We consider a Bradley-Terry model in random environment where each player faces each other once. More precisely the strengths of the players are assumed to be random and we study the influence of their distributions on the asymptotic number of potential winners. First we prove that under mild assumptions, mainly on their moments, if the strengths are unbounded, the asymptotic probability that the best player wins is 1. We also exhibit a sufficient convexity condition to obtain the same result when the strengths are bounded. When this last condition fails, the number of potential winners grows at a rate depending on the tail of the distribution of strengths. We also study the minimal strength required for an additional player to win in this last case.
Chetrite studied in REF the number of potential winners in competitions considering how their abilities is distributed.
The number of potential winners in Bradley-Terry model in random environment
arXiv: Probability
Mathematics