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To approximate the trajectories of a stochastic process by the solution of some differential equation is widely used in the fields of probability, computer science and combinatorics. In this paper, the convergence of coupon collecting…

Probability · Mathematics 2019-12-06 Anshui Li , Yong Chen

We consider the following variant of the classic collector's problem: The family of coupon probabilities is the mixing of two subfamilies one of which is the \textit{uniform} family, while the other belongs to the well known \textit{Zipf…

Probability · Mathematics 2019-04-23 Aristides V. Doumas , Vassilis G. Papanicolaou

We examine the negative occupancy distribution and the coupon-collector distribution, both of which arise as distributions relating to hitting times in the extended occupancy problem. These distributions constitute a full solution to a…

Probability · Mathematics 2022-01-11 Ben O'Neill

The embedding problem of Markov transition matrices into continuous-time Markov semigroups is a classic problem that regained a lot of impetus and activities in recent years. We consider it here for the following generalisation of the…

Probability · Mathematics 2026-01-27 Ellen Baake , Michael Baake

We study a labeled variant of the classical Coupon Collector Problem (CCP), recently introduced by Tan et al., where coupons arrive in groups and only the set of labels is revealed. The goal is to determine the expected number of group…

Probability · Mathematics 2025-10-28 Dina Barak-Pelleg , Daniel Berend

We initiate the study of the Careless Coupon Collector's Problem (CCCP), a novel variation of the classical coupon collector, that we envision as a model for information systems such as web crawlers, dynamic caches, and fault-resilient…

Discrete Mathematics · Computer Science 2026-02-25 Emilio Cruciani , Aditi Dudeja

Motivated by applications in bioinformatics, we consider the word collector problem, i.e. the expected number of calls to a random weighted generator of words of length $n$ before the full collection is obtained. The originality of this…

Discrete Mathematics · Computer Science 2012-04-18 Jérémie Du Boisberranger , Danièle Gardy , Yann Ponty

The double Dixie cup problem of D.J. Newman and L. Shepp is a well-known variant of the coupon collector problem, where the object of study is the number of coupons that a collector has to buy in order to complete m sets of all N existing…

Probability · Mathematics 2025-10-31 Aristides V. Doumas

The "double Dixie cup problem" of D.J. Newman and L. Shepp (1960) is a well-known variant of the coupon collector's problem, where the object of study is the number $T_{m}(N)$ of coupons that a collector has to buy in order to complete $m$…

Probability · Mathematics 2015-11-06 Aristides V. Doumas , Vassilis G. Papanicolaou

We address a conjecture of Schilling concerning the optimality of the uniform distribution in the generalized Coupon Collector's Problem (CCP) where, in each round, a subset (package) of $s$ coupons is drawn from a total of $n$ distinct…

Probability · Mathematics 2026-05-12 Daniel Berend , Tomer Sher

The paper introduces a modified version of the classical Coupon Collector's Problem entailing exchanges and cooperation between multiple players. Results of the development show that, within a proper Markov framework, the complexity of the…

Discrete Mathematics · Computer Science 2009-12-15 R. Rovatti , C. Passerini , G. Mazzini

We consider a generalisation of the classical coupon collector problem. We define a super-coupon to be any $s$-subset of a universe of $n$ coupons. In each round, a random $r$-subset from the universe is drawn and all its $s$-subsets are…

Probability · Mathematics 2023-09-13 Siva Athreya , Satyaki Mukherjee , Soumendu Sundar Mukherjee

The sequential sampling of populations with unequal probabilities and with replacement in a closed population is a recurrent problem in ecology and evolution. Many of these questions can be reformulated as urn problems, often as special…

A collector samples coupons with replacement from a pool containing $g$ \textit{uniform} groups of coupons, where "uniform group" means that all coupons in the group are equally likely to occur. For each $j = 1, \dots, g$ let $T_j$ be the…

Probability · Mathematics 2018-11-13 Aristides V. Doumas , Vassilis G. Papanicolaou

We extend the Coupon Collector's Problem (CCP) and present a novel generalized model, referred as the k-LCCP problem, where one is interested in recovering a bipartite graph with a perfect matching, which represents the coupons and their…

Discrete Mathematics · Computer Science 2025-02-06 Shoham Shimon Berrebi , Eitan Yaakobi , Zohar Yakhini , Daniella Bar-Lev

This paper focuses on the Coupon Collector's Problem with replacement (limited purchasing of missing stickers) and swapping. We have simulated combined strategies and found new results, which we were able to prove for a particular case. The…

Probability · Mathematics 2016-06-07 Niklas Braband , Sonja Braband , Malte Braband

Despite the coupon collector's problem has simple probabilistic solution using inclusion/exclusion principle \cite{PolyaUrn}, starting from a particular type of recurrence differential equation it is used an analytic approach to recover…

Probability · Mathematics 2016-09-06 Andrea Monsellato

The solution of the classical Coupon Collector's Problem is based on the assumptions that all stickers are independently and uniformly distributed. We can prove statistically as well as analytically that in particular the assumption of…

Probability · Mathematics 2016-03-10 Niklas Braband , Sonja Braband , Malte Braband

Computer-based tests with randomly generated questions allow a large number of different tests to be generated. Given a fixed number of alternatives for each question, the number of tests that need to be generated before all possible…

Probability · Mathematics 2010-03-04 Charles M. Goldie , Rosie Cornish , Carol L. Robinson

We prove that, in the coupon collector's problem, the point processes given by the times of $r$-th arrivals for coupons of each type, centered and normalized in a proper way, converge toward a non-homogeneous Poisson point process. This…

Probability · Mathematics 2019-09-16 Andrii Ilienko