A note on cake cutting

The algorithmic aspects of the following problem are investigated: n (≥2) persons want to cut a cake into n shares so that every person will get at least 1/n of the cake by his own measure and so that the number of cuts made on the cake is minimal. The cutting process is to be governed by a protocol (computer program). It is shown that no deterministic protocol exists which is fair (in a sense defined in the text) and results in at most n ? 1 cuts. An O(n log n)-cut deterministic protocol and an O(n)-cut randomized protocol are given explicitly and a deterministic fair protocol with 4 cuts for n=4 is described in the appendix.     

Cooperation in dividing the cake

This paper defines models of cooperation among players partitioning a completely divisible good (such as a cake or a piece of land). The novelty of our approach lies in the players’ ability to form coalitions before the actual division of the good with the aim to maximize the average utility of the coalition. A social welfare function which takes into account coalitions drives the division. In addition, we derive a cooperative game which measures the performance of each coalition. This game is compared with the game in which players start cooperating only after the good has been portioned and has been allocated among the players. We show that a modified version of the game played before the division outperforms the game played after the division.     

A silent duel over a cake

The division of a cake by two players is modelled by means of a silent game of timing. It is shown that this game has a unique Nash equilibrium. The strategies of the Nash equilibrium are explicitly given.I thank Peter Borm, Eric van Damme, Feico Drost, Harold Houba, Jos Potters, Stef Tijs and the referees for their comments.     

On the possibilities for partitioning a cake

We wish to consider the following type of cake division problem: There are individuals. Each individual has available a measure that he or she uses to evaluate the sizes of pieces of cake. We wish to partition our cake into pieces in such a way that the various evaluations that the individuals make of the sizes of the pieces satisfy certain pre-assigned equalities and inequalities. Our main result yields a quite general criterion for showing that certain such partitions exist. Following the proof, we consider various applications.

     

A theoretical study of filter cake washing

A problem on filter cake washing assuming a geometrical model of the pore spaces, in which axial dispersion occurs in the flow channel and mass transfer through a resistance is taking place from the cross channels to the flow channel, is solved by deriving the differential equations and the auxiliary conditions corresponding to the geometrical model and solving the mathematical problem utilizing the Laplace transform and a method for its numerical inversion that utilizes positive values of the transform variable. The numerical results are checked by comparison with asymptotic expansions and by recalculating the results utilizing other values of the transform variable. The results are presented both numerically with four significant figures and graphically.     

A general Hobby-Rice Theorem and cake cutting

LetX be a Borel subset of a separable Banach spaceE. Letμ be a non-atomic,σ-finite, Borel measure onX. LetG ⊆L ₁ (X, Σ,μ) bem-dimensional. Theorem:There is an l ∈ E* and real numbers −∞=x ₀<x ₁<x ₂<…<x _n<x _n+1=∞with n≤m, such that for all g ∈ G,      

A near equitable 2-person cake cutting algorithm

Let the cake be represented by the unit interval of reals, with two players having possibly different valuations. We propose a finite algorithm that produces contiguous pieces for both players such that their values differ by at most ?, where ??>?0 is a given small number. Players are not required to reveal their complete value functions, they only have to announce the bisection points of a sequence of intervals. If both utility functions are everywhere positive then the algorithm converges to the unique equitable point.     

Asymptotic analysis of the growth of cake layers in filters

The problem of fluid flow in a two-dimensional pleated filteris considered. Of particular interest is the change in the flowdue to cake build-up on the surface of the filter material.The flow is taken to be Darcy flow in the cake and the filtermaterial, with Stokes' flow outside the cake. The particlesin the flow are taken to be transported with the flow and tostick to the cake without slippage or resuspension, and thecake is taken to be incompressible. The flow is considered invarious geometries, particularly long thin filters and corners.The main parameter in the problem is the ratio of the filter-materialresistance to the cake resistance, and limiting cases are considered.Travelling waves of cake build-up are found for arbitrary time-dependentvariations in the inflow conditions. The time taken for thefilter to become clogged by the cake is also considered.     

