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We consider a variation of cop vs.\ robber on graph in which the robber is not restricted by the graph edges; instead, he picks a time-independent probability distribution on $V(G)$ and moves according to this fixed distribution. The cop…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2013-08-23 Natasha Komarov , Peter Winkler

We show that the expected time for a smart "cop" to catch a drunk "robber" on an $n$-vertex graph is at most $n + {\rm o}(n)$. More precisely, let $G$ be a simple, connected, undirected graph with distinguished points $u$ and $v$ among its…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2014-11-05 Natasha Komarov , Peter Winkler

The Cops and Robber game is played on undirected finite graphs. $k$ cops and one robber are positioned on vertices and take turn in moving along edges. The cops win if, after a move, a cop and the robber are on the same vertex. A graph is…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2011-11-10 Dirk Oliver Theis

We consider the cop-throttling number of a graph $G$ for the game of Cops and Robbers, which is defined to be the minimum of $(k + \text{capt}_k(G))$, where $k$ is the number of cops and $\text{capt}_k(G)$ is the minimum number of rounds…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2018-02-27 Jane Breen , Boris Brimkov , Joshua Carlson , Leslie Hogben , K. E. Perry , Carolyn Reinhart

Cops and Robbers is a game played on a graph where a set of cops attempt to capture a single robber. The game proceeds in rounds, where each round first consists of the cops' turn, followed by the robber's turn. In the cops' turn, every cop…

Discrete Mathematics · Computer Science 2025-07-03 Prosenjit Bose , Pat Morin , Karthik Murali

(abstract shortened to meet arxiv's length requirements) We investigate two variants of the classical Cops and robber game in graphs, recently introduced by Lee, Mart\'inez-Pedroza, and Rodr\'iguez-Quinche. The two versions are played in…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2026-02-24 Louis Esperet , Harmender Gahlawat , Ugo Giocanti

The game of Cops and Robbers is a pursuit-evasion game on graphs that has been extensively studied in finite settings, particularly through the concept of cop number. In this paper, we explore infinite variants of the game, focusing on the…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2025-09-04 Kenzie Fontenot , Iris Nguyen , Cody Olsen

We consider a cops and robber game where the cops are blocking edges of a graph, while the robber occupies its vertices. At each round of the game, the cops choose some set of edges to block and right after the robber is obliged to move to…

Discrete Mathematics · Computer Science 2020-09-09 Stratis Limnios , Christophe Paul , Joanny Perret , Dimitrios M. Thilikos

In this short paper we study the game of Cops and Robbers, played on the vertices of some fixed graph $G$ of order $n$. The minimum number of cops required to capture a robber is called the cop number of $G$. We show that the cop number of…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2014-09-30 Zsolt Adam Wagner

We consider the pursuit and evasion game on finite, connected, undirected graphs known as cops and robbers. Meyniel conjectured that for every graph on n vertices a rootish number of cops can win the game. We prove that this holds up to a…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2008-05-20 Bela Bollobas , Gabor Kun , Imre Leader

In this paper, we consider a variant of the cops and robbers game on a graph, introduced by Kinnersley and Peterson, in which every time the robber uses an edge, it is removed from the graph, known as bridge-burning cops and robbers. In…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2020-11-21 Rebekah Herrman , Peter van Hintum , Stephen G. Z. Smith

In the classical cop and robber game, two players, the cop C and the robber R, move alternatively along edges of a finite graph G. The cop captures the robber if both players are on the same vertex at the same moment of time. A graph G is…

Discrete Mathematics · Computer Science 2015-03-17 Jérémie Chalopin , Victor Chepoi , Nicolas Nisse , Yann Vaxès

Cops and Robbers is a type of pursuit-evasion game played on a graph where a set of cops try to capture a single robber. The cops first choose their initial vertex positions, and later the robber chooses a vertex. The cops and robbers make…

Discrete Mathematics · Computer Science 2024-09-25 Prosenjit Bose , Jean-Lou De Carufel , Anil Maheshwari , Karthik Murali

We consider "Containment": a variation of the graph pursuit game of Cops and Robber in which cops move from edge to adjacent edge, the robber moves from vertex to adjacent vertex (but cannot move along an edge occupied by a cop), and the…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2019-03-19 Danny Crytser , Natasha Komarov , John Mackey

The cops and robbers game has been extensively studied under the assumption of optimal play by both the cops and the robbers. In this paper we study the problem in which cops are chasing a drunk robber (that is, a robber who performs a…

Discrete Mathematics · Computer Science 2017-01-09 Athanasios Kehagias , Pawel Pralat

This paper considers a game in which a single cop and a single robber take turns moving along the edges of a given graph $G$. If there exists a strategy for the cop which enables it to be positioned at the same vertex as the robber…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2019-08-20 Thomas Erlebach , Jakob T. Spooner

We investigate a cops and robber game on directed graphs, where the robber moves along the arcs of the graph, while the cops can select any position at each time step. Our main focus is on the cop number: the minimum number of cops required…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2024-10-08 Walid Ben-Ameur , Alessandro Maddaloni

In the game of Cops and Robbers, the capture time of a graph is the minimum number of moves needed by the cops to capture the robber, assuming optimal play. We prove that the capture time of the $n$-dimensional hypercube is $\Theta (n\ln…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2013-08-16 Anthony Bonato , William B. Kinnersley , P. Gordinowicz , P. Pralat

The game of Cops and Robbers is a well known pursuit-evasion game played on graphs. It has been proved \cite{bounded_degree} that cubic graphs can have arbitrarily large cop number $c(G)$, but the known constructions show only that the set…

We consider a variant of the game of Cops and Robbers, called Containment, in which cops move from edge to adjacent edge, the robber moves from vertex to adjacent vertex (but cannot move along an edge occupied by a cop). The cops win by…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2015-05-08 Pawel Pralat