Recently, a standardized framework was proposed for introducing quantum-inspired moves in mathematical games with perfect information and no chance. The beauty of quantum games-succinct in representation, rich in structures, explosive in complexity, dazzling for visualization, and sophisticated for strategic reasoning-has drawn us to play concrete games full of subtleties and to characterize abstract properties pertinent to complexity consequence. Going beyond individual games, we explore the tractability of quantum combinatorial games as whole, and address fundamental questions including:
Quantum Leap in Complexity: Are there polynomial-time solvable games whose quantum extensions are intractable?
Quantum Collapses in Complexity: Are there PSPACE-complete games whose quantum extensions fall to the lower levels of the polynomial-time hierarchy?
Quantumness Matters: How do outcome classes and strategies change under quantum moves? Under what conditions doesn't quantumness matter?
PSPACE Barrier for Quantum Leap: Can quantum moves launch PSPACE games into outer polynomial space
We show that quantum moves not only enrich the game structure, but also impact their computational complexity. In settling some of these basic questions, we characterize both the powers and limitations of quantum moves as well as the superposition of game configurations that they create. Our constructive proofs-both on the leap of complexity in concrete Quantum Nim and Quantum Undirected Geography and on the continuous collapses, in the quantum setting, of complexity in abstract PSPACE-complete games to each level of the polynomial-time hierarchy-illustrate the striking computational landscape over quantum games and highlight surprising turns with unexpected quantum impact. Our studies also enable us to identify several elegant open questions fundamental to quantum combinatorial game theory (QCGT).
Washington University（华盛顿大学）；Army Research Laboratory（陆军研究实验室）；University of Texas, Dallas（德克萨斯大学达拉斯分校）
Deception is a crucial tool in the cyberdefence repertoire, enabling defenders to leverage their informational advantage to reduce the likelihood of successful attacks. One way deception can be employed is through obscuring, or masking, some of the information about how systems are configured, increasing attacker's uncertainty about their targets. We present a novel game-theoretic model of the resulting defender-attacker interaction, where the defender chooses a subset of attributes to mask, while the attacker responds by choosing an exploit to execute. The strategies of both players have comb…
In this paper, we study a colorful, impartial combinatorial game played on a two-dimensional grid, Transverse Wave. We are drawn to this game because of its apparent simplicity, contrasting intractability, and intrinsic connection to two other combinatorial games, one inspired by social influence and another inspired by quantum superpositions. More precisely, we show that Transverse Wave is at the intersection of social-influence-inspired Friend Circle and superposition-based Demi-Quantum Nim. Transverse Wave is also connected with Schaefer's logic game Avoid True. In addition to analyzing the…
We study algorithms for solving Subtraction games, which sometimes are referred to as one-heap Nim games. We describe a quantum algorithm which is applicable to any game on DAG, and show that its query compexity for solving an arbitrary Subtraction game of $n$ stones is $O(n^{3/2}\log n)$. The best known deterministic algorithms for solving such games are based on the dynamic programming approach. We show that this approach is asymptotically optimal and that classical query complexity for solving a Subtraction game is generally $Θ(n^2)$. This paper perhaps is the first explicit "quantum" contr…
We consider Proof Complexity in light of the unusual binary encoding of certain combinatorial principles. We contrast this Proof Complexity with the normal unary encoding in several refutation systems, based on Resolution and Integer Linear Programming. Please consult the article for the full abstract.
In this thesis, we survey techniques and results from the study of Complexity Theory and Games. We then apply these techniques to obtain new results for previously unstudied games. Our contributions in the games Hexiom, Cut the Rope, and Back to Bed may be helpful in further studies by exploiting structure common to several games. We also highlight some interesting paths for further study related to uncertainty that have yet to receive thorough study given their prevalence in today's games.
We prove communication complexity lower bounds for (possibly mixed) Nash equilibrium in potential games. In particular, we show that finding a Nash equilibrium requires $poly(N)$ communication in two-player $N \times N$ potential games, and $2^{poly(n)}$ communication in $n$-player two-action games. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first results to demonstrate hardness in any model of (possibly mixed) Nash equilibrium in potential games.
This document collects the lecture notes from my mini-course "Complexity Theory, Game Theory, and Economics," taught at the Bellairs Research Institute of McGill University, Holetown, Barbados, February 19--23, 2017, as the 29th McGill Invitational Workshop on Computational Complexity. The goal of this mini-course is twofold: (i) to explain how complexity theory has helped illuminate several barriers in economics and game theory; and (ii) to illustrate how game-theoretic questions have led to new and interesting complexity theory, including recent several breakthroughs. It consists of two five…
This paper is concerned with complexity theoretic aspects of a general formulation of quantum game theory that models strategic interactions among rational agents that process and exchange quantum information. In particular, we prove that the computational problem of finding an approximate Nash equilibrium in a broad class of quantum games is, like the analogous problem for classical games, included in (and therefore complete for) the complexity class PPAD. Our main technical contribution, which facilitates this inclusion, is an extension of prior methods in computational game theory to strate…
So-called separation automata are in the core of several recently invented quasi-polynomial time algorithms for parity games. An explicit $q$-state separation automaton implies an algorithm for parity games with running time polynomial in $q$. It is open whether a polynomial-state separation automaton exists. A positive answer will lead to a polynomial-time algorithm for parity games, while a negative answer will at least demonstrate impossibility to construct such an algorithm using separation approach. In this work we prove exponential lower bound for a restricted class of separation automat…
