| Professor: |
Dr M-G
|
| Office: | 202B Love (in
which I hold office hours)
|
| Phone: | (850 64)4 2580
|
| Email: | mesterto@math.fsu.edu
|
| Web site: | http://www.math.fsu.edu/~mesterto |
| Course goal: | To introduce game theory and some of its
applications |
| Class meets: |
In 106 LOV on Mondays, Wednesdays and
Fridays at 2:30—3:20p.m.
|
| Text: |
No required text |
| Credit: |
3 semester hours. Mathematics
majors may take MAP 4180 as an elective
counting
toward credit for graduation |
| Syllabus: |
Nash equilibrium and other solution concepts for noncooperative
games
Evolutionary stability and other criteria for equilibrium selection
Cooperative games in strategic form
Cooperative games in characteristic function form
The prisoner's dilemma and the rationality of cooperation
Population games
Further applications, as determined by student needs or interests |
| Prerequisites: | | (i) | MAC 2313, MAS 3105, STA 4321, MAP 2302; or
Professor M-G's consent and | | (ii) | self-motivation and
industriousness. Professor M-G's philosophy of learning is perhaps best expressed
by the following diagram: |
|
| |  |
| Communication: |
It is your responsibility to have registered here for an FSU
computer account so that I can send you email, which you are expected
to check regularly. If you prefer to read your email elsewhere then you
can arrange to have
messages forwarded, but you must still obtain an FSU account in the
first instance |
| Your name: | I don't know who you are, but because
everything works so much better when I do, I would like to learn your name
as soon as possible. Please take a sheet of paper, fold it in half, write
your first name in large letters on one side and stand it up on your desk
so that I can see it. (Write whatever you want me to call you—if
you're a William who likes to be called Dubya, write Dubya, not William.)
Please bring your name plate to every class until I have finally learnt
your name (which will take significantly longer than it used to take when I
started out) |
| Course format: |
The course will be based on assigned readings (which I will email to you
as PDFs), interspersed by much interactive problem solving, on which we
will spend most of our time in class. I will always assume that you
have both read (not necessarily understood) any assigned passages and
at least attempted (not necessarily completed) any associated
problems—in other words, I will assume that you have done your
homework. (And needless to say, you should always have pencil and paper
handy when you read an assigned passage, so that you can fill in steps
by yourself where necessary.)
Accordingly, a typical class will proceed as
follows. It will begin with a very brief summary—on a
characteristic time scale of seconds, as opposed to minutes—by me
of the assigned reading, the purpose of which is in essence to jog your
memory. There will follow an opportunity for you to ask questions about
the reading, and for me to attempt to clarify anything you may not have
understood. We will then proceed to solving a problem or problems, with
as much interaction as possible from you. Questions may be asked at any
time—and should be, if there's anything you don't understand.
Please note that the readings are copyrighted
material, sent to you on the understanding that they are solely for
your personal use and must not be shared (with anyone who is not
registered for the course). |
| Grades: |
Will be based on four written assignments (25% each) in the first
instance; however, in exceptional cases, part of an ongoing research
project may be substituted for the final assignment. Note that quality
of presentation is extremely important, and so there will be penalties
(commensurate with degree of infraction) for badly presented work. It
is not enough merely to produce an answer: the method by which you
obtain it must be sound, and you must clearly demonstrate that you
understand it. In borderline cases, a smaller number of completely
correct solutions will carry more weight than a proportionate number of
fragmentary answers, and later scores will carry more weight than
earlier scores. Partial credit is awarded only when part of a solution
is completely correct (not when all of a solution is partially correct,
whatever that means, if anything). Assignments will be due at the
beginning of class on the designated day. Late assignments will be
viewed as badly presented, and very late assignments will not be graded
(i.e., will achieve a grade of zero). |
| Attendance policy: |
You are expected to attend class regularly, and bear the full
responsibility for learning anything covered during any class that you
miss. On the other hand, it would be extremely anti-social to attend
class if you either have, or are coming down with, a contagious
disease. So please familiarize yourselves with the Thagard Student
Health Center's advice on H1N1 flu
and keep me apprised (by email) of any illness or other emergency, so
that I can make any necessary adjustments (and please make friends
within the class as soon as possible if you haven't done so already, so
that there is someone you can call upon to borrow notes if the need
should arise). |
| Etiquette: | You are firmly bound by Florida State
University's Academic Honor Code (briefly, you
have the responsibility to uphold the highest standards of academic
integrity in your own work, to refuse to tolerate violations of academic
integrity in the University community, and to foster a high sense of
integrity and social responsibility on the part of the University
community). Although you may discuss assignments with others in general
terms, the solutions you present must be your very own work ("in
general terms" means that discussion is oral and nothing is copied
down). |
| Helpline: | If you get stuck between classes then consider
using my Homework Helpline. Just send me your question by email. As soon as
I possibly can (which might be as soon as within half an hour, but might
also be a day or so later—I have a life, too, you know), I will
reply, not to you, but rather to the class alias (after carefully
concealing your identity, just in case you are inexplicably bashful about
being perceived as smart enough to ask questions). |
| Disabilities: | If you have a disability
requiring academic accommodations, then not only should you register with
the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC), but also you
should bring me
written confirmation from SDRC during the first week of class. |