Combinatorial Game Complexity: an Introduction with Poset Games
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Parity Games: Descriptive Complexity and Algorithms for New Solvers
Imperial College London Department of Computing Parity Games: Descriptive Complexity and Algorithms for New Solvers Huan-Pu Kuo 2013 Supervised by Prof Michael Huth, and Dr Nir Piterman Submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Computing of Imperial College London and the Diploma of Imperial College London 1 Declaration I herewith certify that all material in this dissertation which is not my own work has been duly acknowledged. Selected results from this dissertation have been disseminated in scientific publications detailed in Chapter 1.4. Huan-Pu Kuo 2 Copyright Declaration The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives licence. Researchers are free to copy, distribute or transmit the thesis on the condition that they attribute it, that they do not use it for commercial purposes and that they do not alter, transform or build upon it. For any reuse or redistribution, researchers must make clear to others the licence terms of this work. 3 Abstract Parity games are 2-person, 0-sum, graph-based, and determined games that form an important foundational concept in formal methods (see e.g., [Zie98]), and their exact computational complexity has been an open prob- lem for over twenty years now. In this thesis, we study algorithms that solve parity games in that they determine which nodes are won by which player, and where such decisions are supported with winning strategies. We modify and so improve a known algorithm but also propose new algorithmic approaches to solving parity games and to understanding their descriptive complexity. -
On Variations of Nim and Chomp Arxiv:1705.06774V1 [Math.CO] 18
On Variations of Nim and Chomp June Ahn Benjamin Chen Richard Chen Ezra Erives Jeremy Fleming Michael Gerovitch Tejas Gopalakrishna Tanya Khovanova Neil Malur Nastia Polina Poonam Sahoo Abstract We study two variations of Nim and Chomp which we call Mono- tonic Nim and Diet Chomp. In Monotonic Nim the moves are the same as in Nim, but the positions are non-decreasing numbers as in Chomp. Diet-Chomp is a variation of Chomp, where the total number of squares removed is limited. 1 Introduction We study finite impartial games with two players where the same moves are available to both players. Players alternate moves. In a normal play, the person who does not have a move loses. In a misère play, the person who makes the last move loses. A P-position is a position from which the previous player wins, assuming perfect play. We can observe that all terminal positions are P-positions. An N-position is a position from which the next player wins given perfect play. When we play we want to end our move with a P-position and want to see arXiv:1705.06774v1 [math.CO] 18 May 2017 an N-position before our move. Every impartial game is equivalent to a Nim heap of a certain size. Thus, every game can be assigned a non-negative integer, called a nimber, nim- value, or a Grundy number. The game of Nim is played on several heaps of tokens. A move consists of taking some tokens from one of the heaps. The game of Chomp is played on a rectangular m by n chocolate bar with grid lines dividing the bar into mn squares. -
Learning Board Game Rules from an Instruction Manual Chad Mills A
Learning Board Game Rules from an Instruction Manual Chad Mills A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science University of Washington 2013 Committee: Gina-Anne Levow Fei Xia Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Linguistics – Computational Linguistics ©Copyright 2013 Chad Mills University of Washington Abstract Learning Board Game Rules from an Instruction Manual Chad Mills Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Gina-Anne Levow Department of Linguistics Board game rulebooks offer a convenient scenario for extracting a systematic logical structure from a passage of text since the mechanisms by which board game pieces interact must be fully specified in the rulebook and outside world knowledge is irrelevant to gameplay. A representation was proposed for representing a game’s rules with a tree structure of logically-connected rules, and this problem was shown to be one of a generalized class of problems in mapping text to a hierarchical, logical structure. Then a keyword-based entity- and relation-extraction system was proposed for mapping rulebook text into the corresponding logical representation, which achieved an f-measure of 11% with a high recall but very low precision, due in part to many statements in the rulebook offering strategic advice or elaboration and causing spurious rules to be proposed based on keyword matches. The keyword-based approach was compared to a machine learning approach, and the former dominated with nearly twenty times better precision at the same level of recall. This was due to the large number of rule classes to extract and the relatively small data set given this is a new problem area and all data had to be manually annotated. -
