Optimal Stopping in a Discrete Search Problem

Milton C. Chew
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Milton C. Chew: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York

Operations Research, 1973, vol. 21, issue 3, 741-747

Abstract: In a search among m locations for an object possibly hidden in one, we are given prior probabilities of location p i , searching costs c i , and overlook probabilities α i . It is known also that an “unsearchable” location contains the object with prior probability p 0 , and, in addition, a penalty cost C is charged if the search is terminated unsuccessfully. Although an optimal search strategy for the problem is known, the best stopping rule is not. Under a certain constraint on C , independent of the prior probabilities p i , the optimal stopping rule is shown to be determined by the optimal m -stage look-ahead strategy.

Date: 1973
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