English

Recursive Patterns in the Chocolate Game

Combinatorics 2026-02-25 v1

Abstract

We study the recursive structure of P-positions in the chocolate game Cm,mC_{m,m}, an impartial game played on an m×mm \times m chocolate bar. We show that the set of P-positions exhibits self-similar patterns that can be described and enumerated recursively. We further establish a correspondence between these patterns and the cross-sections of a three-dimensional Sierpi\'nski octahedron. Finally, we show that the P-positions can be generated by a second-order cellular automaton, analogous to the onedimensional Rule-60 automaton. Our results reveal deep connections between combinatorial games, fractal geometry, and discrete dynamical systems.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2602.20182,
  title  = {Recursive Patterns in the Chocolate Game},
  author = {Tomoro Okubo and Yuzuri Kashiwagi and Nobumitsu Niida},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.20182},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

15 pages, 11 figures

R2 v1 2026-07-01T10:48:28.153Z