MATH 167
Mathematical Game Theory
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisite: course 115A. Quantitative modeling of strategic interaction. Topics include extensive and normal form games, background probability, lotteries, mixed strategies, pure and mixed Nash equilibria and refinements, bargaining; emphasis on economic examples. Optional topics include repeated games and evolutionary game theory. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - Oleg is one of my favorite characters here at UCLA. I’ve never met anyone like him here in the math department. He’s a no-BS kind of guy, he’s great. Only complaint I have is his lectures can be hard to follow. Besides that, he’s funny, passionate about math/game theory, and also very generous with grades. He (or his TA by proxy) will give you credit back on exams if you can explain what you did wrong and show that you know how to solve the problem, and offers students grading scheme/final exam or project choices (kind of like using game theory to let the students decide how the course will go lol) plus the extra credit on exams and homework go a long way. And most importantly (at least to me), he’s the only professor I’ve had that’s tried to holistically connect math to the rest of the world. Game theory is the math of decision making, so I guess that’s what I should expect. But Oleg really cared about teaching us how to use math/game theory to be rational critical thinkers, and I really appreciate that above everything else. If you get a chance to take this class, I highly recommend you take it and engage as much as you possibly can! Go to lecture though, he doesn’t like it when people don’t go to lecture, or when they come in late. He’ll call you out on it (like I said, no BS). But at the end of the quarter, you’ll most likely find yourself with a relatively easy A,A- or B+ and a different way of seeing the world than before.
Winter 2024 - Oleg is one of my favorite characters here at UCLA. I’ve never met anyone like him here in the math department. He’s a no-BS kind of guy, he’s great. Only complaint I have is his lectures can be hard to follow. Besides that, he’s funny, passionate about math/game theory, and also very generous with grades. He (or his TA by proxy) will give you credit back on exams if you can explain what you did wrong and show that you know how to solve the problem, and offers students grading scheme/final exam or project choices (kind of like using game theory to let the students decide how the course will go lol) plus the extra credit on exams and homework go a long way. And most importantly (at least to me), he’s the only professor I’ve had that’s tried to holistically connect math to the rest of the world. Game theory is the math of decision making, so I guess that’s what I should expect. But Oleg really cared about teaching us how to use math/game theory to be rational critical thinkers, and I really appreciate that above everything else. If you get a chance to take this class, I highly recommend you take it and engage as much as you possibly can! Go to lecture though, he doesn’t like it when people don’t go to lecture, or when they come in late. He’ll call you out on it (like I said, no BS). But at the end of the quarter, you’ll most likely find yourself with a relatively easy A,A- or B+ and a different way of seeing the world than before.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2016 - I took this class after already taking 115a with Heilman. The course by itself is amazing and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about analyzing games and situations. Heilman is a very straightforward lecturer. He provides typed up LaTeX notes ahead of time which make it very easy to follow along and review something later if you're having trouble. He has a bit of a dry wit and will crack a small joke every once in a while but it's mostly just straight lecture. I think he explains everything very clearly and all of his proofs are very in depth. He makes sure that everyone is following along and will answer questions but there usually weren't any because he is so clear. The midterm had a very difficult question on it that no one got right so he went over it in class and gave the solution then asked it again on the final. Overall, I think Heilman is a great professor and would definitely recommend him for this class.
Spring 2016 - I took this class after already taking 115a with Heilman. The course by itself is amazing and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about analyzing games and situations. Heilman is a very straightforward lecturer. He provides typed up LaTeX notes ahead of time which make it very easy to follow along and review something later if you're having trouble. He has a bit of a dry wit and will crack a small joke every once in a while but it's mostly just straight lecture. I think he explains everything very clearly and all of his proofs are very in depth. He makes sure that everyone is following along and will answer questions but there usually weren't any because he is so clear. The midterm had a very difficult question on it that no one got right so he went over it in class and gave the solution then asked it again on the final. Overall, I think Heilman is a great professor and would definitely recommend him for this class.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2023 - AWESOME PROFESSOR!!! Cannot recommend enough. Professor Lutz is an amazing lecturer, has extremely detailed notes (seriously, I have no idea how he had the time to make such awesome notes), and was super helpful in office hours (like he's one of those professors that actually understands your vague question and gives you the answer you're looking for). His tests were not difficult, but did require you to know the material well and think through the problem methodically. Game theory was a lot of combining intuition with mathematical knowledge. Grading scheme: 15% Computational Homework (basically short answers on gradescope that tell you immediately if your answer's right/wrong and was great practise), 20% Long-Form Homework (usually a single problem/game that you had to determine a victor for, involved a lot of thinking and really helped me gain an intuition for the theory of the subject), 25% Midterm, and 40% Final (Replaces the midterm if needed). There were also redemption problems sometimes that could replace your long-form homework grade if you did better on them (basically these gave you a chance to show you understood the material you previously lost points on). Game Theory itself was incredible. I learned so much and it was so different from the other math upper divs I've taken. It wasn't quite pure or applied math, somewhere in between, and I really enjoyed how it kept going back and forth between proofs and real-life scenarios. If you're looking for a fun math upper div, definitely take this! (Notice I said fun, not easy, takes a bit of work :) ) Especially if Professor Lutz is teaching it, you'll have a blast (I would honestly take him for any course, he was the best)
Fall 2023 - AWESOME PROFESSOR!!! Cannot recommend enough. Professor Lutz is an amazing lecturer, has extremely detailed notes (seriously, I have no idea how he had the time to make such awesome notes), and was super helpful in office hours (like he's one of those professors that actually understands your vague question and gives you the answer you're looking for). His tests were not difficult, but did require you to know the material well and think through the problem methodically. Game theory was a lot of combining intuition with mathematical knowledge. Grading scheme: 15% Computational Homework (basically short answers on gradescope that tell you immediately if your answer's right/wrong and was great practise), 20% Long-Form Homework (usually a single problem/game that you had to determine a victor for, involved a lot of thinking and really helped me gain an intuition for the theory of the subject), 25% Midterm, and 40% Final (Replaces the midterm if needed). There were also redemption problems sometimes that could replace your long-form homework grade if you did better on them (basically these gave you a chance to show you understood the material you previously lost points on). Game Theory itself was incredible. I learned so much and it was so different from the other math upper divs I've taken. It wasn't quite pure or applied math, somewhere in between, and I really enjoyed how it kept going back and forth between proofs and real-life scenarios. If you're looking for a fun math upper div, definitely take this! (Notice I said fun, not easy, takes a bit of work :) ) Especially if Professor Lutz is teaching it, you'll have a blast (I would honestly take him for any course, he was the best)
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