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The degree sequence of a graph is a numerical method to characterize the properties of graphs. Generalized forms of degree sequences exist for complete graphs and complete graphs. Nikolopolus et al. characterized the number of spanning…
We introduce a one-person game that we call Padlock Solitaire which resembles the well-known clock solitaire card game. Analyzing variants of this game we obtain simple proofs of some classical results of combinatorics including ballot…
A graceful labeling of a graph $G$ with $m$ edges consists of labeling the vertices of $G$ with distinct integers from $0$ to $m$ such that, when each edge is assigned as induced label the absolute difference of the labels of its endpoints,…
Consider equipping an alphabet $\mathcal{A}$ with a group action that partitions the set of words into equivalence classes which we call patterns. We answer standard questions for the Penney's game on patterns and show non-transitivity for…
Cooperative games are an important class of problems in game theory, where the goal is to distribute a value among a set of players who are allowed to cooperate by forming coalitions. An outcome of the game is given by an allocation vector…
Courcelle's Theorem states that on graphs $G$ of tree-width at most $k$ with a given tree-decomposition of size $t(G)$, graph properties $\mathcal{P}$ definable in Monadic Second Order Logic can be checked in linear time in the size of…
We consider three variants of a partisan combinatorial game between two players, Left and Right, played on an undirected simple graph. Left is able to delete vertices (and incident edges) while Right is able to delete edges. This natural…
We study the computational complexity of finding stable outcomes in hedonic games, which are a class of coalition formation games. We restrict our attention to symmetric additively-separable hedonic games, which are a nontrivial subclass of…
Penney's game is a two player zero-sum game in which each player chooses a three-flip pattern of heads and tails and the winner is the player whose pattern occurs first in repeated tosses of a fair coin. Because the players choose…
In set theory without the axiom of regularity, we consider a game in which two players choose in turn an element of a given set, an element of this element, etc.; a player wins if its adversary cannot make any next move. Sets that are…
A nut graph is a nontrivial simple graph whose adjacency matrix has a simple eigenvalue zero such that the corresponding eigenvector has no zero entries. It is known that the order $n$ and degree $d$ of a vertex-transitive nut graph satisfy…
We consider the permutation analogue of Penney's game for words. Two players, in order, each choose a permutation of length $k\ge3$; then a sequence of independent random values from a continuous distribution is generated, until the…
Combinatorial games are widely used in finite model theory, constraint satisfaction, modal logic and concurrency theory to characterize logical equivalences between structures. In particular, Ehrenfeucht-Fraisse games, pebble games, and…
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…
The Ramsey's theorem says that a graph with sufficiently many vertices contains a clique or stable set with many vertices. Now we attach some parameter to every vertex, such as degree. Consider the case a graph with sufficiently many…
In this article, we investigate the Grundy values of the popular game of Fibonacci nim. The winning strategy, which amounts to understanding positions of Grundy value 0, was known since Whinihan in 1963. In this paper, we extend Whinihan's…
In general, the games are played on a host graph, where each node is a selfish independent agent (player) and each edge has a fixed link creation cost \alpha. Together the agents create a network (a subgraph of the host graph) while…
A group of students in 7-9 grades are inventing combinatorial impartial games. The games are played on graphs, piles, and grids. We found winning positions, optimal strategies, and other interesting facts about the games.
In this paper, we consider a game beginning with a multiset of elements from a group. On a move, two elements are replaced by their sum. This is a no strategy game, and can be modeled as a graded poset with the rank of a node equal to the…
Zero forcing is a combinatorial game played on a graph with the ultimate goal of changing the colour of all the vertices at minimal cost. Originally this game was conceived as a one player game, but later a two-player version was devised…