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Nash Equilibrium

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In game theory, the Nash equilibrium is a solution concept of a non-cooperative game involving two or more players, in which each player is assumed to know the equilibrium strategies of the other players, and no player has anything to gain by changing only their own strategy.[1] If each player has chosen a strategy and no player can benefit by changing strategies while the other players keep theirs unchanged, then the current set of strategy choices and the corresponding payoffs constitute a Nash equilibrium.
Stated simply, Amy and Will are in Nash equilibrium if Amy is making the best decision she can, taking into account Will's decision, and Will is making the best decision he can, taking into account Amy's decision. Likewise, a group of players are in Nash equilibrium if each one is making the best decision that he or she can, taking into account the decisions of the others in the game.
Contents
[hide] * 1 Applications * 2 History * 3 Definitions * 3.1 Informal definition * 3.2 Formal definition * 3.3 Nash's Existence Theorem * 4 Examples * 4.1 Coordination game * 4.2 Prisoner's dilemma * 4.3 Network traffic * 4.4 Competition game * 4.5 Nash equilibria in a payoff matrix * 5 Stability * 6 Occurrence * 6.1 Where the conditions are not met * 6.2 Where the conditions are met * 7 NE and non-credible threats * 8 Proof of existence * 8.1 Proof using the Kakutani fixed point theorem * 8.2 Alternate proof using the Brouwer fixed-point theorem * 9 Computing Nash equilibria * 9.1 Examples * 10 See also * 11 Notes * 12 References * 12.1 Game theory textbooks * 12.2 Original Nash papers * 12.3 Other references * 13 External links
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