Certified exact bounds for adaptive quantitative group testing with two defectives

Source abstract

We determine the maximum population size for which exactly two defective items can always be identified using at most $k$ adaptive quantitative tests, for every $0\le k\le10$. Each test reports the number of defectives in a chosen subset. The exact maxima for eight, nine and ten tests are 65, 112 and 192, respectively. We also classify all pairs of sizes of two disjoint sets, each containing exactly one defective, that can be resolved within each test budget through eight. These exact results are supported by explicit strategies and maximality certificates checked by programs separate from the search implementation. Additional results include partial nine-test boundaries and an eleven-test strategy for 328 items; maximality of the latter remains open.