(Analysis by Andi Qu, Benjamin Qi)

To solve this problem in $\mathcal O(N^2)$ time, we can simulate the process for each $x$.

#include <iostream>

int main() {
std::cin.tie(0)->sync_with_stdio(0);
int n, p[200001];
std::cin >> n;
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) std::cin >> p[i];
for (int x = 0; x <= n; x++) {
int mn = 0, mx = n + 1, ans = 0;
bool hi = false;
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
if (p[i] > mx || p[i] < mn) continue;
if (p[i] > x) {
hi = true;
mx = p[i];
} else {
ans += hi;
hi = false;
mn = p[i];
}
}
std::cout << ans << '\n';
}
return 0;
}


Another solution that takes $\mathcal O(N^2)$ time in the worst case is to keep track of each "HI" and "LO" for each $x$, and then go through the 2 lists to find the number of "HILO" pairs. However, this solution passes the test cases with data generated uniformly at random because the expected number of "HI"s and "LO"s is $\mathcal{O}(\log N)$ for each $x$, resulting in an overall expected runtime of $\mathcal{O}(N\log N)$.

To keep track of the 2 lists, we can use 2 monotone stacks. Essentially, we maintain a sorted list of indices where Bessie says "LO". When we transition from $x$ to $x + 1$, we know that the last "LO" that Bessie will say will be to $x + 1$. If Bessie doesn't say "LO" to $k$ while thinking of $x + 1$, then she will never say "LO" to some $k$ while thinking of $y > x + 1$, so we can remove all "LO"s that used to be said after the index of $x + 1$ in the permutation.

Conveniently, the indices that we remove form a suffix of the list (because the list is sorted), so we can use a stack and pop elements from it. Since each index is pushed into and popped from the stack at most once, this takes $\mathcal O(N)$ time overall; iterating through the stack for each $x$ takes a further $\mathcal O(N)$ time per element.

Here's a C++ code snippet for finding the list of "LO"s for each $x$:

std::vector<int> los[200001];
for (int i = 1; i <= n; i++) {
los[i] = los[i - 1];
while (los[i].size() != 0 && los[i].back() > pos[i]) los[i].pop_back();
los[i].push_back(pos[i]);
}


(Bonus: Find out how the rest of the test data for this problem was generated.)

To solve the problem in $\mathcal O(N)$ time, we need a way to efficiently transition from $x$ to $x + 1$.

Full Solution 1:

Claim: Let $p$ be the given permutation. If index $i$ is the "LO" in a "HILO" pair, then the "HI" in the pair must be the index $k$ such that $k < i$, $p[k] > p[i]$, and $p[k]$ is minimal.

Proof: If no such $k$ exists, then there is no greater element before $i$, so $i$ can't be the "LO" in a "HILO" pair. If Bessie says "LO" to $p[k]$, then Elsie will not guess $p[i]$, so $i$ can't be the "LO" in a "HILO" pair. Otherwise, the last "HI" that Bessie says, before saying "LO" to $p[i]$, must be to $p[k]$.

Knowing this, we can compute an array $\texttt{prv}$ where $\texttt{prv}[i] = k$ as described above using a monotone stack.

Claim: Let index $j$ be the last "LO" before Bessie says "LO" to $p[i]$. For each $x$ where Elsie doesn't skip $p[i]$, $j$ is the same.

Proof: Let $j_1 < j_2 < i$ and $p[j_1], p[j_2] < p[i]$. If Bessie says "LO" to $p[i]$, then there are 3 possibilities:

1. Bessie never says "LO" to either $p[j_1]$ or $p[j_2]$ because she already said "LO" at some index $k < j_1$ where $p[k] > p[j_1], p[j_2]$.
2. Bessie always says "LO" to $p[j_1]$ but never to $p[j_2]$ because she said "LO" at some index $j_1 \leq k < j_2$ where $p[k] > p[j_2]$.
3. Bessie always "LO" to both $p[j_1]$ and $p[j_2]$ because neither of the above happen.

If transitioning causes Bessie to stop saying "LO" to some index before $i$, then it must also cause her to stop saying "LO" to $p[i]$ too. Therefore, $j$ is the same for each $p[i]$.

Claim: Let $j$ be defined as above. Index $i$ is the "LO" in a "HILO" pair if and only $\texttt{prv}[i]$ exists, and $j$ doesn't exist or $\texttt{prv}[i] \neq \texttt{prv}[j]$.

Proof: If $\texttt{prv}[i]$ doesn't exist, then Bessie never says "HI" before saying "LO" to $p[i]$, so it can't be the "LO" in a "HILO" pair. Otherwise, if $\texttt{prv}[i] \neq \texttt{prv}[j]$, then the last "HI" that Bessie says before saying "LO" to $p[i]$ must be after saying "LO" to $p[j]$ by definition. In this case, index $i$ is the "LO" in a "HILO" pair.

Knowing this, we can then determine, once for each index, whether it's the "LO" in a "HILO" pair, and thus how many "HILO" pairs there are for each $x$.

