Search for an Avoiding Target
James M. Dobbie · SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics · 1975
An evader attempts to avoid detection by moving away from the vicinity of the searcher when he becomes aware of the presence of the searcher. It is assumed that the evader’s rates of transition to other regions are proportional to the searcher’s rate of search in the region in which the evader is located. The distribution of effort that maximizes the probability of detection in a given time is found for the two-cell problem. The corresponding problem for n cells is formulated, and a method is derived for finding the complete set of extremals.