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NASH EQUILIBRIUM / MATHEMATICAL GUIDE

Nash Equilibrium Guide

Read payoff matrices and identify best responses and equilibria.

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Models and worked examples

01 / NASH

Prisoner’s Dilemma

Example payoff matrix: C/C (3,3) · C/D (0,5) · D/C (5,0) · D/D (1,1)

Equilibrium: (D,D)

02 / NASH

Coordination Game

Example payoff matrix: A/A (4,4) · A/B (0,0) · B/A (0,0) · B/B (2,2)

Equilibrium: (A,A), (B,B)

03 / NASH

Matching Pennies

Example payoff matrix: A/A (1,−1) · A/B (−1,1) · B/A (−1,1) · B/B (1,−1)

Equilibrium: No pure Nash; each mixes A and B 50/50

How to find an equilibrium

Identify each player’s highest-payoff response to every fixed opponent strategy. A cell is a pure-strategy Nash equilibrium if both players are best-responding there. For mixed strategies, solve the relevant indifference conditions and verify probabilities.

This page provides worked examples, not a live calculator. The computational tool has not yet been activated.

Evidence and source policy

A DOI identifies a research object; it does not by itself prove independent peer review or validation. Journal articles, preprints, manuscripts and proposed models must be labelled separately.

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Editor and website developer: Anastasia IVANOVA · GAME THEORY ATLAS / 2026