Apr. 12, Caroline Thomas, Ph.D. – N-Dimensional Colonel Blotto Game with Asymmetric Battlefield Values

Abstract: This paper describes a geometrical method for constructing equilibrium distributions in the Colonel Blotto game with asymmetric battlefield values. It generalizes to the n-dimensional case a construction method first described by Gross and Wagner. The proposed method does particularly well in instances of the Colonel Blotto game in which the battlefield weights satisfy some cleDr. Caroline Thomas, a guest of the IFREE/ESI Lecture Seriesarly defined regularity conditions. Though these conditions constrain the set of games in which this method reliably generates equilibrium strategies, they are less restrictive than the condition of symmetry across all battlefields, hitherto common in the literature. The paper also explores the parallel between these conditions and the integer partitioning problem in combinatorial optimization. Finally it explores the relationship these conditions imply between plurality and majority Blotto games.

Bio: Caroline’s research is in microeconomic theory and game theory. She received her PhD in Economics from University College London in 2011. Her thesis focused on strategic experimentation with direct payoff externalities and on multidimensional contests referred to as Blotto games. She also works on repeated games and on queuing games.  For the 2012-13 academic year, Caroline is on leave as a Deutsche Bank member at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

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