Ramsey Achievement Games on Graphs : Algorithms and Bounds

Abstract

In 1982, Harary introduced the concept of Ramsey achievement game on graphs. Given a graph $F$ with no isolated vertices. Consider the following game played on the complete graph $K_n$ by two players Alice and Bob. First, Alice colors one of the edges of $K_n$ blue, then Bob colors a different edge red, and so on. The first player who can complete the formation of $F$ in his color is the winner. The minimum $n$ for which Alice has a winning strategy is the achievement number of $F$, denoted by $a(F)$. If we replace $K_n$ in the game by the completed bipartite graph $K_{n,n}$, we get the bipartite achievement number, denoted by $\operatorname{ba}(F)$. In his seminal paper, Harary proposed an open problem of determining bipartite achievement numbers for trees. In this paper, we correct $\operatorname{ba}(mK_2)=m+1$ to $m$ and disprove $\operatorname{ba}(K_{1,m})=2m-2$ from Erickson and Harary, and extend their results on bipartite achievement numbers. We also find the exact values of achievement numbers for matchings, and the exact values or upper and lower bounds of bipartite achievement numbers on matchings, stars, and double stars. Our upper bounds are obtained by deriving efficient winning strategies for Alice.