Registry Synced

Nash Equilibrium: Existence Proof

110 words
1 min read

Reading compass

Now · Nash's Theorem

Nash Equilibrium: Existence Proof

Nash's Theorem

Theorem (Nash, 1950): Every finite game has at least one Nash equilibrium (possibly in mixed strategies). Proof sketch (using Kakutani fixed-point theorem): Define a correspondence ϕ:Σ→Σ\phi: \Sigma \to \Sigma where Σ\Sigma is the set of mixed strategy profiles, and ϕ(σ)\phi(\sigma) is the set of profiles where each player best-responds to σ−i\sigma_{-i}. By Kakutani's theorem, ϕ\phi has a fixed point σ∗∈ϕ(σ∗)\sigma^* \in \phi(\sigma^*), which is a Nash equilibrium.

Computing Nash Equilibria

For 2×2 games: Solve indifference conditions as we did in Week 3. For larger games: Lemke-Howson algorithm (complementary pivoting). General case: Linear complementarity problem (LCP). Join Discord PreviousNash EquilibriumNextMixed Strategy Equilibrium
Document outline

Keep your place and jump directly to a heading.

Table of contents

No note selected

Open a chapter to see its outline, backlinks, and sources here.