Description
Stochastic games have an element of chance: the state of the next round is determined probabilistically depending upon players' actions and the current state. Successful players need to balance the need for short-term payoffs while ensuring future opportunities remain high. The various techniques needed to analyze these often highly non-trivial games are a showcase of attractive mathematics, including methods from probability, differential equations, algebra, and combinatorics. This book presents a course on the theory of stochastic games going from the basics through to topics of modern research, focusing on conceptual clarity over complete generality. Each of its chapters introduces a new mathematical tool - including contracting mappings, semi-algebraic sets, infinite orbits, and Ramsey's theorem, among others - before discussing the game-theoretic results they can be used to obtain. The author assumes no more than a basic undergraduate curriculum and illustrates the theory with numerous examples and exercises, with solutions available online.
This book for beginning graduate students presents a course on stochastic games and the mathematical methods used in their analysis.
About the Author
Eilon Solan is the Nathan and Lily Silver Chair in Stochastic Models in the School of Mathematical Sciences at Tel Aviv University. He has more than 20 years' experience of teaching and research in stochastic games and he co-authored the undergraduate textbook Game Theory (Cambridge, second edition 2020). Professor Solan is also Founder and Director of the Good to Know project, which aims to make important ideas in science accessible to children and adolescents.
Reviews
'The book presents a course on the theory of stochastic games. It is self-contained and accessible at an undergraduate level. Instead of seeking the most general results and the broadest spectrum of knowledge in the field, the author prefers firstly to focus with great care on the most central aspects of the theory and then analyses more specifically some particular classes of stochastic games.' Catherine Rainer, zbMATH
Book Information
ISBN 9781316516331
Author Eilon Solan
Format Hardback
Page Count 275
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 570g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 158mm * 20mm
This book for beginning graduate students presents a course on stochastic games and the mathematical methods used in their analysis.
About the Author
Eilon Solan is the Nathan and Lily Silver Chair in Stochastic Models in the School of Mathematical Sciences at Tel Aviv University. He has more than 20 years' experience of teaching and research in stochastic games and he co-authored the undergraduate textbook Game Theory (Cambridge, second edition 2020). Professor Solan is also Founder and Director of the Good to Know project, which aims to make important ideas in science accessible to children and adolescents.
Reviews
'The book presents a course on the theory of stochastic games. It is self-contained and accessible at an undergraduate level. Instead of seeking the most general results and the broadest spectrum of knowledge in the field, the author prefers firstly to focus with great care on the most central aspects of the theory and then analyses more specifically some particular classes of stochastic games.' Catherine Rainer, zbMATH
Book Information
ISBN 9781316516331
Author Eilon Solan
Format Hardback
Page Count 275
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 570g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 158mm * 20mm
