Related papers: On the Sprague-Grundy function of compound games

We prove a theorem computing the number of solutions to a system of equations which is generic subject to the sparsity conditions embodied in a graph. We apply this theorem to games obeying graphical models and to extensive-form games. We…

In an amalgamation Nim, players are allowed to use a move from the traditional form of Nim or to amalgamate two piles when they are not empty. No formula that describes the set of P-positions of Amalgamation Nim is known. The author gives a…

We describe a new random greedy algorithm for generating regular graphs of high girth: Let $k\geq 3$ and $c \in (0,1)$ be fixed. Let $n \in \mathbb{N}$ be even and set $g = c \log_{k-1} (n)$. Begin with a Hamilton cycle $G$ on $n$ vertices.…

A graph \textit{G} is a tuple (\textit{V}, \textit{E}), where \textit{V} is the vertex set, \textit{E} is the edge set. A reduced graph is a graph of deleting non-Hamiltonian edges and smoothing out the redundant vertices of degree 2 on an…

We offer a new, gradual approach to the largest girth problem for cubic graphs. It is easily observed that the largest possible girth of all $n$-vertex cubic graphs is attained by a $2$-connected graph $G=(V,E)$. By Petersen's graph…

Let p be an odd prime. In 1984, Greene introduced the notion of hypergeometric functions over finite fields. Special values of these functions have been of interest as they are related to the number of F_p points on algebraic varieties and…

We introduce a new type of positional games, played on a vertex set of a graph. Given a graph $G$, two players claim vertices of $G$, where the outcome of the game is determined by the subgraphs of $G$ induced by the vertices claimed by…

Let $H = (V,E)$ be a hypergraph with vertex set $V$ and edge set $E$ of order $\nH = |V|$ and size $\mH = |E|$. A transversal in $H$ is a subset of vertices in $H$ that has a nonempty intersection with every edge of $H$. A vertex hits an…

We study the problem whether there exist variants of {\sc Wythoff}'s game whose $\P$-positions, except for a finite number, are obtained from those of {\sc Wythoff}'s game by adding a constant $k$ to each $\P$-position. We solve this…

The niche graph of a digraph $D$ has $V(D)$ as the vertex set and an edge $uv$ if and only if $(u,w) \in A(D)$ and $(v,w) \in A(D)$, or $(w,u) \in A(D)$ and $(w,v) \in A(D)$ for some $w \in V(D)$. The notion of niche graph was introduced by…

Combinatorial optimization algorithms for graph problems are usually designed afresh for each new problem with careful attention by an expert to the problem structure. In this work, we develop a new framework to solve any combinatorial…

The semi-random graph process is a single player game in which the player is initially presented an empty graph on $n$ vertices. In each round, a vertex $u$ is presented to the player independently and uniformly at random. The player then…

We study zero-sum games, a variant of the classical combinatorial Subtraction games (studied for example in the monumental work "Winning Ways", by Berlekamp, Conway and Guy), called Cumulative Subtraction (CS). Two players alternate in…

The size of the smallest $k$-regular graph of girth at least $g$ is denoted by the well-studied function $n(k,g)$. We introduce an analogous function $n(H,g)$, defined as the smallest size graph of girth at least $g$ that is a lift (or…

In 1965, Motzkin and Straus established a remarkable connection between the order of a maximum clique and the Lagrangian of a graph and provided a new proof of Tur\'an's theorem using the connection. The connection of Lagrangians and…

Combinatorial game theory (CGT), as introduced by Berlekamp, Conway and Guy, involves two players who move alternately in a perfect information, zero-sum game, and there are no chance devices. Also the games have the finite descent property…

In this paper, we present and analyze the properties of a new class of games - the spatial congestion game (SCG), which is a generalization of the classical congestion game (CG). In a classical congestion game, multiple users share the same…

Motzkin and Straus established a close connection between the maximum clique problem and a solution (namely graph-Lagrangians) to the maximum value of a class of homogeneous quadratic multilinear functions over the standard simplex of the…

We define the family of {\it locally path-bounded} digraphs, which is a class of infinite digraphs, and show that on this class it is relatively easy to compute an optimal strategy (winning or nonlosing); and realize a win, when possible,…

Let A be a finite subset of the naturals and let n be a natural. Let NIM(A;n) be the two player game in which players alternate removing $a\in A$ stones from a pile with $n$ stones; the first player who cannot move loses. This game has been…