Numerical Analysis and Computation Commons^™

A Two-Light Version Of The Classical Hundred Prisoners And A Light Bulb Problem: Optimizing Experimental Design Through Simulations, Alexander S. Barrett, Cyril Rakovski

e-Research: A Journal of Undergraduate Work

We propose five original strategies of successively increasing complexity and efficiency that address a novel version of a classical mathematical problem that, in essence, focuses on the determination of an optimal protocol for exchanging limited amounts of information among a group of subjects with various prerogatives. The inherent intricacy of the problem�solving protocols eliminates the possibility to attain an analytical solution. Therefore, we implemented a large-scale simulation study to exhaustively search through an extensive list of competing algorithms associated with the above-mentioned 5 generally defined protocols. Our results show that the consecutive improvements in the average amount of time necessary …