Related papers: Combinatorial simplex algorithms can solve mean pa…

We introduce an algorithm which solves mean payoff games in polynomial time on average, assuming the distribution of the games satisfies a flip invariance property on the set of actions associated with every state. The algorithm is a…

In this paper we develop a combinatorial abstraction of tropical linear programming. This generalizes the search for a feasible point of a system of min-plus-inequalities. It is based on the polyhedral properties of triangulations of the…

We study the computational complexity of solving mean payoff games. This class of games can be seen as an extension of parity games, and they have similar complexity status: in both cases solving them is in $\textbf{NP} \cap \textbf{coNP}$…

We develop a tropical analog of the simplex algorithm for linear programming. In particular, we obtain a combinatorial algorithm to perform one tropical pivoting step, including the computation of reduced costs, in O(n(m+n)) time, where m…

Tropical polyhedra have been recently used to represent disjunctive invariants in static analysis. To handle larger instances, tropical analogues of classical linear programming results need to be developed. This motivation leads us to…

We propose a new deterministic symmetric recursive algorithm for solving mean-payoff games.

The strategy improvement algorithm for mean payoff games and parity games is a local improvement algorithm, just like the simplex algorithm for linear programs. Their similarity has turned out very useful: many lower bounds on running time…

In a mean-payoff parity game, one of the two players aims both to achieve a qualitative parity objective and to minimize a quantitative long-term average of payoffs (aka. mean payoff). The game is zero-sum and hence the aim of the other…

We consider some well-known families of two-player, zero-sum, perfect information games that can be viewed as special cases of Shapley's stochastic games. We show that the following tasks are polynomial time equivalent: - Solving simple…

We initiate the study of simple games from the point of view of combinatorial topology. The starting premise is that the losing coalitions of a simple game can be identified with a simplicial complex. Various topological constructions and…

Combinatorial games lead to several interesting, clean problems in algorithms and complexity theory, many of which remain open. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the area to encourage further research. In particular, we…

Mean-payoff games are important quantitative models for open reactive systems. They have been widely studied as games of full observation. In this paper we investigate the algorithmic properties of several sub-classes of mean-payoff games…

We exhibit a class of classical or tropical posynomial systems which can be solved by reduction to linear or convex programming problems. This relies on a notion of colorful vectors with respect to a collection of Newton polytopes. This…

Combinatorial Game Theory is a branch of mathematics and theoretical computer science that studies sequential 2-player games with perfect information. Normal play is the convention where a player who cannot move loses. Here, we generalize…

We consider two-player games played on weighted directed graphs with mean-payoff and total-payoff objectives, two classical quantitative objectives. While for single-dimensional games the complexity and memory bounds for both objectives…

While discounted payoff games and classic games that reduce to them, like parity and mean-payoff games, are symmetric, their solutions are not. We have taken a fresh view on the constraints that optimal solutions need to satisfy, and…

We propose a novel algorithm for the solution of mean-payoff games that merges together two seemingly unrelated concepts introduced in the context of parity games, small progress measures and quasi dominions. We show that the integration of…

We illustrate how one can use basic combinatorial theory and computer programming technique (Python) to analyze the combinatorial game: Mahjong. The results confirm some folklore concerning the game, and expose some unexpected results.…

This paper develops a unified framework for zero-sum games in which both the pure strategies and the payoff matrices contain complex-valued entries. By leveraging a linear isomorphism between complex and real vector spaces, we extend key…

We study symmetric bimatrix games that also have the common-payoff property, i.e., the two players receive the same payoff at any outcome of the game. Due to the symmetry property, these games are guaranteed to have symmetric Nash…