6.972 Game Theory and Mechanism Design, Spring 2005

Abstract

This course is offered to graduates and is an introduction to fundamentals of game theory and mechanism design with motivations drawn from various applications including distributed control of wireline and wireless communication networks, incentive-compatible/dynamic resource allocation, and pricing. Emphasis is placed on the foundations of the theory, mathematical tools, as well as modeling and the equilibrium notions in different environments. Topics covered include: normal form games, learning in games, supermodular games, potential games, dynamic games, subgame perfect equilibrium, bargaining, repeated games, auctions, mechanism design, cooperative game theory, network and congestion games, and price of anarchy.