Governing Dynamics - Computing Nash Equilibria

Computing Nash Equilibria

If a player A has a dominant strategy then there exists a Nash equilibrium in which A plays . In the case of two players A and B, there exists a Nash equilibrium in which A plays and B plays a best response to . If is a strictly dominant strategy, A plays in all Nash equilibria. If both A and B have strictly dominant strategies, there exists a unique Nash equilibrium in which each plays his strictly dominant strategy.

In games with mixed strategy Nash equilibria, the probability of a player choosing any particular strategy can be computed by assigning a variable to each strategy that represents a fixed probability for choosing that strategy. In order for a player to be willing to randomize, his expected payoff for each strategy should be the same. In addition, the sum of the probabilities for each strategy of a particular player should be 1. This creates a system of equations from which the probabilities of choosing each strategy can be derived.