Reasoning about equilibria in game-like concurrent systems

Julian Gutierrez, Paul Harrenstein, Michael J. Wooldridge

Abstract: In this paper we study techniques for reasoning about game-like concurrent systems, where the components of the system act rationally and strategically in pursuit of logically-specified goals. Specifically, we start by presenting a computational model for such concurrent systems, and investigate its computational, mathematical, and game-theoretic properties. We then define and investigate a branching-time temporal logic for reasoning about the equilibrium properties of game-like concurrent systems. The key operator in this temporal logic is a novel path quantifier [NE]φ<math><mrow is="true"><mo stretchy="false" is="true">[</mo><mi mathvariant="bold" is="true">N</mi><mi mathvariant="bold" is="true">E</mi><mo stretchy="false" is="true">]</mo></mrow><mi is="true">φ</mi></math>, which asserts that φ holds on all Nash equilibrium computations of the system.