Whether in the 1D or 2D grid case (or for that matter in nD), one way to give this problem well-defined probabilities (that I think is in some sense the most natural way) is to first give each pair of adjacent hands an independent probability of ½ as to whether they or not they hold each other -- and then restrict attention to only those outcomes satisfying the conditions of the problem: That each person holds at most one hand. I'm not sure if this agrees with the probabilities in one of Andy's two methods. The problem becomes more symmetrical if the 1D case is a circle instead of a line (and in nD a K^n grid on an n-dimensional torus) -- but this won't affect the asymptotic expected fraction of singles. --Dan On 2012-11-28, at 6:49 AM, Andy Latto wrote:
On Wed, Nov 28, 2012 at 12:17 AM, Gary Antonick <gantonick@post.harvard.edu> wrote:
Cornell mathematician Steven Strogatz thinks this is an unsolved problem but am wondering if there's something being overlooked.
Here's the basic -- and solved -- problem. There's a long line of people standing near each other. They're told to hold hands with someone - either the person to their right or to their left, if available, but not both. The ratio of the resulting singles to all the people in line approaches 1/e^2 as the line increases.
This seems not quite precisely defined. . . . . . . . . .