Related papers: The robber strikes back
We study zombies and survivor, a variant of the game of cops and robber on graphs. In this variant, the single survivor plays the role of the robber and attempts to escape from the zombies that play the role of the cops. The zombies are…
We define new graph parameters, called flip-width, that generalize treewidth, degeneracy, and generalized coloring numbers for sparse graphs, and clique-width and twin-width for dense graphs. The flip-width parameters are defined using…
We study a game of pursuit and evasion introduced by Seager in 2012, in which a cop searches the robber from outside the graph, using distance queries. A graph on which the cop wins is called locatable. In her original paper, Seager asked…
We investigate the computational complexity of deciding whether k cops can capture a robber on a graph G. In 1995, Goldstein and Reingold conjectured that the problem is EXPTIME-complete when both G and k are part of the input; we prove…
We propose a definition of generalized Cops and Robbers games where there are two players, the Pursuer and the Evader, who each move via prescribed rules. If the Pursuer can ensure that the game enters into a fixed set of final positions,…
The recently introduced variation of the game of cops and robber is played on geodesic spaces. In this paper we establish some general strategies for the players, in particular the generalized radial strategy and the covering space…
We discuss winning possibilities of players in various variants of cops and robber game played on large random graphs, a testbed for various kinds of network queries, search problems in particular. We explore the use of logic frameworks to…
We consider a variation of a cops and robbers game in which the cop---here referred to as "hunter"---is not constrained by the graph but must play in the dark against a "mole." We characterize the graphs---which we will call…
We introduce the bodyguard problem for graphs. This is a variation of Surrounding Cops and Robber but, in this model, a smallest possible group of bodyguards must surround the president and then maintain this protection indefinitely. We…
We prove that every connected $P_5$-free graph has cop number at most two, solving a conjecture of Sivaraman. In order to do so, we first prove that every connected $P_5$-free graph $G$ with independence number at least three contains a…
We study a game on a graph $G$ played by $r$ {\it revolutionaries} and $s$ {\it spies}. Initially, revolutionaries and then spies occupy vertices. In each subsequent round, each revolutionary may move to a neighboring vertex or not move,…
The cops-and-robber (CR) game has been used in mobile robotics as a discretized model (played on a graph G) of pursuit/evasion problems. The "classic" CR version is a perfect information game: the cops' (pursuer's) location is always known…
We study a two-player game on a graph between an attacker and a defender. To begin with, the defender places guards on a subset of vertices. In each move, the attacker attacks an edge. The defender must move at least one guard across the…
A cop tries to capture a robber in a topological space $X$ being unable to see him. For which spaces $X$ does the cop have a strategy which allows him to capture the robber independently of his efforts to escape? In other words, when is…
In this paper we analyze and model three open problems posed by Harris, Insko, Prieto-Langarica, Stoisavljevic, and Sullivan in 2020 concerning the tipsy cop and robber game on graphs. The three different scenarios we model account for…
We investigate the interrelation between graph searching games and games with imperfect information. As key consequence we obtain that parity games with bounded imperfect information can be solved in PTIME on graphs of bounded DAG-width…
The game of cops and robbers is a well-known game played on graphs. In this paper we consider the straight-ahead orientations of 4-regular quadrangulations of the torus and the Klein bottle and we prove that their cop number is bounded by a…
We prove that the cop number of any $2K_2$-free graph is at most 2, proving a conjecture of Sivaraman and Testa. We also show that the upper bound of $3$ on the cop number of $2K_1+K_2$-free (co-diamond--free) graphs is best possible.
The localization game is played by two players: a Cop with a team of $k$ cops, and a Robber. The game is initialised by the Robber choosing a vertex $r \in V$, unknown to the Cop. Thereafter, the game proceeds turn based. At the start of…
Several variants of the cops and robbers (CR) game have been studied in the past. In this paper we examine a novel variant, which is played between two cops, each one independently trying to catch a "passive robber". We will call this the…