The "Handbook of Simulation Optimization" presents an overview of the state of the art of simulation optimization, providing a survey of the most well-established approaches for optimizing stochastic simulation models and a sampling of recent research advances in theory and methodology. Leading contributors cover such topics as discrete optimization via simulation, ranking and selection, efficient simulation budget allocation, random search methods, response surface methodology, stochastic gradient estimation, stochastic approximation, sample average approximation, stochastic constraints, variance reduction techniques, model-based stochastic search methods and Markov decision processes.

This single volume should serve as a reference for those already in the field and as a means for those new to the field for understanding and applying the main approaches. The intended audience includes researchers, practitioners and graduate students in the business/engineering fields of operations research, management science, operations management and stochastic control, as well as in economics/finance and computer science.

This contributed volume focuses on aspects of dynamic game theory including differential games, evolutionary games, and stochastic games. It covers theoretical developments, algorithmic methods, and applications to fields as varied as mathematical biology, environmental management, economics, engineering, guidance and control, and social interaction. It will be of interest to an interdisciplinary audience of researchers, practitioners, and advanced graduate students. Advances in Dynamic Games presents state-of-the-art research that serves as a testament to the vitality and growth of the field of dynamic games and their applications. Its contributions, written by experts in their respective disciplines, are outgrowths of presentations originally given at the 15th International Symposium of Dynamic Games and Applications held July 19-22, 2012, in Bysice, Czech Republic.

This book addresses two-person zero-sum finite games in which the payoffs in any situation are expressed with fuzzy numbers. The purpose of this book is to develop a suite of effective and efficient linear programming models and methods for solving matrix games with payoffs in fuzzy numbers. Divided into six chapters, it discusses the concepts of solutions of matrix games with payoffs of intervals, along with their linear programming models and methods. Furthermore, it is directly relevant to the research field of matrix games under uncertain economic management. The book offers a valuable resource for readers involved in theoretical research and practical applications from a range of different fields including game theory, operational research, management science, fuzzy mathematical programming, fuzzy mathematics, industrial engineering, business and social economics.

Every day decision making and decision making in complex human-centric systems are characterized by imperfect decision-relevant information. Main drawback of the existing decision theories is namely incapability to deal with imperfect information and modeling vague preferences. Actually, a paradigm of non-numerical probabilities in decision making has a long history and arose also in Keynes's analysis of uncertainty. There is a need for further generalization - a move to decision theories with perception-based imperfect information described in NL. The languages of new decision models for human-centric systems should be not languages based on binary logic but human-centric computational schemes able to operate on NL-described information. Development of new theories is now possible due to an increased computational power of information processing systems which allows for computations with imperfect information, particularly, imprecise and partially true information, which are much more complex than computations over numbers and probabilities.

The monograph exposes the foundations of a new decision theory with imperfect decision-relevant information on environment and a decision maker's behavior. This theory is based on the synthesis of the fuzzy sets theory with perception-based information and the probability theory.

The book is self containing and represents in a systematic way the decision theory with imperfect information into the educational systems. The book will be helpful for teachers and students of universities and colleges, for managers and specialists from various fields of business and economics, production and social sphere.

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This monograph provides a detailed analysis on fair queueing rules from a normative, a strategic, and a non-cooperative viewpoint. The queueing problem is concerned with the following situation: There is a group of agents who must be served in a facility. The facility can handle only one agent at a time and agents incur waiting costs. The problem is to find the order in which to serve agents and monetary transfers they should receive. The queueing problem has been studied extensively in the recent literature.

The book aims at describing the recent developments in the existence and stability of Nash equilibrium. The two topics are central to game theory and economics and have been extensively researched. Recent results on existence and stability of Nash equilibrium are scattered and the relationship between them has not been explained clearly. The book will make these results easily accessible and understandable to researchers in the field.

The book focuses on Social Collective Intelligence, a term used to denote a class of socio-technical systems that combine, in a coordinated way, the strengths of humans, machines and collectives in terms of competences, knowledge and problem solving capabilities with the communication, computing and storage capabilities of advanced ICT. Social Collective Intelligence opens a number of challenges for researchers in both computer science and social sciences; at the same time it provides an innovative approach to solve challenges in diverse application domains, ranging from health to education and organization of work. The book will provide a cohesive and holistic treatment of Social Collective Intelligence, including challenges emerging in various disciplines (computer science, sociology, ethics) and opportunities for innovating in various application areas. By going through the book the reader will gauge insight and knowledge into the challenges and opportunities provided by this new, exciting, field of investigation. Benefits for scientists will be in terms of accessing a comprehensive treatment of the open research challenges in a multidisciplinary perspective. Benefits for practitioners and applied researchers will be in terms of access to novel approaches to tackle relevant problems in their field. Benefits for policy-makers and public bodies representatives will be in terms of understanding how technological advances can support them in supporting the progress of society and economy.

