Chased by a lion and other pursuit-evasion problems

Question

I am looking for a reference (book or article) that poses a problem that seems to be a classic, in that I've heard it posed many times, but that I've never seen written anywhere: that of the possibility of a man in a circular pen with a lion, each with some maximum speed, avoiding capture by that lion.

References to pursuit problems in general would also be appreciated, and the original source of this problem.

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e.g., http://xkcd.com/135/ ? – Isaac Jul 27 '10 at 09:41

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 20 '10 at 20:38

7

Since you're asking for a reference, perhaps this will do?

Wolfram Mathworld says the problem was listed by Rado in 1925. The reference is on the problem description page, here.

answered Jul 20 '10 at 20:38

Jan Gorzny

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score 6 · Answer 2 · edited Jul 31 '20 at 18:12

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Here is a book on this type of problem

Paul J. Nahin, Chases and escapes: the mathematics of pursuit and evasion, Princeton University Press, 2007.

it is also briefly mentioned in his other book "Euler's Fabulous Formula".

edited Jul 31 '20 at 18:12

Rodrigo de Azevedo

23,223

answered Jul 20 '10 at 21:06

BBischof

5,967

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The book is Chases and escapes: the mathematics of pursuit and evasion by Paul J. Nahin. Google Books Preview – ShreevatsaR Oct 14 '10 at 08:37
@RodrigodeAzevedo Done – BBischof Jul 31 '20 at 18:11

score 5 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 14 '10 at 08:01

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The book is Coffee in Memphis by Bollobas. It's the first problem, and there are loads more :

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Mathematics-Coffee-Time-Memphis/dp/0521693950

answered Oct 14 '10 at 08:01

Aidan

151

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http://arxiv.org/abs/0909.2524 – Angela Pretorius Jan 05 '12 at 09:34

Chased by a lion and other pursuit-evasion problems

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