The majority strategy on graphs (Q1377621): Difference between revisions

An interval \(I(u,v)\) in a graph \(G\), where \(u\), \(v\) are vertices, is the set of all vertices \(w\) of \(G\) for which the equality \(d(u, w)+ d(w,v)= d(u,v)\) holds, where \(d\) denotes the distance. If for any three vertices \(u\), \(v\), \(w\) of \(G\) the intersection \(I(u,v)\cap I(v, w)\cap I(w,u)\) consists of one vertex only, then \(G\) is called a median graph. A profile of length \(p\) on a graph \(G\) is a finite sequence \(v_1,v_2,\dots, v_p\) of vertices of \(G\); its median is a vertex \(x\) of \(G\) for which \(\sum^p_{i=1} d(x, v_i)\) is minimal. The set of all medians of a profile \(\pi\) is the median set \(M(\pi)\). In the paper a strategy for finding \(M(\pi)\) for a given profile \(\pi\) is described; it is called the majority strategy. It begins in a vertex of \(G\) and consists of certain successive moves from one vertex to another along an edge. It is proved that the majority strategy produces the median set \(M(\pi)\) for each profile \(\pi\) of \(G\), independently of the initial position, if and only if \(G\) is a median graph.