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Searching for a particle on the real line

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2016

Bert Fristedt
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
David Heath
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

Abstract

In this paper we consider two optimization problems and two game problems. In each problem, a particle is hidden on the real line (sometimes randomly, and sometimes by an antagonistic hider), and a seeker, starting at the origin, wishes to find the particle with minimal expected cost. We consider a fairly wide class of cost functions depending upon the position of the particle and the time used to discover it. For the games we obtain the values and (-) optimal strategies. For the optimization problems we obtain qualitative features of (-) optimal searches.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Applied Probability Trust 1974 

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References

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