Conditions for the existence of zero-determinant strategies under observation errors in repeated games

TL;DR

This paper mathematically analyzes the conditions under which zero-determinant strategies can exist in repeated games with observation errors and discount factors, revealing thresholds and constraints for their enforcement.

Contribution

It derives the specific thresholds of discount factors and error rates necessary for the existence of ZD strategies, extending understanding to more realistic scenarios.

Findings

ZD strategies exist only with high discount factors despite increasing errors

Conditions for enforcing linear payoff relationships become stricter with higher errors

Derived thresholds for Equalizer and pcZD strategies in noisy, discounted repeated games

Abstract

Repeated games are useful models to analyze long term interactions of living species and complex social phenomena. Zero-determinant (ZD) strategies in repeated games discovered by Press and Dyson in 2012 enforce a linear payoff relationship between a focal player and the opponent. This linear relationship can be set arbitrarily by a ZD player. Hence, a subclass of ZD strategies can fix the opponent's expected payoff and another subclass of the strategies can exceed the opponent for the expected payoff. Since this discovery, theories for ZD strategies are extended to cope with various natural situations. It is especially important to consider the theory of ZD strategies for repeated games with a discount factor and observation errors because it allows the theory to be applicable in the real world. Recent studies revealed their existence of ZD strategies even in repeated games with both factors. However, the conditions for the existence has not been sufficiently analyzed. Here, we mathematically analyzed the conditions in repeated games with both factors. First, we derived the thresholds of a discount factor and observation errors which ensure the existence of Equalizer and positively correlated ZD (pcZD) strategies, which are well-known subclasses of ZD strategies. We found that ZD strategies exist only when a discount factor remains high as the error rates increase. Next, we derived the conditions for the expected payoff of the opponent enforced by Equalizer as well as the conditions for the slope and base line payoff of linear lines enforced by pcZD. As a result, we found that, as error rates increase or a discount factor decreases, the conditions for the linear line that Equalizer or pcZD can enforce become strict.