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Problem: Search in Rotated Sorted Array

Explore how to find a target value in a rotated sorted array using a modified binary search algorithm. Understand how to identify sorted halves of the array to reduce search space and achieve efficient O(log n) runtime. This lesson guides you through the logic, implementation, and complexity analysis of the solution.

Statement

You are given an integer array nums that was originally sorted in ascending order with all distinct values. This array may have been left rotated at some unknown pivot index k, transforming it into [nums[k], nums[k+1], ..., nums[n-1], nums[0], nums[1], ..., nums[k-1]] (using 00-based indexing). If no rotation was applied, the array remains in its original sorted order.

Given the array nums after this possible rotation and an integer target, return the index of target in nums if it exists, or return 1-1 if it does not.

Your solution must achieve O(logn)O(\log n) runtime complexity.

Note: The rotation described is a left rotation, meaning the first k elements are moved to the end of the array.

Constraints:

  • 11 \leq nums.length ...