We study a randomized algorithm for graph domination, by which, according to a uniformly chosen permutation, vertices are revealed and added to the dominating set if not already dominated. We determine the expected size of the dominating set produced by the algorithm for the path graph $P_n$ and use this to derive the expected size for some related families of graphs. We then provide a much-refined analysis of the worst and best cases of this algorithm on $P_n$ and enumerate the permutations for which the algorithm has the worst-possible performance and best-possible performance. The case of dominating the path graph has connections to previous work of Bouwer and Star, and of Gessel on greedily coloring the path. Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure
Discrete Mathematics & Theoretical Computer Science