The kernel is in the least core for permutation games

Permutation games are totally balanced transferable utility cooperative games arising from certain sequencing and re-assignment optimization problems. It is known that for permutation games the bargaining set and the core coincide, consequently, the kernel is a subset of the core. We prove that for permutation games the kernel is contained in the least core, even if the latter is a lower dimensional subset of the core. By means of a 5-player permutation game we demonstrate that, in sense of the lexicographic center procedure leading to the nucleolus, this inclusion result can not be strengthened. Our 5-player permutation game is also an example (of minimum size) for a game with a non-convex kernel.

Lexicographic allocations and extreme core payoffs: the case of assignment games

We consider various lexicographic allocation procedures for coalitional games with transferable utility where the payoffs are computed in an externally given order of the players. The common feature of the methods is that if the allocation is in the core, it is an extreme point of the core. We first investigate the general relationship between these allocations and obtain two hierarchies on the class of balanced games. Secondly, we focus on assignment games and sharpen some of these general relationship. Our main result is the coincidence of the sets of lemarals (vectors of lexicographic maxima over the set of dual coalitionally rational payoff vectors), lemacols (vectors of lexicographic maxima over the core) and extreme core points. As byproducts, we show that, similarly to the core and the coalitionally rational payoff set, also the dual coalitionally rational payoff set of an assignment game is determined by the individual and mixed-pair coalitions, and present an efficient and elementary way to compute these basic dual coalitional values. This provides a way to compute the Alexia value (the average of all lemacols) with no need to obtain the whole coalitional function of the dual assignment game.

Assignment Games with Externalities

We examine assignment games, wherematched pairs of firms and workers create some monetary value to distribute among themselves and the agents aim to maximize their payoff. In the majority of this literature, externalities - in the sense that a pair’s value depends on the pairing of the others - have been neglected. However, inmost applications a firm’s success depends on, say, the success of its rivals and suppliers. Thus, it is natural to ask how the classical results on assignment games are affected by the introduction of externalities? The answer is – dramatically. We find that (i) a problem may have no stable outcome, (ii) stable outcomes can be inefficient (not maximize total value), (iii) efficient outcomes can be unstable, and (iv) the set of stable outcomes may not form a lattice. We show that stable outcomes always exist if agents are "pessimistic." This is a knife-edge result: there are problems in which the slightest optimism by a single pair erases all stable outcomes.

The prisoners' dilemma, congestion games and correlation

Social dilemmas, in particular the prisoners' dilemma, are represented as congestion games, and within this framework soft correlated equilibria as introduced by Forgó F. (2010, A generalization of correlated equilibrium: A new protocol. Mathematical Social Sciences 60:186-190) is used to improve inferior Nash payoffs that are characteristic of social dilemmas. These games can be extended to several players in different ways preserving some important characteristics of the original 2-person game. In one of the most frequently studied models of the n-person prisoners' dilemma game we measure the performance of the soft correlated equilibrium by the mediation and enforcement values. For general prisoners' dilemma games the mediation value is ∞, the enforcement value is 2. This also holds for the class of separable prisoners’ dilemma games.

The structure of games

Computer Game Playing has been an active area of research since Samuel’s first Checkers player (Samuel 1959). Recently interest beyond the classic games of Chess and Checkers has led to competitions such as the General Game Playing competition, in which players have no beforehand knowledge of the games they are to play, and the Computer Poker Competition which force players to reason about imperfect information under conditions of uncertainty. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the area of General Game Playing both specifically and generally. On the specific side, we describe the design and implementation of our General Game Playing system OGRE. This system includes an innovative method for feature extraction that helped it to achieve second and fourth place in two international General Game Playing competitions. On the more general side, we also introduce the Regular Game Language, which goes beyond current works to provide support for both stochastic and imperfect information games as well as the more traditional games.

The Security Challenges for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games

Brazilians greeted the long-awaited decision of making Rio de Janeiro the host of the 2016 Olympic Games with tremendous exhilaration. Although Rio’s fantastic natural beauty certainly added to its attraction in hosting the games, its alarming rates of urban crime and violence largely associated with drug trafficking immediately triggered worldwide criticism, and put at issue its ability to guarantee the security for the games. Brazilians have been vying for a position as an emerging global economy and understand the importance of the Games for international prestige. This makes the stakes very high when hosting the Olympic Games in the wake of the 2014 Soccer World Cup, which will also be held in Brazil. This paper explores these criticisms and assesses Rio’s ability to prepare for this important event. The paper further explores the consensus that Brazilians will be more equipped to address actions taken by organized crime capable of affecting the Olympic Games than to face a terrorist attack. Brazil – and Rio – does not figure in the “terrorism map” as a region particularly linked to terrorism. Aside from uncorroborated suspicions of activities by terrorist organizations on the Tri-Border region (Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay), Brazil does not elicit many concerns regarding terrorism.1 Yet, there is no way to guarantee that terrorist organizations will not try to make use of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games to advance their agenda. This being in mind, Rio and Brazil in general face a long road ahead to prepare, prevent, protect and respond to a possible terrorist attack during the 2016 Olympics. It is clear that prevention and preparation towards potential threats to the Games must necessarily include cooperation and exchange of best practices with other countries. 1 U.S. Department of State has confirmed that this area may have been used to transport weapons and conduct financial affairs in the past. This type of activity has been made more difficult with the fortification of border controls in more recent times.

