ITR: Networks of Strategic Agents: Theory and Algorithms

交互主体网络在许多领域中扮演着基础性的角色，从互联网这样的物理通信网络到人与人之间的关系所产生的社交网络。这些网络通过大量参与者的交互而成长和进化，产生复杂的全局结构和动态。通常这会导致系统高效可靠地运行;但在其他看似相似的环境中，网络可能会表现出潜在的效率低下或级联故障。 这样的失败不仅发生在物理网络中，也发生在社会网络中，正如最近通过关系和信任网络传播的金融危机所说明的那样。尽管对这些主题有相当大的兴趣，研究界才刚刚开始了解这些网络的行为;网络中代理人所拥有的激励、信息和计算能力的微小变化会对网络行为产生深远的影响，yet然而the principles原则underlying潜在these effects效果remain仍然habitual难以捉摸. 该项目开发了从战略代理人的互动中产生的网络的理论和算法基础。 通过将博弈论方法与计算模型的interactingagents相结合，工作开发的模型是更丰富和更翔实的比那些考虑战略代理人在没有互动网络或那些考虑网络结构的博弈论模型的agents.Networks的代理商网络的研究在几个不同的水平，从结构的问题，扩展到那些功能和行为。 该项目的中心目标之一是研究这三个层次之间的相互关系。 与此相反，目前大多数技术都被孤立地调整到一个单一的水平，计算机科学和数学的工作主要集中在结构上，经济学的工作则强调战略行为。该项目的跨学科性质揭示了包括互联网在内的通信网络中的问题与社交网络中出现的问题（如市场信任）之间的相似之处。 除了分析这些网络产生的问题，一般来说，一个特定的目标是更好地了解互动的基础电子市场的网络。 事实上，虽然人们普遍预测，这种市场将彻底改变商品和服务的交易，但很少有人幸存下来。 他们对算法博弈论、交互主体的计算和经济分析、复杂网络模型以及对市场微观结构的理解和电子市场的设计做出了一些基本的贡献。此外，研究人员也是康奈尔大学新的信息科学项目的主要参与者。 该计划旨在通过吸引来自非技术背景的学生来扩大计算思想的范围，并将计算概念作为一种以人为本的活动，这种活动本质上嵌入了社会，法律的和经济背景。 该项目的科学成果支持了该项目在研究生和本科生水平上的智力基础。研究中涉及的许多模型具有直接的直观吸引力，并且非常适合交互式图形演示。这些演示可以用于拓宽对战略互动的本质及其网络特征的一般理解，并可通过国家科学数字图书馆（NSDL）在适当的地方向大学前教育水平广泛提供。互联网只是许多战略代理网络中最新的一个。然而，它已经改变了其他网络的结构和功能，因为它使即时，始终在线的全球通信。 理解这些变化的理论基础可以在更安全、稳定的通信和经济系统方面提供重要的社会效益。

Networks of interacting agents play a fundamental role in manydomains, ranging from physical communication networks such as theInternet to social networks arising from relationships between people.These networks grow and evolve through interactions of large numbersof participants, yielding complex global structure and dynamics.Often this leads to systems that function efficiently and reliably;but in other, seemingly similar settings, networks can exhibit latentinefficiency or cascading failures. Such failures occur not only inphysical networks but also in social ones, as illustrated by recentfinancial crises which propagated through networks of relationships and trust.Despite considerable interest in these topics, the research communityis only beginning to understand the behavior of networks such asthese; small variations in the incentives, information, andcomputational power possessed by the agents in a network can haveprofound effects on network behavior, yet the principles underlyingthese effects remain elusive. This project develops theoretical and algorithmic underpinnings of networksthat arise from the interaction of strategic agents. By combininggame-theoretic approaches with computational models of interactingagents, the work develops models that are richer andmore informative than either those that consider strategic agents inthe absence of interaction networks or those that consider networkstructure in the absence of game-theoretic models of the agents.Networks of strategic agents are investigated at several different levels, extending from questions of structure to those of function and behavior. One of the project's central goals is to examine theinter-relationships between these three levels. In contrast, mostcurrent techniques are tuned to a single level in isolation, withwork in computer science and mathematics focusing primarily on structure and work in economics emphasizing strategic behavior.The project's inter-disciplinary nature exposes similarities betweenquestions in communication networks, including the Internet, andthose arising in social networks, such as trust in markets. Beyond analyzing questions arising from these networks in general,a particular goal is to better understand thenetworks of interactions underlying electronic markets. Indeed, while it was widely predicted that such marketplaces would revolutionize trading of goods and services, very few have survived.The project participants contribute expertise from several perspectives. They have made some of the fundamental contributions toalgorithmic game theory, computational and economic analysis ofinteracting agents, and models for complex networks, as well as to theunderstanding of market microstructure and the design of electronic markets.Further, the investigators have been key participants in the new Information Science program at Cornell. This program seeks to broaden the reach of computationalideas by attracting students from non-technical backgrounds, andincorporating notions of computation as a human-centered activitythat is intrinsically embedded in social, legal, and economic contexts. The scientific results of the project supportthe intellectual underpinnings of this program at boththe graduate and undergraduate levels.Many of the models involved in the research have an immediate intuitive appeal, and are well suited to interactive graphical demonstrations.These demonstrations can be used to broaden general understanding of the nature of strategic interaction and its networked character, and can be made broadly available through the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) where appropriate to pre-collegiate educational levels.The Internet is but the newest of many networks of strategic agents.However, it has served to change the structure and function of othernetworks, as it enables instantaneous, always-on, global communication. Understanding the theoretical underpinnings of thesechanges can provide important societal benefits in terms of moresecure, stable communication and economic systems.