Arxiv:2101.07237V2 [Cs.CC] 19 Jan 2021 Ohtedsg N Oprtv Nlsso Obntra Games
TRANSVERSE WAVE: AN IMPARTIAL COLOR-PROPAGATION GAME INSPRIED BY SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND QUANTUM NIM Kyle Burke Department of Computer Science, Plymouth State University, Plymouth, New Hampshire, https://turing.plymouth.edu/~kgb1013/ Matthew Ferland Department of Computer Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States Shang-Hua Teng1 Department of Computer Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States https://viterbi-web.usc.edu/~shanghua/ Abstract In this paper, we study a colorful, impartial combinatorial game played on a two- dimensional grid, Transverse Wave. We are drawn to this game because of its apparent simplicity, contrasting intractability, and intrinsic connection to two other combinatorial games, one inspired by social influence and another inspired by quan- tum superpositions. More precisely, we show that Transverse Wave is at the intersection of social-influence-inspired Friend Circle and superposition-based Demi-Quantum Nim. Transverse Wave is also connected with Schaefer’s logic game Avoid True. In addition to analyzing the mathematical structures and com- putational complexity of Transverse Wave, we provide a web-based version of the game, playable at https://turing.plymouth.edu/~kgb1013/DB/combGames/transverseWave.html. Furthermore, we formulate a basic network-influence inspired game, called Demo- graphic Influence, which simultaneously generalizes Node-Kyles and Demi- arXiv:2101.07237v2 [cs.CC] 19 Jan 2021 Quantum Nim (which in turn contains as special cases Nim, Avoid True, and Transverse Wave.). These connections illuminate the lattice order, induced by special-case/generalization relationships over mathematical games, fundamental to both the design and comparative analyses of combinatorial games. 1Supported by the Simons Investigator Award for fundamental & curiosity-driven research and NSF grant CCF1815254. -
Impartial Games
Combinatorial Games MSRI Publications Volume 29, 1995 Impartial Games RICHARD K. GUY In memory of Jack Kenyon, 1935-08-26 to 1994-09-19 Abstract. We give examples and some general results about impartial games, those in which both players are allowed the same moves at any given time. 1. Introduction We continue our introduction to combinatorial games with a survey of im- partial games. Most of this material can also be found in WW [Berlekamp et al. 1982], particularly pp. 81{116, and in ONAG [Conway 1976], particu- larly pp. 112{130. An elementary introduction is given in [Guy 1989]; see also [Fraenkel 1996], pp. ??{?? in this volume. An impartial game is one in which the set of Left options is the same as the set of Right options. We've noticed in the preceding article the impartial games = 0=0; 0 0 = 1= and 0; 0; = 2: {|} ∗ { | } ∗ ∗ { ∗| ∗} ∗ that were born on days 0, 1, and 2, respectively, so it should come as no surprise that on day n the game n = 0; 1; 2;:::; (n 1) 0; 1; 2;:::; (n 1) ∗ {∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ − |∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ − } is born. In fact any game of the type a; b; c;::: a; b; c;::: {∗ ∗ ∗ |∗ ∗ ∗ } has value m,wherem =mex a;b;c;::: , the least nonnegative integer not in ∗ { } the set a;b;c;::: . To see this, notice that any option, a say, for which a>m, { } ∗ This is a slightly revised reprint of the article of the same name that appeared in Combi- natorial Games, Proceedings of Symposia in Applied Mathematics, Vol. 43, 1991. Permission for use courtesy of the American Mathematical Society. -
Complexity in Simulation Gaming
Complexity in Simulation Gaming Marcin Wardaszko Kozminski University [email protected] ABSTRACT The paper offers another look at the complexity in simulation game design and implementation. Although, the topic is not new or undiscovered the growing volatility of socio-economic environments and changes to the way we design simulation games nowadays call for better research and design methods. The aim of this article is to look into the current state of understanding complexity in simulation gaming and put it in the context of learning with and through complexity. Nature and understanding of complexity is both field specific and interdisciplinary at the same time. Analyzing understanding and role of complexity in different fields associated with simulation game design and implementation. Thoughtful theoretical analysis has been applied in order to deconstruct the complexity theory and reconstruct it further as higher order models. This paper offers an interdisciplinary look at the role and place of complexity from two perspectives. The first perspective is knowledge building and dissemination about complexity in simulation gaming. Second, perspective is the role the complexity plays in building and implementation of the simulation gaming as a design process. In the last section, the author offers a new look at the complexity of the simulation game itself and perceived complexity from the player perspective. INTRODUCTION Complexity in simulation gaming is not a new or undiscussed subject, but there is still a lot to discuss when it comes to the role and place of complexity in simulation gaming. In recent years, there has been a big number of publications targeting this problem from different perspectives and backgrounds, thus contributing to the matter in many valuable ways. -
