One Hundred Prisoners and a Light Bulb

Hans van Ditmarsch () and Barteld Kooi ()
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Hans van Ditmarsch: Université de Lorraine, LORIA, CNRS
Barteld Kooi: University of Groningen, Faculty of Philosophy

Chapter 9 in One Hundred Prisoners and a Light Bulb, 2015, pp 83-94 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract A group of 100 prisoners, all together in the prison dining area, are told that they will be all put in isolation cells and then will be interrogated one by one in a room containing a light with an on/off switch. The prisoners may communicate with one another by toggling the light switch (and that is the only way in which they can communicate). The light is initially switched off. There is no fixed order of interrogation, or interval between interrogations, and the same prisoner may be interrogated again at any stage. When interrogated, a prisoner can either do nothing, or toggle the light switch, or announce that all prisoners have been interrogated. If that announcement is true, the prisoners will (all) be set free, but if it is false, they will all be executed. While still in the dining room, and before the prisoners go to their isolation cells (forever), can the prisoners agree on a protocol that will set them free?

Keywords: Isolation Cell; Mathematical Intelligencer; Light Bulb; Dine Room; Light Switch (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-319-16694-0_9

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-16694-0_9

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