Robert Aumann

Robert Aumann is an Israeli-American mathematician and economist whose work helped establish modern game theory, especially the analysis of repeated interaction and correlated beliefs.

Game theory: The mathematical study of strategic interaction among decision-makers. Aumann’s research developed foundational results within this broader framework.
Folk theorem (game theory): A family of results showing that many payoff outcomes can be sustained in sufficiently repeated games. These results explain how repeated interaction can support cooperation despite short-term incentives to defect.
Lloyd Shapley: An American mathematician who made foundational contributions to cooperative game theory and matching theory. Aumann and Shapley shared the 2005 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for game-theoretic work.
Arms control: Agreements and policies that limit or regulate the development, possession, or use of weapons. Aumann applied game-theoretic reasoning to strategic conflict and the prospects for arms agreements.
Minimax theorem: A theorem stating that, in finite two-player zero-sum games, the maximum guaranteed payoff equals the minimum the opponent can impose. The theorem anchors classical competitive game theory, unlike Aumann’s emphasis on repeated interaction and information.
Repeated game: A game in which the same strategic interaction occurs across multiple periods. Repeated interaction is the setting of Aumann’s best-known cooperation results.
Aumann's agreement theorem: A result stating that Bayesian agents with common priors cannot agree to disagree about a shared event when their posteriors are common knowledge. It captures how shared assumptions and public knowledge constrain persistent disagreement.
John Harsanyi: A Hungarian-American economist who developed the analysis of games with incomplete information. Harsanyi’s framework for private information complements Aumann’s work on beliefs and knowledge.
Auction theory: The study of how auction rules shape bidding behavior and allocation outcomes. Game theory of information and incentives provides tools for analyzing strategic bidding.
Cooperative game theory: The study of how groups can form coalitions and distribute the gains from cooperation. Aumann’s best-known repeated-game work focuses on noncooperative strategic interaction rather than coalition value allocation.

Linked from 4 pages