This book provides practical solutions for addressing energy efficiency as a clause term within a charter party contract. For this, upon a reflection of the regulatory craft, it analyzes key concepts of case law, and discusses them together with commercial and economic principles. In this way, the book aims at offering a comprehensive, interdisciplinary view of the chartering process, together with a new approach for safeguarding energy efficiency investments. A special emphasis is given to the maritime industry. Here, the newly developed framework, based on game theory, has been successfully applied to demonstrate the importance of including a clause term in contract negotiation to achieve protection against both an uncertain market and an even more challenging shipping environment. The book not only fills a gap in the literature, covering a topic that has been largely neglected to date, yet it offers researchers and practitioners extensive information to change the chartering process radically.

Explores the history, business, and technology of video games, including social, political, and economic motivations Facilitates learning with clear objectives, key terms, illustrative timelines, color images, tables and graphs Highlights the technical specifications and key titles of all major game consoles, handhelds, personal computers, and mobile platforms Reinforces material with market summaries, reviews of breakthroughs and trends, as well as end-of-chapter activities and quizzes New content in every chapter, from the PC-98, MSX, Amstrad, and ZX Spectrum to expanded coverage on mobile gaming, virtual reality, Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5

This ground-breaking reference provides an overview of key concepts in dimensional analysis, and then pushes well beyond traditional applications in fluid mechanics to demonstrate how powerful this tool can be in solving complex problems across many diverse fields. Of particular interest is the book's coverage of dimensional analysis and self-similarity methods in nuclear and energy engineering. Numerous practical examples of dimensional problems are presented throughout, allowing readers to link the book's theoretical explanations and step-by-step mathematical solutions to practical implementations.

This book offers a thorough examination of potential game theory and its applications in radio resource management for wireless communications systems and networking. The book addresses two major research goals: how to identify a given game as a potential game, and how to design the utility functions and the potential functions with certain special properties in order to formulate a potential game. After proposing a unifying mathematical framework for the identification of potential games, the text surveys existing applications of this technique within wireless communications and networking problems found in OFDMA 3G/4G/WiFi networks, as well as next-generation systems such as cognitive radios and dynamic spectrum access networks. Professionals interested in understanding the theoretical aspect of this specialized field will find Potential Game Theory a valuable resource, as will advanced-level engineering students. It paves the way for extensive and rigorous research exploration on a topic whose capacity for practical applications is vast but not yet fully exploited.

This book focuses on the design of efficient & dynamic methods to allocate divisible resources under various auction mechanisms, discussing their applications in power & microgrid systems and the V2G & EV charging coordination problems in smart grids. It describes the design of dynamic methods for single-sided and double-sided auction games and presents a number of simulation cases verifying the performances of the proposed algorithms in terms of efficiency, convergence and computational complexity. Further, it explores the performances of certain auction mechanisms in a hierarchical structure and with large-scale agents, as well as the auction mechanisms for the efficient allocation of multi-type resources. Lastly, it generalizes the main and demonstrates their application in smart grids. This book is a valuable resource for researchers, engineers, and graduate students in the fields of optimization, game theory, auction mechanisms and smart grids interested in designing dynamic auction mechanisms to implement optimal allocation of divisible resources, especially electricity and other types of energy in smart grids.

Toward the late 1990s, several research groups independently began developing new, related theories in mathematical finance. These theories did away with the standard stochastic geometric diffusion "Samuelson" market model (also known as the Black-Scholes model because it is used in that most famous theory), instead opting for models that allowed minimax approaches to complement or replace stochastic methods. Among the most fruitful models were those utilizing game-theoretic tools and the so-called interval market model. Over time, these models have slowly but steadily gained influence in the financial community, providing a useful alternative to classical methods. A self-contained monograph, The Interval Market Model in Mathematical Finance: Game-Theoretic Methods assembles some of the most important results, old and new, in this area of research. Written by seven of the most prominent pioneers of the interval market model and game-theoretic finance, the work provides a detailed account of several closely related modeling techniques for an array of problems in mathematical economics. The book is divided into five parts, which successively address topics including: * probability-free Black-Scholes theory; * fair-price interval of an option; * representation formulas and fast algorithms for option pricing; * rainbow options; * tychastic approach of mathematical finance based upon viability theory. This book provides a welcome addition to the literature, complementing myriad titles on the market that take a classical approach to mathematical finance. It is a worthwhile resource for researchers in applied mathematics and quantitative finance, and has also been written in a manner accessible to financially-inclined readers with a limited technical background.

