The Connection between the PQ Penny Flip Game and the Dihedral Groups

Theodore Andronikos and Alla Sirokofskich
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Theodore Andronikos: Department of Informatics, Ionian University, 7 Tsirigoti Square, 49100 Corfu, Greece
Alla Sirokofskich: Department of History and Philosophy of Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15771 Athens, Greece

Mathematics, 2021, vol. 9, issue 10, 1-35

Abstract: This paper is inspired by the PQ penny flip game. It employs group-theoretic concepts to study the original game and its possible extensions. In this paper, it is shown that the PQ penny flip game can be associated, in a precise way, with the dihedral group D 8 and that within D 8 there exist precisely two classes of equivalent winning strategies for Q. This is achieved by proving that there are exactly two different sequences of states that can guarantee Q’s win with probability 1.0 . It is demonstrated that the game can be played in every dihedral group D 8 n , where n ? 1 , without any significant change. A formal examination of what happens when Q can draw their moves from the entire U ( 2 ) , leads to the conclusion that, again, there are exactly two classes of winning strategies for Q, each class containing an infinite number of equivalent strategies, but all of them sending the coin through the same sequence of states as before. Finally, when general extensions of the game, with the quantum player having U ( 2 ) at their disposal, are considered, a necessary and sufficient condition for Q to surely win against Picard is established: Q must make both the first and the last move in the game.

Keywords: quantum games; classical games; sequential quantum games; groups of actions; winning strategies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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