Reversible peg solitaire on graphs

Abstract

The game of peg solitaire on graphs was introduced by Beeler and Hoilman in 2011. In this game, pegs are initially placed on all but one vertex of a graph $G$. If $xyz$ forms a path in $G$ and there are pegs on vertices $x$ and $y$ but not $z$, then a {\em jump} places a peg on $z$ and removes the pegs from $x$ and $y$. A graph is called solvable if, for some configuration of pegs occupying all but one vertex, some sequence of jumps leaves a single peg. We study the game of {\em reversible peg solitaire}, where there are again initially pegs on all but one vertex, but now both jumps and unjumps (the reversal of a jump) are allowed. We show that in this game all non-star graphs that contain a vertex of degree at least three are solvable, that cycles and paths on $n$ vertices, where $n$ is divisible by $2$ or $3$, are solvable, and that all other graphs are not solvable. We also classify the possible starting hole and ending peg positions for solvable graphs.

9 pages, 4 figures. This version includes a title change, minor edits based on referee comments, and a classification of starting hole and ending peg locations. To appear in Discrete Math