Disjunctive Programming is a technique and a discipline initiated by the author in the early 1970's, which has become a central tool for solving nonconvex optimization problems like pure or mixed integer programs, through convexification (cutting plane) procedures combined with enumeration. It has played a major role in the revolution in the state of the art of Integer Programming that took place roughly during the period 1990-2010. The main benefit that the reader may acquire from reading this book is a deeper understanding of the theoretical underpinnings and of the applications potential of disjunctive programming, which range from more efficient problem formulation to enhanced modeling capability and improved solution methods for integer and combinatorial optimization. Egon Balas is University Professor and Lord Professor of Operations Research at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business.

Maximizing reader insights into the interactions between game theory, excessive crowding and safety and security elements, this book establishes a new research angle by illustrating linkages between different research approaches and through laying the foundations for subsequent analysis. Congestion (excessive crowding) is defined in this work as all kinds of flows; e.g., road/sea/air traffic, people, data, information, water, electricity, and organisms. Analysing systems where congestion occurs - which may be in parallel, series, interlinked, or interdependent, with flows one way or both ways - this book puts forward new congestion models, breaking new ground by introducing game theory and safety/security into proceedings. Addressing the multiple actors who may hold different concerns regarding system reliability; e.g. one or several terrorists, a government, various local or regional government agencies, or others with stakes for or against system reliability, this book describes how governments and authorities may have the tools to handle congestion, but that these tools need to be improved whilst additionally ensuring safety and security against various threats. This game-theoretic analysis sets this book apart from the current congestion literature and ensures that the book will be of use to postgraduates, researchers, 3rd/4th-year undergraduates, policy makers, and practitioners.

"Networks of Echoes: Imitation, Innovation and Invisible Leaders" is a mathematically rigorous and data rich book on a fascinating area of the science and engineering of social webs. There are hundreds of complex network phenomena whose statistical properties are described by inverse power laws. The phenomena of interest are not arcane events that we encounter only fleetingly, but are events that dominate our lives. We examine how this intermittent statistical behavior intertwines itself with what appears to be the organized activity of social groups. The book is structured as answers to a sequence of questions such as: How are decisions reached in elections and boardrooms? How is the stability of a society undermined by zealots and committed minorities and how is that stability re-established? Can we learn to answer such questions about human behavior by studying the way flocks of birds retain their formation when eluding a predator? These questions and others are answered using a generic model of a complex dynamic network one whose global behavior is determined by a symmetric interaction among individuals based on social imitation. The complexity of the network is manifest in time series resulting from self-organized critical dynamics that have divergent first and second moments, are non-stationary, non-ergodic and non-Poisson. How phase transitions in the network dynamics influence such activity as decision making is a fascinating story and provides a context for introducing many of the mathematical ideas necessary for understanding complex networks in general. The decision making model (DMM) is selected to emphasize that there are features of complex webs that supersede specific mechanisms and need to be understood from a general perspective. This insightful overview of recent tools and their uses may serve as an introduction and curriculum guide in related courses."

This book shows how to model selected communication scenarios using game theory. The book helps researchers specifically dealing with scenarios motivated by the increasing use of the Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G Communications by using game theory to approach the study of such challenging scenarios. The author explains how game theory acts as a mathematical tool that models decision making in terms of strategies and mechanisms that can result in optimal payoffs for a number of interacting entities, offering often antagonistic behaviors. The book explores new technologies in terms of design, development and management from a theoretical perspective, using game theory to analyze strategic situations and demonstrate profitable behaviors of the cooperative entities. The book identifies and explores several significant applications/uses/situations that arise from the vast deployment of the IoT. The presentation of the technological scenarios is followed in each of the first four chapters by a step-by-step theoretical model often followed by equilibrium proof, and numerical simulation results, that are explained in a tutorial-like manner. The four chapters tackle challenging IoT and 5G related issues, including: new security threats that IoT brings, e.g. botnets, ad hoc vehicular networks and the need for trust in vehicular communications, content repetition by offloading traffic onto mobile users, as well as issues due to new wearable devices that enable data collection to become more intrusive.

