Computational Studies on Detecting a Diffusing Target in a Square Region by a Stationary or Moving Searcher

Hongyun Wang¹, Hong Zhou²

¹Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Baskin School of Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA.
²Department of Applied Mathematics, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/ajor.2015.52005                

Abstract

In this paper, we compute the non-detection probability of a randomly moving target by a stationary or moving searcher in a square search region. We find that when the searcher is stationary, the decay rate of the non-detection probability achieves the maximum value when the searcher is fixed at the center of the square search region; when both the searcher and the target diffuse with significant diffusion coefficients, the decay rate of the non-detection probability only depends on the sum of the diffusion coefficients of the target and searcher. When the searcher moves along prescribed deterministic tracks, our study shows that the fastest decay of the non-detection probability is achieved when the searcher scans horizontally and vertically.

Keywords

Diffusing Target, Non-Detection Probability, Search Theory, Optimal Search Path

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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