Graduate Student / Postdoc Seminar

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Insights into Game Theory: An Alternative Mathematical Experience

Speaker: Ein-Ya Gura

Location: Warren Weaver Hall 1302

Date: Friday, April 29, 2016, 1 p.m.

Synopsis:

Few branches of mathematics have been more influential in the social sciences than game theory. In recent years, it has become an essential tool for social scientists studying strategic behavior of competing individuals, firms, and countries. However, the mathematical complexity of game theory is often very intimidating for students who have only a basic understanding of mathematics. Insights into Game Theory addresses this problem by providing students with an understanding of the key concepts and ideas of game theory without using formal mathematical notation. We use four very different topics (college admissions, social justice and majority of voting, coalitions and cooperative games, and a bankruptcy problem from the Talmud) to investigate four areas of game theory. The book was written with the late Michael Maschler and was published by Cambridge University Press in 2008.