Book Image

Applying Math with Python - Second Edition

By : Sam Morley
Book Image

Applying Math with Python - Second Edition

By: Sam Morley

Overview of this book

The updated edition of Applying Math with Python will help you solve complex problems in a wide variety of mathematical fields in simple and efficient ways. Old recipes have been revised for new libraries and several recipes have been added to demonstrate new tools such as JAX. You'll start by refreshing your knowledge of several core mathematical fields and learn about packages covered in Python's scientific stack, including NumPy, SciPy, and Matplotlib. As you progress, you'll gradually get to grips with more advanced topics of calculus, probability, and networks (graph theory). Once you’ve developed a solid base in these topics, you’ll have the confidence to set out on math adventures with Python as you explore Python's applications in data science and statistics, forecasting, geometry, and optimization. The final chapters will take you through a collection of miscellaneous problems, including working with specific data formats and accelerating code. By the end of this book, you'll have an arsenal of practical coding solutions that can be used and modified to solve a wide range of practical problems in computational mathematics and data science.
Table of Contents (13 chapters)

Computing Nash equilibria

A Nash equilibrium is a two-player strategic game – similar to the one we saw in the Analyzing simple two-player games recipe – that represents a steady state in which every player sees the best possible outcome. However, this doesn’t mean that the outcome linked to a Nash equilibrium is the best overall. Nash equilibria are more subtle than this. An informal definition of a Nash equilibrium is as follows: an action profile in which no individual player can improve their outcome, assuming that all other players adhere to the profile.

We will explore the notion of a Nash equilibrium with the classic game of rock-paper-scissors. The rules are as follows. Each player can choose one of the options: rock, paper, or scissors. Rock beats scissors, but loses to paper; paper beats rock, but loses to scissors; scissors beats paper, but loses to rock. Any game in which both players make the same choice is a draw. Numerically, we represent a win...