on the structure of weakly acyclic games · introduction2-player games n-player gamesmore ss...
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![Page 1: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games
Alex Fabrikant(Princeton CS→ Google Research)
Aaron D. Jaggard(DIMACS, Rutgers→ Colgate University)
Michael Schapira(Yale CS & Berkeley CS→ Princeton CS)
![Page 2: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Best- and better-response dynamics
Consider the best-response (or better-response) dynamicsof a normal-form game:
1, 1
2,−2
−2, 2
3, 0
−2, 2
2,−2
2, 1
0, 1
0, 0
Pure NE = no outbound edges
![Page 3: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Convergence to pure Nash
Existence of pure Nash is good, but will the gameconverge to one?Some kinds of games always converge to pure Nash:
congestion/potential games [Rosenthal’73;Monderer&Shapley ’96]ordinal potential games (fully general for better-response)dominance-solvable games [Moulin ’79]
But what of games that don’t always converge?
![Page 4: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Convergence to pure Nash
Is this divergence interesting?Play Stop
H T H TH -1,1,0 1,-1,0 H 3,3,-1 3,3,-1T 1,-1,0 -1,1,0 T 3,3,-1 3,3,3
Weakly acyclic games: every state has a better-responsepath to a pure Nash (no non-singleton sinks)
⊇ weakly acyclic under best response
Random player ordering⇒ stochastic convergence a.s.Other natural dynamics, like no-regret, also converge(Young, et al.)
![Page 5: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Convergence to pure Nash
Is this divergence interesting?Play Stop
H T H TH -1,1,0 1,-1,0 H 3,3,-1 3,3,-1T 1,-1,0 -1,1,0 T 3,3,-1 3,3,3
Weakly acyclic games: every state has a better-responsepath to a pure Nash (no non-singleton sinks) [Young’93;Milchtaich’96]
⊇ weakly acyclic under best responseRandom player ordering⇒ stochastic convergence a.s.Other natural dynamics, like no-regret, also converge(Young, et al.)
![Page 6: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Convergence to pure Nash
Is this divergence interesting?Play Stop
H T H TH -1,1,0 1,-1,0 H 3,3,-1 3,3,-1T 1,-1,0 -1,1,0 T 3,3,-1 3,3,3
Weakly acyclic games: every state has a better-responsepath to a pure Nash (no non-singleton sinks)⊇ weakly acyclic under best response
Random player ordering⇒ stochastic convergence a.s.Other natural dynamics, like no-regret, also converge(Young, et al.)
![Page 7: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Convergence to pure Nash
Is this divergence interesting?Play Stop
H T H TH -1,1,0 1,-1,0 H 3,3,-1 3,3,-1T 1,-1,0 -1,1,0 T 3,3,-1 3,3,3
Weakly acyclic games: every state has a better-responsepath to a pure Nash (no non-singleton sinks)⊇ weakly acyclic under best responseRandom player ordering⇒ stochastic convergence a.s.
Other natural dynamics, like no-regret, also converge(Young, et al.)
![Page 8: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Convergence to pure Nash
Is this divergence interesting?Play Stop
H T H TH -1,1,0 1,-1,0 H 3,3,-1 3,3,-1T 1,-1,0 -1,1,0 T 3,3,-1 3,3,3
Weakly acyclic games: every state has a better-responsepath to a pure Nash (no non-singleton sinks)⊇ weakly acyclic under best responseRandom player ordering⇒ stochastic convergence a.s.Other natural dynamics, like no-regret, also converge(Young, et al.)
![Page 9: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
The convergence map
Has pure NE
Weakly acyclic under Better Response
Weakly acyclic under Best Response
Strongly acyclic under Better Response= Ordinal potential games
Strongly acyclic under Best Response
![Page 10: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Characterizing weak acyclicity
Our contribution: combinatorial sufficient conditions thatlink subgame equilibria and weak acyclicity
Subgame: each player gets a subset S′i ⊆ Si of her
strategies
Start with subgame stability: each subgame has pure NENot rare: necessary and not sufficient for ordinal potentialOriginally from networking (BGP routing):subgame stability⇔ stability under failures
![Page 11: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Characterizing weak acyclicity
Our contribution: combinatorial sufficient conditions thatlink subgame equilibria and weak acyclicity
Subgame: each player gets a subset S′i ⊆ Si of her
strategiesStart with subgame stability: each subgame has pure NE
Not rare: necessary and not sufficient for ordinal potentialOriginally from networking (BGP routing):subgame stability⇔ stability under failures
![Page 12: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
The general result
2-player game [Yamamori&Takahashi’02]1:Has pure NE
Weakly acyclic under Better Response
Weakly acyclic under Best Response
Strongly acyclic = Ordinal potential games
Subgame stable
Unique Subgame Stability: each subgame has a uniquepure NE
1Aaronson Conjecture: w.h.p., the cute combinatorial lemma in your TCS paperwas already proven in the ’60s and published in Hungarian.