Andi's code:

#include <iostream>
#include <stack>

int main() {
std::cin.tie(0)->sync_with_stdio(0);
int n, pos[200001], prv[200001];
bool hilo[200001];
std::cin >> n;
for (int i = 1; i <= n; i++) {
int p;
std::cin >> p;
pos[p] = i;
}

std::stack<int> stck;
stck.push(0);
for (int i = n; i > 0; i--) {
while (stck.top() > pos[i]) stck.pop();
prv[pos[i]] = stck.top();
stck.push(pos[i]);
}
while (stck.size() != 1) stck.pop();

std::cout << "0\n";
int cnt = 0;
for (int i = 1; i <= n; i++) {
while (stck.top() > pos[i]) {
cnt -= hilo[stck.top()];
stck.pop();
}
hilo[pos[i]] = prv[pos[i]] != 0 &&
(stck.top() == 0 || prv[pos[i]] != prv[stck.top()]);
stck.push(pos[i]);
cnt += hilo[pos[i]];
std::cout << cnt << '\n';
}
return 0;
}


Full Solution 2: Another way we can solve this problem in $\mathcal O(N \log N)$ time is with stacks plus a sorted set.

First, we compute, for each $x \rightarrow x + 1$ event, which elements of the permutation start and stop becoming "HI"s and "LO"s. We can do this with a stack.

Next, we process the events for each $x$. We can maintain an ordered map of "HI"s and "LO"s, and inserting or erasing any element from that map changes a constant number of "HILO" pairs. Using C++'s iterators, we can process these changes efficiently.

Ben's code:

#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;

template <class T> using V = vector<T>;

int main() {
cin.tie(0)->sync_with_stdio(0);
int N;
cin >> N;
V<int> P(N);
for (auto &t : P) {
cin >> t;
--t;
}
V<int> pos(N);
for (int i = 0; i < N; ++i)
pos[P[i]] = i;
V<V<pair<int, char>>> to_ins(N + 1);
V<V<int>> to_del(N + 1);
{ // process "LO"s from lowest to highest, record insertions and deletions
stack<int> cur;
for (int i = 0; i < N; ++i) {
while (!cur.empty() && cur.top() > pos[i]) {
to_del.at(i + 1).push_back(cur.top());
cur.pop();
}
cur.push(pos[i]);
to_ins.at(i + 1).push_back({pos[i], 'L'});
}
}
{ // process "HI"s from highest to lowest, record insertions and deletions
stack<int> cur;
for (int i = N - 1; i >= 0; --i) {
while (!cur.empty() && cur.top() > pos[i]) {
to_ins.at(i + 1).push_back({cur.top(), 'H'});
cur.pop();
}
cur.push(pos[i]);
to_del.at(i + 1).push_back(pos[i]);
}
while (!cur.empty()) {
to_ins.at(0).push_back({cur.top(), 'H'});
cur.pop();
}
}
int ans = 0;
map<int, char> m; // maps each position to 'H' or 'L'
auto hilo = [&](map<int, char>::iterator it,
map<int, char>::iterator next_it) {
return it->second == 'H' && next_it->second == 'L';
};
auto get_dif = [&](map<int, char>::iterator it) {
int dif = 0;
if (it != begin(m))
dif += hilo(prev(it), it);
if (next(it) != end(m))
dif += hilo(it, next(it));
if (it != begin(m) && next(it) != end(m))
dif -= hilo(prev(it), next(it));
return dif;
};
for (int i = 0; i <= N; ++i) { // to finish, go from lowest to highest again
for (auto &t : to_del.at(i)) {
auto it = m.find(t);
assert(it != end(m));
ans -= get_dif(it);
m.erase(it);
}
for (auto &t : to_ins.at(i)) {
auto it = m.insert(t).first;
assert(it->second);
ans += get_dif(it);
}
cout << ans << "\n";
}
}


Full Solution 3: Here is a simpler solution that also runs in $\mathcal O(N\log N)$. This one doesn't explicitly make use of monotonic stacks, though it is possible to modify it to run in $\mathcal O(N)$ time with them.

Allen Wu's code:

#include <iostream>
#include <map>
#include <set>
#include <utility>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

int main() {
ios_base::sync_with_stdio(false);
cin.tie(NULL);
int n;
cin >> n;
vector<int> arr(n);
for (int i = 0; i < n; ++i)
cin >> arr[i];
vector<int> pos(n + 1);
for (int i = 0; i < n; ++i)
pos[arr[i]] = i;
map<int, int> existing;
vector<int> changes(n + 1);
for (int i = 0; i < n; ++i) {
int num = arr[i];
// goal is to compute how the number of HILOs changes
// when we go from x = num-1 to x = num
auto it = existing.upper_bound(num);
if (it != existing.end()) {
// add one if num is involved in a HILO when x = num
if (it == existing.begin())
++changes[num];
else if (it->second > prev(it)->second)
++changes[num];
}
// subtract one if num is involved in a HILO when x = num-1
if (pos[num - 1] > pos[num])
--changes[num];
existing[num] = i;
}
int sum = 0;
for (int i = 0; i <= n; ++i) {
sum += changes[i];
cout << sum << "\n";
}
}