Related papers: Hunter, Cauchy Rabbit, and Optimal Kakeya Sets
A planar herding problem is considered, where a superior pursuer herds a flock of non-cooperative, inferior evaders around a predefined target point. An inverse square law of repulsion is assumed between the pursuer and each evader. Two…
We introduce the game of Cat Herding, where an omnipresent herder slowly cuts down a graph until an evasive cat player has nowhere to go. The number of cuts made is the score of a game, and we study the score under optimal play. In this…
For a finite vector space $V$ and a non-negative integer $r\le\dim V$ we estimate the smallest possible size of a subset of $V$, containing a translate of every $r$-dimensional subspace. In particular, we show that if $K\subset V$ is the…
Shmuel Gal and Jerome Casas have recently introduced a game theoretic model that combines search and pursuit by a predator for a prey animal. The prey (hider) can hide in a finite number of locations. The predator (searcher) can inspect any…
We show that a randomly chosen linear map over a finite field gives a good hash function in the $\ell_\infty$ sense. More concretely, consider a set $S \subset \mathbb{F}_q^n$ and a randomly chosen linear map $L : \mathbb{F}_q^n \to…
We investigate Hunters & Rabbit game, where a set of hunters tries to catch an invisible rabbit that slides along the edges of a graph. We show that the minimum number of hunters required to win on an (n\times m)-grid is \lfloor…
We extend the "method of multiplicities" to get the following results, of interest in combinatorics and randomness extraction. (A) We show that every Kakeya set (a set of points that contains a line in every direction) in $\F_q^n$ must be…
In $\mathbb R^n$, we parametrize Kakeya sets using Kakeya maps. A Kakeya map is defined to be a map $$\phi:B^{n-1}(0,1)\times [0,1]\rightarrow \mathbb{R}^{n}, (v,t)\mapsto (c(v)+tv,t),$$ where $ c:B^{n-1}(0,1)\rightarrow \mathbb{R}^{n-1}$.…
We consider a discrete-time dynamic search game in which a number of players compete to find an invisible object that is moving according to a time-varying Markov chain. We examine the subgame perfect equilibria of these games. The main…
The convex body chasing problem, introduced by Friedman and Linial, is a competitive analysis problem on any normed vector space. In convex body chasing, for each timestep $t\in\mathbb N$, a convex body $K_t\subseteq \mathbb R^d$ is given…
In 1971, Davies proved that finitely many parallel line segments can be simultaneously fully rotated in an arbitrarily small area. In this paper we show that an even stronger statement holds: The unit square can be fully rotated in such a…
When solving k-in-a-Row games, the Hales-Jewett pairing strategy [4] is a well-known strategy to prove that specific positions are (at most) a draw. It requires two empty squares per possible winning line (group) to be marked, i.e., with a…
Consider a two-person zero-sum search game between a Hider and a Searcher. The Hider chooses to hide in one of $n$ discrete locations (or "boxes") and the Searcher chooses a search sequence specifying which order to look in these boxes…
We develop a notion of finite order lacunarity for direction sets in $\mathbb R^{d+1}$. Given a direction set $\Omega$ that is sublacunary according to this definition, we construct random examples of Euclidean sets that contain unit line…
It is widely accepted that inverse square L\'evy walks are optimal search strategies because they maximize the encounter rate with sparse, randomly distributed, replenishable targets when the search restarts in the vicinity of the…
We study a new search problem on the plane involving a robot and an immobile treasure, initially placed at distance $1$ from each other. The length $\beta$ of an arc (a fence) within the perimeter of the corresponding circle, as well as the…
The game of Cat Herding is one in which cat and herder players alternate turns, with the evasive cat moving along non-trivial paths between vertices, and the herder deleting single edges from the graph. Eventually the cat cannot move, and…
We prove that every Kakeya set in $\mathbb{R}^3$ formed from lines of the form $(a,b,0) + \operatorname{span}(c,d,1)$ with $ad-bc=1$ must have Hausdorff dimension $3$; Kakeya sets of this type are called $SL_2$ Kakeya sets. This result was…
The stag hunt (or assurance game) is a simple game that has been used as a prototype of a variety of social coordination problems (ranging from the social contract to the adoption of technical standards). Players have the option to either…
We revisit the two-player planar target-defense game initially posed by Isaacs where a pursuer (or defender) attempts to guard a target set from an attack by an evader (or attacker). This paper builds on existing analytical solutions to…