![Page 13: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
The general result
2-player game [Yamamori&Takahashi’02]2:Has pure NE
Weakly acyclic under Better Response
Weakly acyclic under Best Response
Strongly acyclic = Ordinal potential games
Subgame stable
Unique Subgame Stability: each subgame has a uniquepure NE
2Our corollary: w.h.p., the cute combinatorial lemma in your AGT paper wasalready proven by economists, and published in Economese.
![Page 14: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
The general result
n-player game:Has pure NE
Weakly acyclic under Better Response
Weakly acyclic under Best Response
Strongly acyclic = Ordinal potential games
Subgame stable
Unique subgame stable
Unique Subgame Stability: each subgame has a uniquepure NE
![Page 15: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Two-player Subgame Stability [YT’02]:
Not weakly acyclic⇒ BR dynamics has a sink equilibrium[Goemans, et al.’05] of size > 1
![Page 16: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Two-player Subgame Stability [YT’02]:
Take the span of this component – subgame that includesall strategies used in the sink
![Page 17: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Two-player Subgame Stability [YT’02]:
This subgame has a pure NE, and the sink has a node inthe same columnThe pure NE cannot be in the sink
![Page 18: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Two-player Subgame Stability [YT’02]:
But where does the BR by row player go?
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Two-player Subgame Stability [YT’02]:
Thus, 2-player SS⇒Weak Acyclicity under Best Response⇒Weak Acyclicity under Better Response
![Page 20: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
n players: not so easy
For 2 players, there is a sink state within 1 player’s movefrom a pure NEFor n players, within ≤ n − 1 players’ moves
Idea: fix players’ strategies, one player at a timeWe’ll need unique subgame stability
![Page 21: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
n players: not so easy
For 2 players, there is a sink state within 1 player’s movefrom a pure NEFor n players, within ≤ n − 1 players’ movesIdea: fix players’ strategies, one player at a time
We’ll need unique subgame stability
![Page 22: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
n players: not so easy
For 2 players, there is a sink state within 1 player’s movefrom a pure NEFor n players, within ≤ n − 1 players’ movesIdea: fix players’ strategies, one player at a timeWe’ll need unique subgame stability
![Page 23: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Unique SS⇒ weak acyclicity (sketch)
Similar: take the span of a hypothetical big sink, find itspure NE, follow best response to have one player matchhis strategy in the NE
![Page 24: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Unique SS⇒ weak acyclicity (sketch)
Similar: take the span of a hypothetical big sink, find itspure NE, follow best response to have one player matchhis strategy in the NE
![Page 25: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Unique SS⇒ weak acyclicity (sketch)
Similar: take the span of a hypothetical big sink, find itspure NE, follow best response to have one player matchhis strategy in the NE
![Page 26: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/26.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Unique SS⇒ weak acyclicity (sketch)
Similar: take the span of a hypothetical big sink, find itspure NE, follow best response to have one playermatch his strategy in the NE
![Page 27: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/27.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Unique SS⇒ weak acyclicity (sketch)
Remove all of that player’s strategies→ smaller subgame,also has a pure Nash
![Page 28: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/28.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Unique SS⇒ weak acyclicity (sketch)
Unique SS⇒ it’s the same Nash as before (non-trivial, buteasy). Recurse to get closer.
![Page 29: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/29.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Unique SS⇒ weak acyclicity (sketch)
Unique SS⇒ it’s the same Nash as before (non-trivial, buteasy). Recurse to get closer.
![Page 30: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/30.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Unique SS⇒ weak acyclicity (sketch)
Unique SS⇒ it’s the same Nash as before (non-trivial, buteasy). Recurse to get closer.
![Page 31: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/31.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Unique SS⇒ weak acyclicity (sketch)
Unique SS⇒ it’s the same Nash as before (non-trivial, buteasy). Recurse to get closer.
