A TOURNAMENT PROBLEM,
Abstract
An improved solution is presented for the problem of finding the smallest number of direct pairwise comparisons which will always suffice to rank n objects according to some transitive characteristic. In his book, Mathematical Snapshots, Steinhaus discusses the problem of ranking n objects according to some transitive characteristic, by means of successive pairwise comparisons. In this paper, the terminology was adopted of a tennis tournament by n players. The problem may be briefly stated: 'What is the smallest number of matches which will always suffice to rank all n players.'
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 09, 1958
- Accession Number
- AD0606591
Entities
People
- Lester R. Ford Jr.
- Selmer M. Johnson
Organizations
- RAND Corporation