Definition:Hound and Hare Problem

Definition

A hound and hare problem concerns two parties: one is in pursuit of another.

The usual case is that the pursuer travels faster than the pursued.

The problem is usually to find out how long (either in time or distance) it will take for the pursuer to catch up with the pursued.

Also see

• Results about hound and hare problems can be found here.

Historical Note

Hound and hare problem appear in quite complicated versions in the Chiu Chang Suann Jing, from far back as $150$ BCE.

By the time of Alcuin of York, such problems occur in the Indian and Arabian literature, often using a messenger as the pursuer.

Sources

• 1992: John Hadley/2 and David Singmaster: Problems to Sharpen the Young (Math. Gazette Vol. 76, no. 475: pp. 102 – 126)  www.jstor.org/stable/3620384