Let v, w be infinite 0-1 sequences, and m a positive integer. We say that w is m-embeddable in v, if there exists an increasing sequence n_{i} of integers with n_{0}=0, such that 0< n_{i} - n_{i-1} < m, w(i) = v(n_i) for all i > 0. Let X and Y be ind
ependent coin-tossing sequences. We will show that there is an m with the property that Y is m-embeddable into X with positive probability. This answers a question that was open for a while. The proof generalizes somewhat the hierarchical method of an earlier paper of the author on dependent percolation.
The angel-devil game is played on an infinite two-dimensional ``chessboard. The squares of the board are all white at the beginning. The players called angel and devil take turns in their steps. When it is the devils turn, he can turn a square black.
The angel always stays on a white square, and when it is her turn she can fly at a distance of at most J steps (each of which can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal) to a new white square. Here J is a constant. The devil wins if the angel does not find any more white squares to land on. The result of the paper is that if J is sufficiently large then the angel has a strategy such that the devil will never capture her. This deceptively easy-sounding result has been a conjecture, surprisingly, for about thirty years. Several other independent solutions have appeared simultaneously, some of them prove that J=2 is sufficient (see the Wikipedia on the angel problem). Still, it is hoped that the hierarchical solution presented here may prove useful for some generalizations.
