (int i = 0; i < yChange; i++) {
if( end(count) )return;
count++;
y--;
}
yChange++;
for (int i = 0; i < xChange; i++) {
if( end(count) )return;
count++;
x++;
}
xChange++;
for (int i = 0; i < yChange; i++) {
if( end(count) )return;
count++;
y++;
}
yChange++;
for (int i = 0; i < xChange; i++) {
if( end(count) )return;
count++;
x--;
}
xChange++;
}
}
public static boolean end(int count){
if(count<threshold){
return false;
}else{
System.out.println("count: "+count+", x: "+x+", y: "+y);
return true;
}
}