Search game

A search game is a two-person zero-sum game which takes place in a set called the search space. The searcher can choose any continuous trajectory subject to a maximal velocity constraint. It is always assumed that neither the searcher nor the hider has any knowledge about the movement of the other player until their distance apart is less than or equal to the discovery radius and at this very moment capture occurs. The game is zero sum with the payoff being the time spent in searching. As mathematical models, search games can be applied to areas such as hide-and-seek games that children play or representations of some tactical military situations. The area of search games was introduced in the last chapter of Rufus Isaacs' classic book "Differential Games"[1] and has been developed further by Shmuel Gal[2][3] and Steve Alpern.[3] The princess and monster game deals with a moving target.

  1. ^ Rufus Isaacs, Differential Games, John Wiley and Sons, (1965),
  2. ^ S. Gal, Search Games, Academic Press, New York (1980)
  3. ^ a b S. Alpern and S. Gal, The Theory of Search Games and Rendezvous, Springer (2003).