The Dangerous Games of Fantasy, Lecture by Daína Chaviano

This flyer promotes the event "The Dangerous Games of Fantasy, Lecture by Daína Chaviano", cosponsored by the FIU Modern Languages Department and the Cuban Research Institute.

The Structure of Games

Computer Game Playing has been an active area of research since Samuel’s first Checkers player (Samuel 1959). Recently interest beyond the classic games of Chess and Checkers has led to competitions such as the General Game Playing competition, in which players have no beforehand knowledge of the games they are to play, and the Computer Poker Competition which force players to reason about imperfect information under conditions of uncertainty. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the area of General Game Playing both specifically and generally. On the specific side, we describe the design and implementation of our General Game Playing system OGRE. This system includes an innovative method for feature extraction that helped it to achieve second and fourth place in two international General Game Playing competitions. On the more general side, we also introduce the Regular Game Language, which goes beyond current works to provide support for both stochastic and imperfect information games as well as the more traditional games.

Gaming learning analytics for serious games

Los juegos serios (o videojuegos educativos), se consideran una herramienta importante para la educación en el futuro. Por ello, se está invirtiendo mucho esfuerzo en el análisis de su corrección e idoneidad para alcanzar los objetivos educativos pretendidos. El campo de análisis de aprendizaje con juegos pretende proporcionar herramientas que verifiquen estas características mejorando la calidad y efectividad de los juegos serios. Para ello, se necesitan normalmente tres etapas: 1), monitorizar los datos de la interacción del jugador con el juego; 2), analizar esos datos recolectados; y 3), visualizar los resultados. En este contexto, hay algunos asuntos importantes a considerar: nivel de conocimiento del juego, receptor de las visualizaciones finales o cantidad y complejidad de los datos. Estas ideas se ponen en práctica con dos ejemplos de juegos serios centrándonos en las dos últimas etapas del proceso. Se realizan varios análisis y visualizaciones con ellos considerando los diferentes aspectos antes mencionados. Entre las conclusiones que se pueden extraer, destaca que, a pesar de haber algunos aspectos aún por mejorar, el análisis de aprendizaje con juegos es una herramienta esencial para muchos usuarios con una amplia variedad de intereses en juego serios.

Colgate games 200 meter race at Madison Square Garden

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

West Point Basketball team between games

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

Quantum pseudo-telepathy games

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Phase Locked Loop and Modulo Games, The Dogma Loops; and “Finding Ibrida”

This dissertation consists of two independent musical compositions and an article detailing the process of the design and assembly of an electric guitar with particular emphasis on the carefully curated suite of embedded effects.

The first piece, 'Phase Locked Loop and Modulo Games' is scored for electric guitar and a single echo of equal volume less than a beat away. One could think of the piece as a 15 minute canon at the unison at the dotted eighth note (or at times the quarter or triplet-quarter), however the compositional motivation is more about weaving a composite texture between the guitar and its echo that is, while in theory extremely contrapuntal, in actuality is simply a single [superhuman] melodic line.

The second piece, 'The Dogma Loops' picks up a few compositional threads left by ‘Phase Locked Loop’ and weaves them into an entirely new tapestry. 'Phase Locked Loop' is motivated by the creation of a complex musical composite that is for the most part electronically transparent. 'The Dogma Loops' questions that same notion of composite electronic complexity by essentially asking a question: "what are the inputs to an interactive electronic system that create the most complex outputs via the simplest musical means possible?"

'The Dogma Loops' is scored for Electric Guitar (doubling on Ukulele), Violin and Violoncello. All of the principal instruments require an electronic pickup (except the Uke). The work is in three sections played attacca; [Automation Games], [Point of Origin] and [Cloning Vectors].

The third and final component of the document is the article 'Finding Ibrida.' This article details the process of the design and assembly of an electric guitar with integrated effects, while also providing the deeper context (conceptual and technical) which motivated the efforts and informed the challenges to hybridize the various technologies (tubes, transistors, digital effects and a microcontroller subsystem). The project was motivated by a desire for rigorous technical and hands-on engagement with analog signal processing as applied to the electric guitar. ‘Finding Ibrida’ explores sound, some myths and lore of guitar tech and the history of electric guitar distortion and its culture of sonic exploration.

Theory games

This paper examines the remarkable and unexplored correspondence between games (and board games in particular) and what is commonly understood as theory in the social sciences. It argues that games exhibit many if not most of the attributes of theory, but that theory is missing some of the features of games. As such, game provide a way of rethinking what we mean by theory and theorizing. Specifically, games and their relationship with the ‘real’ world, provide a way of thinking about theory and theorizing that is consistent with recent calls to frame social inquiry around the concept of phrónēsis.