COMPSCI 575/MATH 513 Combinatorics and Graph Theory
COMPSCI 575/MATH 513 Combinatorics and Graph Theory Lecture #34: Partisan Games (from Conway, On Numbers and Games and Berlekamp, Conway, and Guy, Winning Ways) David Mix Barrington 9 December 2016 Partisan Games • Conway's Game Theory • Hackenbush and Domineering • Four Types of Games and an Order • Some Games are Numbers • Values of Numbers • Single-Stalk Hackenbush • Some Domineering Examples Conway’s Game Theory • J. H. Conway introduced his combinatorial game theory in his 1976 book On Numbers and Games or ONAG. Researchers in the area are sometimes called onagers. • Another resource is the book Winning Ways by Berlekamp, Conway, and Guy. Conway’s Game Theory • Games, like everything else in the theory, are defined recursively. A game consists of a set of left options, each a game, and a set of right options, each a game. • The base of the recursion is the zero game, with no options for either player. • Last time we saw non-partisan games, where each player had the same options from each position. Today we look at partisan games. Hackenbush • Hackenbush is a game where the position is a diagram with red and blue edges, connected in at least one place to the “ground”. • A move is to delete an edge, a blue one for Left and a red one for Right. • Edges disconnected from the ground disappear. As usual, a player who cannot move loses. Hackenbush • From this first position, Right is going to win, because Left cannot prevent him from killing both the ground supports. It doesn’t matter who moves first. -
ES.268 Dynamic Programming with Impartial Games, Course Notes 3
ES.268 , Lecture 3 , Feb 16, 2010 http://erikdemaine.org/papers/AlgGameTheory_GONC3 Playing Games with Algorithms: { most games are hard to play well: { Chess is EXPTIME-complete: { n × n board, arbitrary position { need exponential (cn) time to find a winning move (if there is one) { also: as hard as all games (problems) that need exponential time { Checkers is EXPTIME-complete: ) Chess & Checkers are the \same" computationally: solving one solves the other (PSPACE-complete if draw after poly. moves) { Shogi (Japanese chess) is EXPTIME-complete { Japanese Go is EXPTIME-complete { U. S. Go might be harder { Othello is PSPACE-complete: { conjecture requires exponential time, but not sure (implied by P 6= NP) { can solve some games fast: in \polynomial time" (mostly 1D) Kayles: [Dudeney 1908] (n bowling pins) { move = hit one or two adjacent pins { last player to move wins (normal play) Let's play! 1 First-player win: SYMMETRY STRATEGY { move to split into two equal halves (1 pin if odd, 2 if even) { whatever opponent does, do same in other half (Kn + Kn = 0 ::: just like Nim) Impartial game, so Sprague-Grundy Theory says Kayles ≡ Nim somehow { followers(Kn) = fKi + Kn−i−1;Ki + Kn−i−2 j i = 0; 1; :::;n − 2g ) nimber(Kn) = mexfnimber(Ki + Kn−i−1); nimber(Ki + Kn−i−2) j i = 0; 1; :::;n − 2g { nimber(x + y) = nimber(x) ⊕ nimber(y) ) nimber(Kn) = mexfnimber(Ki) ⊕ nimber(Kn−i−1); nimber(Ki) ⊕ nimber(Kn−i−2) j i = 0; 1; :::n − 2g RECURRENCE! | write what you want in terms of smaller things Howe do w compute it? nimber(K0) = 0 (BASE CASE) nimber(K1) = mexfnimber(K0) ⊕ nimber(K0)g 0 ⊕ 0 = 0 = 1 nimber(K2) = mexfnimber(K0) ⊕ nimber(K1); 0 ⊕ 1 = 1 nimber(K0) ⊕ nimber(K0)g 0 ⊕ 0 = 0 = 2 so e.g. -
Blue-Red Hackenbush
Basic rules Two players: Blue and Red. Perfect information. Players move alternately. First player unable to move loses. The game must terminate. Mathematical Games – p. 1 Outcomes (assuming perfect play) Blue wins (whoever moves first): G > 0 Red wins (whoever moves first): G < 0 Mover loses: G = 0 Mover wins: G0 Mathematical Games – p. 2 Two elegant classes of games number game: always disadvantageous to move (so never G0) impartial game: same moves always available to each player Mathematical Games – p. 3 Blue-Red Hackenbush ground prototypical number game: Blue-Red Hackenbush: A player removes one edge of his or her color. Any edges not connected to the ground are also removed. First person unable to move loses. Mathematical Games – p. 4 An example Mathematical Games – p. 5 A Hackenbush sum Let G be a Blue-Red Hackenbush position (or any game). Recall: Blue wins: G > 0 Red wins: G < 0 Mover loses: G = 0 G H G + H Mathematical Games – p. 6 A Hackenbush value value (to Blue): 3 1 3 −2 −3 sum: 2 (Blue is two moves ahead), G> 0 3 2 −2 −2 −1 sum: 0 (mover loses), G= 0 Mathematical Games – p. 7 1/2 value = ? G clearly >0: Blue wins mover loses! x + x - 1 = 0, so x = 1/2 Blue is 1/2 move ahead in G. Mathematical Games – p. 8 Another position What about ? Mathematical Games – p. 9 Another position What about ? Clearly G< 0. Mathematical Games – p. 9 −13/8 8x + 13 = 0 (mover loses!) x = -13/8 Mathematical Games – p. -
