MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD

3:30-4:30 MWF

SUBMITTED BY:

Del Rosario, Camille

Garay, Carolyne
Vital, Cindy Nicole

BSChE 1-2

DATE SUBMITTED:

December 6, 2019
GAME DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVE:

The Shannon switching game is a combinatorial game invented by Claude Shannon and its
solution found in 1964 by Alfred Lehman. This has been classified in a set of games called
Maker-Breaker games, which are games where the goal of one player is to create a specific
subgraph and the goal of the other player is to prevent this from happening.

RELATION TO GRAPH THEORY:

Graph theory, branch of mathematics concerned with networks of points connected by lines, had
its beginnings in recreational math problems. An example is the Shannon switching game. It has
been previously studied by many mathematicians for its relationship to graph theory. The game
is played on a rectangular grid made from vertices and edges. It is a complete graph because
each vertex is connected by an edge to every other vertex, making a path from point A to point
B..

Degree is a number associated with each vertex, defined as the number of edges that enter or exit
from it. For this case, the vertices of the complete graph shown are all of degree 3. This is
important because knowing the number of vertices in a complete graph characterizes its essential
nature. For this reason, complete graphs are commonly designated Kn, where n refers to the
number of vertices, and all vertices of Kn have degree n − 1.

PLAYERS:

The game involves two players that we call the cop and the robber.

RULES AND MECHANICS OF THE GAME:

The two players alternate turns and either player may begin the game.
The robber marks his edge/ path with red while the cop removes any edge as long as the robber
has not previously claimed.
The game ends once the robber has marked a complete path from the starting point to the ending
point and therefore escapes or the cop successfully blocks all paths between the starting and
ending points.
EXAMPLE:

(a) The original graph we are playing on.

(b) The cop has the first turn and chooses to delete the edge between vertices u and v. This move
is necessary for the cop to make in order to prevent the robber from winning.
(c) The robber now plays second and chooses to mark the edge between vertices u and w.
(d) The cop now continues on his turn and chooses to delete the edge between vertices w and v.
The cop is forced to delete this edge as otherwise the robber can win on his next turn.
(e) The robber now proceeds and chooses to mark the edge between vertices x and v.
(f) The cop is again forced to delete the edge between vertices u and x to prevent the robber
from winning.
(g) The robber now makes the final turn of the game and marks the edge between vertices w and
x. Now that the robber has successfully marked a path from vertex u to vertex v, he has won the
game.

TYPES OF SHANNON SWITCHING GAMES:

On certain graphs, the robber will always be able to make an escape regardless of who plays
first. This is called a positive game. The Disjoint Spanning Tree Theorem states that “A game is
positive if and only if there is a subgraph containing vertices u and v that has two disjoint
spanning trees.” To define, a spanning tree in a graph is a selection of edges where there are no
cycles and the edges are all connected. We say two spanning trees are disjoint when they share
no common edges. Thus, there is an algorithm that guarantees the robber a successful escape in a
positive game.

On other graphs, the cop will always be able to prevent the robber from escaping regardless of
who plays first. A graph such as this where the cop wins regardless of who plays first is called a
negative game. There is a way in this graph for the cop to delete any of the edges and disconnect
the starting point and ending point. Therefore the robber cannot escape. If the cop plays first, he
will immediately disconnect the graph thus making this a negative game.

On some graphs, the winner of the game is determined by who plays first. A graph such as this
where either the cop or the robber wins contingently is called a neutral game.

EQUIPMENT:

 Corkboard with 8 by 6 grid:

 Thumbtack push pin per vertex
 Blue rubber band per edge that connects two vertices
 Red rubber bands (for robber’s moves)

REFERENCES:

Carlson, S. C. (2017). Graph theory. Retrieved December 4, 2019 from

https://www.britannica.com/topic/graph-theory

Weisstein, E. Simple Graph. Retrieved From http://mathworld.wolfram.com/SimpleGraph.html

Wood, K. (2012). Switching the Shannon Switching Game [PDF File]. Retrieved from
http://faculty.bard.edu/belk/projects/KimberlyWood.pdf
RULES AND MECHANICS OF THE GAME

Pick your characters.

 PLAYER 1: ROBBER
 PLAYER 2: COP

The two players alternate turns and either player may begin the game.

The robber marks his edge/ path with red rubber band while the cop
removes any edge of blue rubber band as long as the robber has not
previously claimed.

The robber WINS once the robber has marked a complete path from the
starting point to the ending point and therefore escapes.

The cop WINS when the cop successfully blocks all paths between the
starting and ending points.

MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD (3:30-4:30 MWF, A.Y. 19-20 1st Semester)
Del Rosario, Camille; Garay, Carolyne; Vital, Cindy Nicole
BSChE 1-2