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arXiv · 1203.1398

Majority and Plurality Problems

Dániel Gerbner·Gyula O. H. Katona·Dömötör Pálvölgyi·Balázs Patkós
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Abstract

Given a set of n balls each colored with a color, a ball is said to be majority, k-majority, plurality if its color class has size larger than half of the number of balls, has size at least k, has size larger than any other color class; respectively. We address the problem of finding the minimum number of queries (a comparison of a pair of balls if they have the same color or not) that is needed to decide whether a majority, k-majority or plurality ball exists and if so then show one such ball. We consider both adaptive and non-adaptive strategies and in certain cases, we also address weighted versions of the problems.

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Dániel Gerbner, Gyula O. H. Katona, Dömötör Pálvölgyi, Balázs Patkós. 2012-03-07. Majority and Plurality Problems. https://arxiv.org/abs/1203.1398

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