Combinatorial Game Theory, Well-Tempered Scoring Games, and a Knot Game
Combinatorial Game Theory, Well-Tempered Scoring Games, and a Knot Game Will Johnson June 9, 2011 Contents 1 To Knot or Not to Knot 4 1.1 Some facts from Knot Theory . 7 1.2 Sums of Knots . 18 I Combinatorial Game Theory 23 2 Introduction 24 2.1 Combinatorial Game Theory in general . 24 2.1.1 Bibliography . 27 2.2 Additive CGT specifically . 28 2.3 Counting moves in Hackenbush . 34 3 Games 40 3.1 Nonstandard Definitions . 40 3.2 The conventional formalism . 45 3.3 Relations on Games . 54 3.4 Simplifying Games . 62 3.5 Some Examples . 66 4 Surreal Numbers 68 4.1 Surreal Numbers . 68 4.2 Short Surreal Numbers . 70 4.3 Numbers and Hackenbush . 77 4.4 The interplay of numbers and non-numbers . 79 4.5 Mean Value . 83 1 5 Games near 0 85 5.1 Infinitesimal and all-small games . 85 5.2 Nimbers and Sprague-Grundy Theory . 90 6 Norton Multiplication and Overheating 97 6.1 Even, Odd, and Well-Tempered Games . 97 6.2 Norton Multiplication . 105 6.3 Even and Odd revisited . 114 7 Bending the Rules 119 7.1 Adapting the theory . 119 7.2 Dots-and-Boxes . 121 7.3 Go . 132 7.4 Changing the theory . 139 7.5 Highlights from Winning Ways Part 2 . 144 7.5.1 Unions of partizan games . 144 7.5.2 Loopy games . 145 7.5.3 Mis`eregames . 146 7.6 Mis`ereIndistinguishability Quotients . 147 7.7 Indistinguishability in General . 148 II Well-tempered Scoring Games 155 8 Introduction 156 8.1 Boolean games . -
Combinatorial Game Theory
Combinatorial Game Theory Aaron N. Siegel Graduate Studies MR1EXLIQEXMGW Volume 146 %QIVMGER1EXLIQEXMGEP7SGMIX] Combinatorial Game Theory https://doi.org/10.1090//gsm/146 Combinatorial Game Theory Aaron N. Siegel Graduate Studies in Mathematics Volume 146 American Mathematical Society Providence, Rhode Island EDITORIAL COMMITTEE David Cox (Chair) Daniel S. Freed Rafe Mazzeo Gigliola Staffilani 2010 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary 91A46. For additional information and updates on this book, visit www.ams.org/bookpages/gsm-146 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Siegel, Aaron N., 1977– Combinatorial game theory / Aaron N. Siegel. pages cm. — (Graduate studies in mathematics ; volume 146) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8218-5190-6 (alk. paper) 1. Game theory. 2. Combinatorial analysis. I. Title. QA269.S5735 2013 519.3—dc23 2012043675 Copying and reprinting. Individual readers of this publication, and nonprofit libraries acting for them, are permitted to make fair use of the material, such as to copy a chapter for use in teaching or research. Permission is granted to quote brief passages from this publication in reviews, provided the customary acknowledgment of the source is given. Republication, systematic copying, or multiple reproduction of any material in this publication is permitted only under license from the American Mathematical Society. Requests for such permission should be addressed to the Acquisitions Department, American Mathematical Society, 201 Charles Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02904-2294 USA. Requests can also be made by e-mail to [email protected]. c 2013 by the American Mathematical Society. All rights reserved. The American Mathematical Society retains all rights except those granted to the United States Government. -
On Structural Parameterizations of Node Kayles
On Structural Parameterizations of Node Kayles Yasuaki Kobayashi Abstract Node Kayles is a well-known two-player impartial game on graphs: Given an undirected graph, each player alternately chooses a vertex not adjacent to previously chosen vertices, and a player who cannot choose a new vertex loses the game. The problem of deciding if the first player has a winning strategy in this game is known to be PSPACE-complete. There are a few studies on algorithmic aspects of this problem. In this paper, we consider the problem from the viewpoint of fixed-parameter tractability. We show that the problem is fixed-parameter tractable parameterized by the size of a minimum vertex cover or the modular-width of a given graph. Moreover, we give a polynomial kernelization with respect to neighborhood diversity. 1 Introduction Kayles is a two-player game with bowling pins and a ball. In this game, two players alternately roll a ball down towards a row of pins. Each player knocks down either a pin or two adjacent pins in their turn. The player who knocks down the last pin wins the game. This game has been studied in combinatorial game theory and the winning player can be characterized in the number of pins at the start of the game. Schaefer [10] introduced a variant of this game on graphs, which is known as Node Kayles. In this game, given an undirected graph, two players alternately choose a vertex, and the chosen vertex and its neighborhood are removed from the graph. The game proceeds as long as the graph has at least one vertex and ends when no vertex is left.