private static void merge(Comparable[] a, Comparable[] aux, int lo, int mid, int hi) {

        // copy to aux[]
        for (int k = lo; k <= hi; k++) {
            aux[k] = a[k]; 
        }

        // merge back to a[]
        int i = lo, j = mid+1;
        for (int k = lo; k <= hi; k++) {
            if      (i > mid)              a[k] = aux[j++];  // this copying is unneccessary
            else if (j > hi)               a[k] = aux[i++];
            else if (less(aux[j], aux[i])) a[k] = aux[j++];
            else                           a[k] = aux[i++];
        }

    }