GAME THEORY AND APPLICATIONS

Game Theory and Applications will be taught from the perspective of an applied mathematician, i.e., it will focus on game-theoretic modelling (as opposed to rigorous proofs of existence and uniqueness theorems). The course will cover, in a unified way, both classical and evolutionary game theory, and should be of interest not only to mathematics majors but also to students in the life, management or social sciences. It will include numerous applications

Professor:	M-G
Office:	202B Love (in which I hold office hours)
Phone:	(850 64)4 2580
Email:	mmestert@mailer.fsu.edu
Class meets:	in 104 LOV, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 11:15-12:05
Text:	Mesterton-Gibbons, An Introduction to Game-Theoretic Modelling Second edition (American Mathematical Society, 2001)
Credit:	3 semester hours. With permission from their advisor, Biomedical Math students can count this course toward the five required math courses for the Master's degree
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 Applications to animal behavior, natural resource management and other topics (as student needs dictate)
Prerequisites:	(i) MAC 2313, MAS 3105, STA 4442, 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:
	ALTERNATIVE THEORIES OF LEARNING VERSUS PAIN For further details, please click here.
Communication:	It is your responsibility to register here for a (free) 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
Grades:	Will be based on class participation (10%), four written assignments (12.5% each) and a research or survey project (40%). 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).
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 two 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). Usually, my email will just be a short message to the effect that a reply has been posted on this web site.
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.