Robertson–Webb query model
In computer science, the Robertson–Webb (RW) query model is a model of computation used by algorithms for the problem of fair cake-cutting. In this problem, there is a resource called a "cake", and several agents with different value measures on the cake. The goal is to divide the cake among the agents such that each agent will consider his/her piece as "fair" by his/her personal value measure. Since the agents' valuations can be very complex, they cannot - in general - be given as inputs to a fair division algorithm. The RW model specifies two kinds of queries that a fair division algorithm may ask the agents: Eval and Cut. Informally, an Eval query asks an agent to specify his/her value to a given piece of the cake, and a Cut query (also called a Mark query) asks an agent to specify a piece of cake with a given value.
The Eval and Cut queries were first formalized in the book of Jack M. Robertson and William A. Webb.[1] The name "Robertson–Webb model" was coined by Woeginger and Sgall.[2]
References
- ^ Robertson, Jack; Webb, William (1998). Cake-Cutting Algorithms: Be Fair If You Can. Natick, Massachusetts: A. K. Peters. ISBN 978-1-56881-076-8. LCCN 97041258. OL 2730675W.
- ^ Gerhard J. Woeginger and Jiri Sgall (2007). "On the complexity of cake cutting". Discrete Optimization. 4 (2): 213–220. doi:10.1016/j.disopt.2006.07.003.