601.436/636 Algorithmic Game Theory - Spring 2020

Instructor: Michael Dinitz
Lecture: T Th 3:00 - 4:15 pm, Shaffer 301
Office Hours: Tuesday 9:30 - 10:30am, and by appointment
Virtual Lectures and Office Hours: please use Zoom meeting ID 571-025-0311.

Teaching Assistant: Yasamin Nazari
Virtual Office Hours: Tuesday 4:30 - 5:15pm at Zoom ID 339-649-454

Syllabus

Course Description: This course provides an introduction to algorithmic game theory: the study of games from the perspective of algorithms and theoretical computer science. There will be a particular focus on games that arise naturally from economic interactions involving computer systems (such as economic interactions between large-scale networks, online advertising markets, etc.), but there will also be broad coverage of games and mechanisms of all sorts. Topics covered will include a) complexity of computing equilibria and algorithms for doing so, b) (in)efficiency of equilibria, and c) algorithmic mechanism design. Students may receive credit for 601.436 or 601.636, but not both. Pre-req: 601.433/633 or permission.

Textbook: Algorithmic Game Theory, Nisan, Roughgarden, Tardos, and Vazirani, Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Optional: Twenty Lectures on Algorithmic Game Theory, Tim Roughgarden, Cambridge University Press, 2016.

Online Discussion Group: Piazza

Schedule

The following is a tentative schedule. As the class proceeds, there will likely be changes and modifications.

Date Topic Reference Notes
 Jan 28   Introduction. What is AGT? Basic Game Theory   Chapter 1. Lecture Notes.    
 Jan 30   Two-Player Zero-sum Games   Lecture Notes, Chapters 1.4.2, 3.1, 3.2   HW1 released 
 Feb 4   Algorithms for Two-Player Games: Lemke-Howson   Lecture Notes, Chapters 2.3, 3.2 - 3.6 
 Feb 6   Hardness of Computing Nash: PPAD   Lecture Notes, Roughgarden Chapter 20, NRTV Chapters 2.1 - 2.6 
 Feb 11   Potential Games and PNE; Hierarchy of Equilibria   Lecture Notes, Roughgarden Chapter 13, NRTV Chapter 1.3    
 Feb 13   No-Regret and Coarse Correlated Equilibria   Lecture Notes, Roughgarden Chapter 17, NRTV Chapters 4.1-4.4   HW1 due, HW2 released 
 Feb 18   No-Regret and Equilibria (continued)   Lecture Notes, Roughgarden Chapters 17, 18, NRTV Chapters 4.1-4.4 
 Feb 20   No-Swap-Regret and Correlated Equilibria   Lecture Notes, Roughgarden Chapter 18, NRTV Chapters 4.4, 4.5 
 Feb 25   Introduction to Inefficiency of Equilibria   Lecture Notes, NRTV Chapter 17    
 Feb 27   Nonatomic Routing Games   Lecture Notes, Roughgarden Chapter 11, NRTV Chapters 18.1, 18.2.1, 18.3.1, 18.4.1   HW2 due, HW3 released 
 Mar 3   Atomic Routing Games   Lecture Notes, Roughgarden Chapter 12, NRTV Chapter 18 
 Mar 5   Smooth Games   Lecture Notes, Roughgarden Chapter 14 
 Mar 10   Facility Location Game   Lecture Notes, Roughgarden Chapter 14.2, NRTV Chapter 19.4 
 Mar 12   No class - canceled per JHU policy       
 Mar 17   No class - Spring Break       
 Mar 19   No class - Spring Break    
 Mar 24   Connection Game, Strong Nash   Lecture Notes, Lecture Board, Roughgarden Chapter 15, NRTV Chapter 19.3   HW3 due 
 Mar 26   Load Balancing   Lecture Notes, Lecture Board, NRTV Chapter 20   HW4 released 
 Mar 31   Introduction to Mechanism Design   Lecture Notes, Lecture Board, Roughgarden Chapter 2, NRTV Chapters 9.1, 9.3.1, 9.3.2, 9.3.5    
 Apr 2   Single-Parameter Environments (Myerson's Lemma)   Lecture Notes, Lecture Board, Roughgarden Chapter 3, NRTV Chapters 9.5.4, 9.5.5    
 Apr 7   Knapsack Auctions and the Revelation Principle   Lecture Notes, Lecture Board, Roughgarden Chapter 4, NRTV Chapters 9.4.3, 12.1, 12.2    
 Apr 9   Revenue Maximizing Auctions   Lecture Notes, Lecture Board, Roughgarden Chapter 5, NRTV Chapters 13.1, 13.2.   HW4 due, HW5 released 
 Apr 14   "Simple" Auctions and Bulow-Klemperer   Lecture Notes, Lecture Board, Roughgarden Chapter 6    
 Apr 16   VCG and General Mechanism Design   Lecture Notes, Lecture Board, Roughgarden Chapter 7, NRTV Chapter 9.3.3    
 Apr 21   Combinatorial Auctions, Spectrum Auctions   Lecture Notes, Lecture Board, NRTV Chapters 11.1, 11.2, Roughgarden Chapter 8    
 Apr 23   Mechanisms Without Money   Lecture Notes, Lecture Board, NRTV Chapters 10.3, 10.4, Roughgarded Chapters 9.4, 10    
 Apr 28   Online Auctions   Lecture Notes, Lecture Board, Slides from Maryland, NRTV Chapter 16.1 - 16.3.    
 Apr 30   Voting Schemes and Social Choice   Lecture Notes, Lecture Board, NRTV Chapter 9.2   HW5 due 

Assignments

Please submit homeworks using Gradescope.

Project Information

This class will have a final project, whose exact form is still to be determined. One option will be to read a modern research paper on algorithmic game theory and write up an overview. Good conferences to look for interesting papers are EC (Electronic Commerce), WINE (Workshop in Internet and Network Economics), SAGT (Symposium on Algorithmic Game Theory), STOC, FOCS, and SODA.

Additional Resources

Some texts that are related to topics we will cover. They are useful for further study in this field. Similar courses with nice notes.