Walk versus Wait: The Lazy Mathematician Wins

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dc.creatorChen, Justin G.
dc.creatorKominers, Scott D.
dc.creatorSinnott, Robert W.
dc.date2008-01-01
dc.date2008-01-27
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T08:56:17Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T08:56:17Z
dc.descriptionIn this recreational mathematics note, we address a simple, yet instructive question: Justin has to travel a distance of d miles along a bus route. Along this route, there are n bus stops i, each spaced at a distance of d_i from the starting point. At each bus stop, Justin is faced with a choice: to walk or to wait. If he walks on, he can still catch a bus at the next bus stop--but if a bus passes him while he walks, he is almost assured a longer wait. We model Justin's decision constraint and completely solve the model in a special case. The answer is intuitive: the optimal strategy is the laziest.
dc.description3 pages
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/0801.0297
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/0801.0297
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/146556
dc.subjectHistory and Overview
dc.subject00A08, 97A20
dc.titleWalk versus Wait: The Lazy Mathematician Wins
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