Competitive Searching over Terrains

We study a variant of the searching problem where the environment consists of a known terrain and the goal is to obtain visibility of an unknown target point on the surface of the terrain. The searcher starts on the surface of the terrain and is allowed to fly above the terrain. The goal is to devise a searching strategy that minimizes the competitive ratio, that is, the worst-case ratio between the distance traveled by the searching strategy and the minimum travel distance needed to detect the target. For $1.5$D terrains we show that any searching strategy has a competitive ratio of at least $\sqrt{82}$ and we present a nearly-optimal searching strategy that achieves a competitive ratio of $3\sqrt{19/2} \approx \sqrt{82} + 0.19$. This strategy extends directly to the case where the searcher has no knowledge of the terrain beforehand. For $2.5$D terrains we show that the optimal competitive ratio depends on the maximum slope $\lambda$ of the terrain, and is hence unbounded in general. Specifically, we provide a lower bound on the competitive ratio of $\Omega(\sqrt{\lambda})$. Finally, we complement the lower bound with a searching strategy based on the maximum slope of the known terrain, which achieves a competitive ratio of $O(\sqrt{\lambda})$

Competitive Searching for a Line on a Line Arrangement

We discuss the problem of searching for an unknown line on a known or unknown line arrangement by a searcher S, and show that a search strategy exists that finds the line competitively, that is, with detour factor at most a constant when compared to the situation where S has all knowledge. In the case where S knows all lines but not which one is sought, the strategy is 79-competitive. We also show that it may be necessary to travel on Omega(n) lines to realize a constant competitive ratio. In the case where initially, S does not know any line, but learns about the ones it encounters during the search, we give a 414.2-competitive search strategy

Competitive Searching for a Line on a Line Arrangement

We discuss the problem of searching for an unknown line on a known or unknown line arrangement by a searcher S, and show that a search strategy exists that finds the line competitively, that is, with detour factor at most a constant when compared to the situation where S has all knowledge. In the case where S knows all lines but not which one is sought, the strategy is 79-competitive. We also show that it may be necessary to travel on Omega(n) lines to realize a constant competitive ratio. In the case where initially, S does not know any line, but learns about the ones it encounters during the search, we give a 414.2-competitive search strategy

Competitive searching for a line on a line arrangement

We discuss the problem of searching for an unknown line on a known or unknown line arrangement by a searcher S, and show that a search strategy exists that finds the line competitively, that is, with detour factor at most a constant when compared to the situation where S has all knowledge. In the case where S knows all lines but not which one is sought, the strategy is 79-competitive. We also show that it may be necessary to travel on Ω(n) lines to realize a constant competitive ratio. In the case where initially, S does not know any line, but learns about the ones it encounters during the search, we give a 414.2-competitive search strategy

Competitive Searching for a Line on a Line Arrangement

We discuss the problem of searching for an unknown line on a known or unknown line arrangement by a searcher S, and show that a search strategy exists that finds the line competitively, that is, with detour factor at most a constant when compared to the situation where S has all knowledge. In the case where S knows all lines but not which one is sought, the strategy is 79-competitive. We also show that it may be necessary to travel on Omega(n) lines to realize a constant competitive ratio. In the case where initially, S does not know any line, but learns about the ones it encounters during the search, we give a 414.2-competitive search strategy

Competitive Searching for a Line on a Line Arrangement

We discuss the problem of searching for an unknown line on a known or unknown line arrangement by a searcher S, and show that a search strategy exists that finds the line competitively, that is, with detour factor at most a constant when compared to the situation where S has all knowledge. In the case where S knows all lines but not which one is sought, the strategy is 79-competitive. We also show that it may be necessary to travel on Omega(n) lines to realize a constant competitive ratio. In the case where initially, S does not know any line, but learns about the ones it encounters during the search, we give a 414.2-competitive search strategy