Computational Issues in Game Theory

The goal of this course is to provide a brief overview of some of the main concepts in game theory, as well as to study them from the computational perspective. The course wil consist of three 2-hour lectures, which are largely independent from each other.

Lecture 1: Matrix games.

March 3, 16:00-18:00, room 3077
Solution concepts: dominant strategies, elimination of dominated strategies, Nash equilibria. Computational complexity of these solution concepts. Games with large numbers of players: graphical games, symmetric games, congestion games.
Powerpoint slides

Lecture 2: Auctions.

March 5, 14:00-16:00, room 3077
Classical auction formats: English auction, Dutch auction, first and second price auctions. Strategic bidding and revenue equivalence. Revelation principle. Optimal auctions. Combinatorial auctions: communication complexity, hardness results, algorithms for special types of valuations. Procurement auctions.
Powerpoint slides

Lecture 3: Other topics.

March 10, 16:00-18:00, room 3077
Network flow games and the price of anarchy. Voting and voting manipulation. Coalitional games: core, Shapley value, coalition structures.
Powerpoint slides

Last modified: March 11, 2008