Solipsistic breakthroughs or stymying collectives? Historical duels in August Wilson’s Radio Golf.

Quantum duels and truels

A truel, or three person generalization of a duel, is a popular model in game theory of a struggle for survival. The outcome is often sensitive to the precise rules under which the truel is performed and can be anti-intuitive. We propose a quantum scheme, along the lines of recent work in quantum game theory, for the problems of duels and truels. Interference amongst the players’ strategies can...

Golf Signs GOLF SIGNS

Lone Inventors as Sources of Breakthroughs: Myth or Reality?

How does collaboration influence creativity and, in particular, the invention of breakthroughs? Recent research has attempted to resolve this question by considering the variance of creative outcomes, implicitly assuming that greater probability of breakthroughs comes at the cost of greater probability of particularly poor outcomes. However, through an examination of the overall distribution of...

Quantum two and three person duels

In game theory, a popular model of a struggle for survival among three competing agents is a truel, or three person generalization of a duel. Adopting the ideas recently developed in quantum game theory, we present a quantum scheme for the problems of duels and truels. In the classical case, the outcome is sensitive to the precise rules under which the truel is performed and can be counter intu...

Employee Spinoffs and the Solipsistic Entrepreneur

A team of managers engaged in production using technology x, is considering switching to technology y. The value of y is learned slowly over time, but constraints on the ability of individual managers to communicate their beliefs allow disagreements to emerge among team members. Managers who develop sufficiently strong disagreements with their colleagues choose to form new companies to implemen...