An epidemiology model suggested by yellow fever

In this work, we construct and analyze a nonlinear reaction–diffusion epidemiology model consisting of two integral‐differential equations and an ordinary differential equation, which is suggested by various insect borne diseases, for example, Yellow Fever. We begin by defining a nonlinear auxiliary problem and establishing the existence and uniqueness of its solution via a priori estimates and a fixed point argument, from which we prove the existence and uniqueness of the classical solution to the analytic problem. Next, we develop a finite‐difference method to approximate our model and perform some numerical experiments. We conclude with a brief discussion of some subsequent extensions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Utilitarianism,prioritarianism, and intergenerational equity: A cake eating model

We use a simple consumption model, the so-called cake eating model, to study the interaction of equity, time and risk in social decision making. Total consumption, the “cake”, is uncertain. The social planner allocates consumption between two agents (representing two generations), by assigning the first a determinate amount, with the second receiving the risky remainder. We study this consumption allocation decision using three social welfare functions: utilitarianism, ex ante prioritarianism, and ex post prioritarianism. Under standard assumptions, ex ante prioritarianism allocates more consumption to the first generation than utilitarianism. Thus, a concern for equity, in the ex ante prioritarian sense, means less concern for the risky future. By contrast, ex post prioritarianism normally chooses less consumption for the first generation than utilitarianism. We discuss the robustness of these optimal consumption allocations to learning and to more complicated social welfare functions.     

Efficiency by trust in fairness? multiperiod ultimatum bargaining experiments with an increasing cake

Previous ultimatum bargaining experiments have shown that bargainers face the conflict whether to exploit bargaining power or to comply with basic norms of distributive justice. In multiperiod ultimatum bargaining for an increasing cake, trust in fairness can enable cooperation and thus more efficient results but is also open to opportunistic exploitation. In such a game the two players take turns in being the one who suggests an agreement and decides whether this is the final proposal, whereas his partner can only accept this proposal or reject it. While the game theoretic solution implies an immediate agreement assigning nearly all the cake to the demanding player, efficiency requires to postpone the agreement to the last possible round. Our 2 × 2-factorial design varies the number of possible bargaining periods and the cake increase, allowing us to explore several hypotheses.     

奥运会举办城市与国际奥组委之间的双层优化模型

奥林匹克运动会已经成为世界上迄今为止最大规模、最受瞩目的体育盛会之一.虽然举办奥运会能为举办城市和国家带来许多积极的影响,但对于举办城市来说,办好奥运会却很不容易,它既需要耗费巨大的成本修建场馆、改善交通设施、提高环境质量等,又要尽可能避免奥运会之后的低谷现象、避免巨额亏损.另外,为了让比赛公平、有序的进行,国际奥林匹克委员会为奥运会中的比赛场地、设施以及交通条件等都制定了严格的标准,这就要求举办城市在力求减少成本的同时,所建的场馆设施等必须达到规定的标准.本文将首次建立以国际奥委会为上层,举办城市为下层的双层优化模型,通过求解模型,寻求既能让国际奥委会满意,又尽可能减少举办城市成本的建设方案.     

关于偶图的K—优美性

本文引进了图G(G_1,G_2,…,G_(|E(G)|))、G(G_1~(|E(G)|))的概念,此外,还引进了序优美图、可逆优美图、偶图的优美函数等概念,对于某些特殊的偶图,给出了利用小阶优美偶图构造大阶优美偶图的一种方法,由此证明了某些偶图是K-优美图。     

t-分布的近似表达式

本文给出 t-分布上侧分位数的近似表示式tα( n)≈ ( 4 n -1 ) 2-2 5 .5 n2 ln( 4α( 1 -α) ) -12 n- 0 .5　 ( n≥ 5 )该式简使 ,实用 ,不依赖其它分布的表达式 ,有一定的精确度且适用于袖珍计算器 .     

统计分析方法在交通数据检测中的应用

为了加强对车辆的监控,准确地采集数据,合理调节疏导流量,更好地规范交通管理,采集交通流量数据的设备必不可少,同时对于厂家生产的有关交通数据的检测仪器也要制定出一套科学,客观,有效的检测标准,以便确保交通管理的科学性和准确性.经常采集的交通数据包括车流量,车型大小,停车是否越线.本文依据仪器所采集到的数据,给出了对仪器的测量精度是否达到规定标准的统计分析方法.     

医院统计需求预测方法研究

本文从医院管理实际出发，研究和探索了时间顺序预测，因果预测和预报性预测这三种分别适用于短期，中期和长期的科学预测方法。它在我国医院管理中具有实际的指导意义。