Evolution, games theory and polyhedra

Abstract

The problem of finding an Evolutionary Stable Strategy (ESS) for an animal species is defined. It is shown how such strategies are a subset of the equilibrium solutions for a particular non-zero sum game. These equilibrium solutions are then shown to arise from the vertices of a particular convex polyhedron. A method of finding these equilibrium solutions through the vertices and then the ESS solutions is given. This is illustrated by a number of numerical examples taken from the literature. Finally an alternative approach based on solving a Linear Complementarity Problem is discussed