Linear Quadratic Extended Mean Field Games and Control Problems

Abstract

We provide a thorough study of a general class of linear-quadratic extended mean field games and control problems in any dimensions where the mean field terms are allowed to be unbounded and there are also presence of cross terms in the objective functionals. Our investigation focuses on the unique existence of equilibrium strategies for the extended mean field problems by employing the stochastic maximum principle approach and the appropriate fixed point argument. We provide two distinct proofs, accompanied by two sufficient conditions, that establish the unique existence of the equilibrium strategy over a global time horizon. Both conditions emphasize the importance of sufficiently small coefficients of sensitivity for the cross term, of state and control, and mean field term. To determine the required magnitude of these coefficients, we utilize the singular values of appropriate matrices and Weyl's inequalities. The present proposed theory is consistent with the classical one, namely, our theoretical framework encompasses classical linear-quadratic stochastic control problems as particular cases. Additionally, we establish sufficient conditions for the unique existence of solutions to a particular class of non-symmetric Riccati equations, and we illustrate a counterexample to the existence of equilibrium strategies. Furthermore, we also apply the stochastic maximum principle approach to examine linear-quadratic extended mean field type stochastic control problems. Finally, we conduct a comparative analysis between our method and the alternative master equation approach, specifically addressing the efficacy of the present proposed approach in solving common practical problems, for which the explicit forms of the equilibrium strategies can be obtained directly, even over any global time horizon.