An optimal hostage rescue problem
This paper proposes the following mathematical models for an optimal rescue problem concerning hostages. Suppose that persons are taken hostage at a given point in time. A decision to attempt either rescue or no rescue has to be made. In the paper we mainly consider two different objectives: Minimization of the expected number of hostages being killed and maximization of the probability of no hostage being killed. Several properties of an optimal rescuing rule are revealed.
hostage rescue dynamic programming stochastic processes