![Page 32: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/32.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Unique SS⇒ weak acyclicity (sketch)
Recursion builds up a path built of chunks of BR pathsfrom different subgames: cheating? (no; see paper)
![Page 33: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/33.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
A finer subgame stability picture
Has pure NE
n-player WA under Best Response
n-player WA games
Strongly acyclic = Ordinal potential games
Subgame stable
Unique subgame stable
⇒ WA for 2 players
⇒ WA for n players
![Page 34: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/34.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
A finer subgame stability picture
Has pure NE
n-player WA under Best Response
n-player WA games
Strongly acyclic = Ordinal potential games
Subgame stable
Unique subgame stable
⇒ WA for 2 players
⇒ WA for n players
⇒ WA for 2xM & 2x2x2
Strict subgame stable⇒ WA for 2x2xM & 2x3xM
Strict Subgame Stability: each subgame has a pure NEwhich each player strictly prefers
![Page 35: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/35.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
A finer subgame stability picture
Has pure NE
n-player WA under Best Response
n-player WA games
Strongly acyclic = Ordinal potential games
Subgame stable
Unique subgame stable
⇒ WA for 2 players
⇒ WA for n players
⇒ WA for 2xM & 2x2x2
Strict subgame stable⇒ WA for 2x2xM & 2x3xM
Strict Subgame Stability: each subgame has a pure NEwhich each player strictly prefers
![Page 36: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/36.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
A finer subgame stability picture
Has pure NE
n-player WA under Best Response
n-player WA games
Strongly acyclic = Ordinal potential games
Subgame stable
Unique subgame stable
⇒ WA for 2 players
⇒ WA for n players
⇒ WA for 2xM & 2x2x2
Strict subgame stable⇒ WA for 2x2xM & 2x3xM
The distinctions are tight w.r.t. game size
![Page 37: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/37.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Open: Is there more structure to this space?
Maybe there’s an interesting intermediate propertybetween SSS and USS?
(Our proof doesn’t quite use full USS...)
HasPNE ⊇ SS ⊇ SSS ⊇ USS ...more to this hierarchy?
![Page 38: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/38.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Why SS/USS/SSS?
Our interest started from BGP routing, where both SS andUnique SS have relevant incarnations
First combinatorial sufficient condition for weak acyclicity ingeneral gamesSignificantly lower complexity class:
[Mirrokni&Skopalik’09]: Weak acyclicity in severalinteresting succinct games is PSPACE-Complete.For reasonable succinct games, all our conditions arelow-ish in PH (Σ2P and Σ3P)
![Page 39: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/39.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Why SS/USS/SSS?
Our interest started from BGP routing, where both SS andUnique SS have relevant incarnationsFirst combinatorial sufficient condition for weak acyclicity ingeneral games
Significantly lower complexity class:[Mirrokni&Skopalik’09]: Weak acyclicity in severalinteresting succinct games is PSPACE-Complete.For reasonable succinct games, all our conditions arelow-ish in PH (Σ2P and Σ3P)
![Page 40: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/40.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Why SS/USS/SSS?
Our interest started from BGP routing, where both SS andUnique SS have relevant incarnationsFirst combinatorial sufficient condition for weak acyclicity ingeneral gamesSignificantly lower complexity class:
[Mirrokni&Skopalik’09]: Weak acyclicity in severalinteresting succinct games is PSPACE-Complete.For reasonable succinct games, all our conditions arelow-ish in PH (Σ2P and Σ3P)
![Page 41: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/41.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Open problems
Are there interesting game classes which obey USS bydesign, or can be tractably checked for USS?More broadly-applicable sufficient conditions of weakacyclicity?
Weak acyclicity doesn’t have to be tied to myopicdynamics...
![Page 42: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/42.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Open problems
Are there interesting game classes which obey USS bydesign, or can be tractably checked for USS?More broadly-applicable sufficient conditions of weakacyclicity?Weak acyclicity doesn’t have to be tied to myopicdynamics...
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Open problem: the elephant in the room
Weakly Acyclic games converge stochasticallyBad worst-case convergence time, even in nice, stronglyacyclic games. E.g., exponential in network congestiongames [F,Papadimitriou,Talwar’04]
![Page 44: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/44.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Open problem: the elephant in the room
Weakly Acyclic games converge stochasticallyWhat about the expected time until convergence,assuming, e.g., u.a.r. player orderings?Random walk mixing time for particularly-shaped directedgraphs — maybe need more basic tools?“Good” news: no worse than exponential, but when is itactually good?
![Page 45: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/45.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Open problem: the elephant in the room
Weakly Acyclic games converge stochasticallyWhat about the expected time until convergence,assuming, e.g., u.a.r. player orderings?Random walk mixing time for particularly-shaped directedgraphs — maybe need more basic tools?“Good” news: no worse than exponential, but when is itactually good?Interesting: Without strictness, clean exponentially-badexamples [Ferraioli, over lunch]. But ties are fragile...
![Page 46: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/46.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems
Thank you
![Page 47: On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games · Introduction2-player games n-player gamesMore SS classes?Open problems On the Structure of Weakly Acyclic Games Alex Fabrikant (Princeton](https://reader034.vdocuments.us/reader034/viewer/2022050414/5f8ad894635fb77f1071b5b5/html5/thumbnails/47.jpg)
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Introduction 2-player games n-player games More SS classes? Open problems