This book provides an enduring response to modern economic problems and the consequent crises, dealing with the economic modelling of nations and the forecasting of economic growth. The main arguments embodied constitute the creation of jobs and the restoration of economic growth, using the implicit acceptance of analysis on differential models and neutral systems for controlling the wealth of nations.

This book presents the works and research findings of physicists, economists, mathematicians, statisticians, and financial engineers who have undertaken data-driven modelling of market dynamics and other empirical studies in the field of Econophysics. During recent decades, the financial market landscape has changed dramatically with the deregulation of markets and the growing complexity of products. The ever-increasing speed and decreasing costs of computational power and networks have led to the emergence of huge databases. The availability of these data should permit the development of models that are better founded empirically, and econophysicists have accordingly been advocating that one should rely primarily on the empirical observations in order to construct models and validate them. The recent turmoil in financial markets and the 2008 crash appear to offer a strong rationale for new models and approaches. The Econophysics community accordingly has an important future role to play in market modelling. The Econophys-Kolkata VIII conference proceedings are devoted to the presentation of many such modelling efforts and address recent developments. A number of leading researchers from across the globe report on their recent work, comment on the latest issues, and review the contemporary literature.

Combining control theory and modeling, this textbook introduces and builds on methods for simulating and tackling concrete problems in a variety of applied sciences. Emphasizing "learning by doing," the authors focus on examples and applications to real-world problems. An elementary presentation of advanced concepts, proofs to introduce new ideas, and carefully presented MATLAB(r) programs help foster an understanding of the basics, but also lead the way to new, independent research.

With minimal prerequisites and exercises in each chapter, this work serves as an excellent textbook and referencefor graduate and advanced undergraduatestudents, researchers, and practitioners in mathematics, physics, engineering, computer science, as well as biology, biotechnology, economics, and finance."

This book provides an analysis of strategic behavior in international crises. Various aspects of crisis decision and interaction, such as initiation, misperception, deception, learning, and termination, are studied by means of a game model that incorporates psychological variables. This integrative approach is designed to narrow the gap between psychological and game-theoretical studies of crisis, which are generally considered to be incompatible. The utility of the approach is demonstrated by means of an in-depth case study of the 1967 Middle East crisis. This study will be of interest to scholars in political science and international relations and political science, crisis theory, and game theory.

The goal in putting together this unique compilation was to present the current status of the solutions to some of the most essential open problems in pure and applied mathematics. Emphasis is also given to problems in interdisciplinary research for which mathematics plays a key role. This volume comprises highly selected contributions by some of the most eminent mathematicians in the international mathematical community on longstanding problems in very active domains of mathematical research. A joint preface by the two volume editors is followed by a personal farewell to John F. Nash, Jr. written by Michael Th. Rassias. An introduction by Mikhail Gromov highlights some of Nash's legendary mathematical achievements. The treatment in this book includes open problems in the following fields: algebraic geometry, number theory, analysis, discrete mathematics, PDEs, differential geometry, topology, K-theory, game theory, fluid mechanics, dynamical systems and ergodic theory, cryptography, theoretical computer science, and more. Extensive discussions surrounding the progress made for each problem are designed to reach a wide community of readers, from graduate students and established research mathematicians to physicists, computer scientists, economists, and research scientists who are looking to develop essential and modern new methods and theories to solve a variety of open problems.

The objective of this book is to provide a valuable compendium of problems as a reference for undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, researchers and practitioners of operations research and management science. These problems can serve as a basis for the development or study of assignments and exams. Also, they can be useful as a guide for the first stage of the model formulation, i.e. the definition of a problem. The book is divided into 11 chapters that address the following topics: Linear programming, integer programming, non linear programming, network modeling, inventory theory, queue theory, tree decision, game theory, dynamic programming and markov processes. Readers are going to find a considerable number of statements of operations research applications for management decision-making. The solutions of these problems are provided in a concise way although all topics start with a more developed resolution. The proposed problems are based on the research experience of the authors in real-world companies so much as on the teaching experience of the authors in order to develop exam problems for industrial engineering and business administration studies.

Dynamics, Games and Science I and II are a selection of surveys and research articles written by leading researchers in mathematics. The majority of the contributions are on dynamical systems and game theory, focusing either on fundamental and theoretical developments or on applications to modeling in biology, ecomonics, engineering, finances and psychology.

The papers are based on talks given at the International Conference DYNA 2008, held in honor of Mauricio Peixoto and David Rand at the University of Braga, Portugal, on September 8-12, 2008.

The aim of these volumes is to present cutting-edge research in these areas to encourage graduate students and researchers in mathematics and other fields to develop them further.