Related papers: The Ant on a Rubber Rope Paradox
In this note we put forward a conjecture on the average optimal length for bipartite matching with a finite number of elements where the different lengths are independent one from the others and have an exponential distribution.
We consider a system of three random walkers (a `cheetah' surrounded by two `antelopes') diffusing in one dimension. The cheetah and the antelopes diffuse, but the antelopes experience in addition a deterministic relative drift velocity,…
In this paper we report on an experimental test of Bertrand's question on the probability to find a random chord drawn inside a unit-radius circle with length greater than $\sqrt{3}$. In an experiment performed by tossing straws onto a…
The adhesion paradox refers to the observation that for most solid objects no adhesion can be detected when they are separated from a state of molecular contact. The adhesion paradox results from surface roughness, and we present…
We show the existence of rigid combinatorial objects which previously were not known to exist. Specifically, for a wide range of the underlying parameters, we show the existence of non-trivial orthogonal arrays, $t$-designs, and $t$-wise…
The graph obtained from the integer grid Z x Z by the removal of all horizontal edges that do not belong to the x-axis is called a comb. In a random walk on a graph, whenever a walker is at a vertex v, in the next step it will visit one of…
The remaining travel time of a plane shortens with every minute that passes from its departure, and a flame diminishes a candle with every second it burns. Such everyday occurrences bias us to think that processes which have already begun…
The elastic response is studied of a single flexible chain grafted on a rigid plane and an ensemble of non-interacting tethered chains. It is demonstrated that the entropic theory of rubber elasticity leads to conclusions that disagree with…
The Bell Spaceship Paradox has promoted confusion and numerous resolutions since its first statement in 1959, including resolutions based on relativistic stress due to Lorentz contractions. The paradox is that two ships, starting from the…
We prove the occurrence of a phase transition accompanied by the emergence of cycles of diverging lengths in the random interchange process on the hypercube.
Suppose that $X$ is a bounded-degree polynomial with nonnegative coefficients on the $p$-biased discrete hypercube. Our main result gives sharp estimates on the logarithmic upper tail probability of $X$ whenever an associated extremal…
The Lambert problem consists in connecting two given points in a given lapse of time under the gravitational influence of a fixed center. While this problem is very classical, we are concerned here with situations where friction forces act…
A pebbling move on a graph removes two pebbles at a vertex and adds one pebble at an adjacent vertex. Rubbling is a version of pebbling where an additional move is allowed. In this new move one pebble is removed at vertices v and w adjacent…
We study dynamics of a Rouse polymer chain, which diffuses in a three-dimensional space under the constraint that one of its ends, referred to as the slip-link, may move only along a one-dimensional line containing randomly placed,…
The fracture stress of materials typically depends on the sample size and is traditionally explained in terms of extreme value statistics. A recent work reported results on the carrying capacity of long polyamide and polyester wires and…
Recently, the educational initiative TED-Ed has published a popular brain teaser coined the 'frog riddle', which illustrates non-intuitive implications of conditional probabilities. In its intended form, the frog riddle is a reformulation…
It is a celebrated fact that a simple random walk on an infinite $k$-ary tree for $k \geq 2$ returns to the initial vertex at most finitely many times during infinitely many transitions; it is called transient. This work points out the fact…
We call a probabilistic theory "complete" if it cannot be further refined by no-signaling hidden-variable models, and name a theory "spooky" if every equivalent hidden-variable model violates Shimony's Outcome Independence. We prove that a…
This is an informal paper presenting historical results around the recent paper of the author about Lang's Conjecture and torsion of elliptic curves. This paper also discusses a few aspects of the proof.
In this paper, we consider a once-reinforced random walk on the half-line, and give the limiting behaviors of all the moments of its range.