Knowledge

Tiny and miny

Source 📝

57:
that left can end the game immediately, or on the second move, but right can reach position G if allowed to move twice in a row. This is generally applied when the value of G is positive (representing an advantage to right); tiny G is better than nothing for right, but far less advantageous. Symmetrically, miny G (analogously denoted ⧿
56:
in many texts) is the game {0|{0|-G}}, using the bracket notation for combinatorial games in which the left side of the vertical bar lists the game positions that the left player may move to, and the right side of the bar lists the positions that the right player can move to. In this case, this means
66:
Tiny and miny aren't just abstract mathematical operators on combinatorial games: tiny and miny games do occur "naturally" in such games as toppling dominoes. Specifically, tiny
178: 111:
yields {0|{{0|{{0|{0|-G}}|0}}|0}}. While the expression appears daunting, some careful and persistent expansion of the game tree of ⧾⧾⧾
196: 155: 39:
that transform one game into another. When applied to a number (represented as a game according to the mathematics of
20: 36: 24: 169: 124: 151: 143: 82: 165: 133:= G." Conway's assertion is also easily verifiable with canonical forms and game trees. 173: 108: 40: 190: 44: 23:, a branch of mathematics studying two-player games of perfect information in 74:
is a natural number, can be generated by placing two black dominoes outside
117:+ ↓ will show that it is a second player win, and that, consequently, ⧾⧾⧾ 85:
have certain curious relational characteristics. Specifically, though ⧾
127:
noted, calling it "amusing," that "↑ is the unique solution of ⧾
91:
is infinitesimal with respect to ↑ for all positive values of
148:
Lessons in Play: An Introduction to Combinatorial Game Theory
146:; Nowakowski, Richard J.; Wolfe, David (2007). 50:For any game or number G, tiny G (denoted by ⧾ 8: 179:Winning Ways for Your Mathematical Plays 123:= ↑. Similarly curious, mathematician 63:) is tiny G's negative, or {{G|0}|0}. 16:Operators in combinatorial game theory 7: 14: 101:is equal to up. Expansion of ⧾⧾⧾ 78: + 2 white dominoes. 1: 213: 197:Combinatorial game theory 21:combinatorial game theory 166:Berlekamp, Elwyn R. 150:. A K Peters, Ltd. 182:. A K Peters, Ltd. 144:Albert, Michael H. 125:John Horton Conway 204: 183: 161: 212: 211: 207: 206: 205: 203: 202: 201: 187: 186: 174:Guy, Richard K. 170:Conway, John H. 164: 158: 142: 139: 132: 122: 116: 106: 100: 90: 81:Tiny games and 62: 55: 41:surreal numbers 17: 12: 11: 5: 210: 208: 200: 199: 189: 188: 185: 184: 162: 156: 138: 135: 128: 118: 112: 109:canonical form 102: 96: 86: 58: 51: 25:extensive form 15: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 209: 198: 195: 194: 192: 181: 180: 175: 171: 167: 163: 159: 157:1-56881-277-9 153: 149: 145: 141: 140: 136: 134: 131: 126: 121: 115: 110: 105: 99: 94: 89: 84: 79: 77: 73: 69: 64: 61: 54: 48: 46: 45:infinitesimal 43:) they yield 42: 38: 34: 30: 26: 22: 177: 147: 129: 119: 113: 103: 97: 92: 87: 80: 75: 71: 67: 65: 59: 52: 49: 32: 28: 18: 137:References 107:into its 37:operators 191:Category 176:(2003). 70:, where 47:values. 154:  95:, ⧾⧾⧾ 152:ISBN 35:are 33:miny 31:and 29:tiny 19:In 193:: 172:; 168:; 83:up 27:, 160:. 130:G 120:G 114:G 104:G 98:G 93:x 88:G 76:n 72:n 68:n 60:G 53:G

Index

combinatorial game theory
extensive form
operators
surreal numbers
infinitesimal
up
canonical form
John Horton Conway
Albert, Michael H.
ISBN
1-56881-277-9
Berlekamp, Elwyn R.
Conway, John H.
Guy, Richard K.
Winning Ways for Your Mathematical Plays
Category
Combinatorial game theory

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.