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arXiv · 2504.03456

A vector bundle approach to Nash equilibria

Hirotachi Abo·Irem Portakal·Luca Sodomaco
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Abstract

We use vector bundles to study the locus of totally mixed Nash equilibria of an $n$-player game in normal form, which we call the Nash equilibrium scheme. When the payoff tensor format is balanced, we study the Nash discriminant variety, i.e., the algebraic variety of games whose Nash equilibrium scheme is nonreduced or has a positive dimensional component. We prove that this variety has codimension one. We classify all possible components of the Nash equilibrium scheme for a binary three-player game. We prove that if the payoff tensor is of boundary format, then the Nash discriminant variety has two components: an irreducible hypersurface and a larger-codimensional component. A generic game with an unbalanced payoff tensor format does not admit totally mixed Nash equilibria. We define the Nash resultant variety of games admitting a positive number of totally mixed Nash equilibria. We prove that it is irreducible and determine its codimension and degree.

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Hirotachi Abo, Irem Portakal, Luca Sodomaco. 2025-04-04. A vector bundle approach to Nash equilibria. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aam.2025.103028

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