AGTA: Algorithmic Game Theory and Applications
AGTA: Algorithmic Game Theory and its Applications
Introduction
Welcome to Algorithmic Game Theory and its Applications (AGTA). This is a 4th year and MSc course that runs in Semester 2 (Spring 2026). Game theory is the formal (mathematical) study of strategic interaction between goal-oriented agents (players). Algorithmic game theory is concerned with the computational/algorithmic questions that arise in game theory and strategic reasoning, including questions around finding efficient algorithms to "solve" games.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this course, you should be able to:
- understand various models of games, how they are related, and how they arise in various applications in computer science and elsewhere
- understand linear programming and some of its broad applicability
- understand how algorithms are used to "solve" such games and their efficiency
- model various scenarios as strategic games, and devise algorithms to solve them
- understand the aims of the current research frontier
(Rough) Course Outline
Games and strategies, solution concepts (equilibria), two-player and multi-player games, zero-sum games, games in normal and extensive form, algorithms for computing equilibria, linear programming basics, congestion games, the price of anarchy, social choice theory, algorithmic mechanism design, bidding auctions, computational complexity of computing equilibria.
The Team
The AGTA course organizer is Kousha Etessami, and the lecturers for AGTA are Kousha Etessami and Aris Filos-Ratsikas. Both are faculty in the School of Informatics, doing research on algorithms and computational complexity and algorithmic game theory.
The tutors for the course will be Kousha Etessami and Charalampos Kokkalis. Charalampos is a third year PhD student working in the area of Algorithmic Game Theory.
On behalf of the whole team, we welcome you to the course!