Related papers: How long does it take to catch a wild kangaroo?
As an extension of Polya's classical result on random walks on the square grids ($\Z^d$), we consider a random walk where the steps, while still have unit length, point to different directions. We show that in dimensions at least 4, the…
Recent work has considered natural variations of the multi-armed bandit problem, where the reward distribution of each arm is a special function of the time passed since its last pulling. In this direction, a simple (yet widely applicable)…
We investigate the expected number of calls required to achieve Bingo in a generalized (n,m)-Bingo game, where each n x n card is filled by sampling n numbers from m possible values per column. Using the inclusion-exclusion principle, we…
A method of calculating probability values from a system of marginal constraints is presented. Previous systems for finding the probability of a single attribute have either made an independence assumption concerning the evidence or have…
Pollard's rho method finds a prime factor $p$ of an integer $N$ by searching for a collision in a map of the form $x \mapsto x^{2k} + c$ modulo $N$. This search can be parallelized to multiple machines, which may use distinct parameters $k$…
How many operations do we need on the average to compute an approximate root of a random Gaussian polynomial system? Beyond Smale's 17th problem that asked whether a polynomial bound is possible, we prove a quasi-optimal bound $\text{(input…
As a strategy to complete games quickly, we investigate one-dimensional random walks where the step length increases deterministically upon each return to the origin. When the step length after the kth return equals k, the displacement of…
We connect this question to a problem of estimating the probability that the image of certain random matrices does not intersect with a subset of the unit sphere $\mathbb{S}^{n-1}$. In this way, the case of a discretized Brownian motion is…
We study the gambler's ruin problem for the Elephant Random Walk, focusing on escape time from a symmetric interval of the form $\{-N, \ldots, N\}$. As our main result, we derive tight exponential bounds for the tail of this escape time. We…
This paper shows how to evolve numerically the maximum entropy probability distributions for a given set of constraints, which is a variational calculus problem. An evolutionary algorithm can obtain approximations to some well-known…
We consider simple random walk on a discrete cylinder with base a large d-dimensional torus of side-length N, when d is two or more. We develop a stochastic domination control on the local picture left by the random walk in boxes of…
Most classical scheduling formulations assume a fixed and known duration for each activity. In this paper, we weaken this assumption, requiring instead that each duration can be represented by an independent random variable with a known…
We present a conclusive answer to Bertrand's paradox, a long standing open issue in the basic physical interpretation of probability. The paradox deals with the existence of mutually inconsistent results when looking for the probability…
In Polyamorous Scheduling, we are given an edge-weighted graph and must find a periodic schedule of matchings in this graph which minimizes the maximal weighted waiting time between consecutive occurrences of the same edge. This NP-hard…
We study linear chance-constrained problems where the coefficients follow a Gaussian mixture distribution. We provide mixed-binary quadratic programs that give inner and outer approximations of the chance constraint based on piecewise…
We consider chance-constrained binary knapsack problems, where the weights of items are independent random variables with the means and standard deviations known. The chance constraint can be reformulated as a second-order cone constraint…
In this work we consider two-dimensional critical manifolds in planar fast-slow systems near fold and so-called canard (=`duck') points. These higher-dimension, and lower-codimension, situation is directly motivated by the case of…
We describe a space-efficient algorithm for solving a generalization of the subset sum problem in a finite group G, using a Pollard-rho approach. Given an element z and a sequence of elements S, our algorithm attempts to find a subsequence…
A canard explosion is the dramatic change of period and amplitude of a limit cycle of a system of non-linear ODEs in a very narrow interval of the bifurcation parameter. It occurs in slow-fast systems and is well understood in singular…
The analysis of randomized search heuristics on classes of functions is fundamental for the understanding of the underlying stochastic process and the development of suitable proof techniques. Recently, remarkable progress has been made in…