Transfinite NIM (the game, not the programming language)

#1

Post by ColinWright » Thu, Feb 06, 2025, 3:48 PM UTC

Transfinite NIM (the game, not the programming language)
jdh.hamkins.org

Re: Transfinite NIM (the game, not the programming language)

#2

Post by hugs » Thu, Feb 06, 2025, 4:15 PM UTC

dang wrote: post #21

[stub for offtopicness]

Saving a few clicks, this is about the math game called Nim, not the programming language called Nim. (Also, today I learned there's a math game called Nim.)

Re: Transfinite NIM (the game, not the programming language)

#3

Post by seanw444 » Thu, Feb 06, 2025, 4:33 PM UTC

hugs wrote: post #2

dang wrote: post #21

[stub for offtopicness]

Saving a few clicks, this is about the math game called Nim, not the programming language called Nim. (Also, today I learned there's a math game called Nim.)

Dang. Was happy for a moment to see Nim on the front page.

Re: Transfinite NIM (the game, not the programming language)

#4

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Feb 06, 2025, 4:38 PM UTC

hugs wrote: post #2

dang wrote: post #21

[stub for offtopicness]

Saving a few clicks, this is about the math game called Nim, not the programming language called Nim. (Also, today I learned there's a math game called Nim.)

[deleted]

Re: Transfinite NIM (the game, not the programming language)

#5

Post by lblume » Thu, Feb 06, 2025, 4:41 PM UTC

Nim is, in fact, a proper subset of Hackenbush, a game extensively studied by Conway. I found the following video extremely useful and well-visualized: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYj4NkeGPdM

Re: Transfinite NIM (the game, not the programming language)

#6

Post by ykonstant » Thu, Feb 06, 2025, 4:43 PM UTC

The author's previous post on winning strategies for regular Nim may be more interesting to people here: https://jdh.hamkins.org/win-at-nim-the-secret-mathematical-s...

Re: Transfinite NIM (the game, not the programming language)

#7

Post by hugs » Thu, Feb 06, 2025, 4:45 PM UTC

seanw444 wrote: post #3

hugs wrote: post #2

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Saving a few clicks, this is about the math game called Nim, not the programming language called Nim. (Also, today I learned there's a math game called Nim.)

Dang. Was happy for a moment to see Nim on the front page.

Same! Quick, go find some Nim language related news and submit it!

Re: Transfinite NIM (the game, not the programming language)

#8

Post by 998244353 » Thu, Feb 06, 2025, 4:58 PM UTC

Here's another (seemingly finite) problem being analyzed with the same "Nim but with ordinal numbers" approach: https://codeforces.com/blog/entry/85984

Re: Transfinite NIM (the game, not the programming language)

#9

Post by rubenvanwyk » Thu, Feb 06, 2025, 5:19 PM UTC

dang wrote: post #21

[stub for offtopicness]

Came here and thought this going to be about the Nim programming language.

Re: Transfinite NIM (the game, not the programming language)

#10

Post by ColinWright » Thu, Feb 06, 2025, 5:29 PM UTC

rubenvanwyk wrote: post #9

dang wrote: post #21

[stub for offtopicness]

Came here and thought this going to be about the Nim programming language.

OK, I've edited the title to make it clearer that this is about the mathematical game and not the programming language.