Statistical mechanics of non-cooperative games on networks

by Luca Dall'Asta (Politecnico di Torino)

Tuesday 10 May 2011, 14:30 → 16:00 Europe/Rome

Aula Conversi (Dipartimento di Fisica - Ed. G. Marconi)

The framework of non-cooperative game theory has been recently extended from simple two-players and N-players setups to the study of the strategic behavior of players arranged on networked structures. Here, the existence of a large number of (possibly very different) Nash equilibria makes standard game theoretic analysis cumbersome and quantitatively less effective. On the other hand, it opens to the application of advanced theoretical and algorithmic techniques typical of the physics of disordered systems and combinatorial optimization. I will introduce the general ideas and methods by means of the prototypical example of local public goods provision on networks. In particular, I will discuss the spatial organization of Nash equilibria, and the problem of equilibrium selection. Then I will focus on the more complex setup of repeated contribution games, and I will discuss the conditions for the emergence of strategic forms of collaboration on networks.