A PARAMETRIC, RESOURCE-BOUNDED GENERALIZATION OF LÖB’S THEOREM, AND A ROBUST COOPERATION CRITERION FOR OPEN-SOURCE GAME THEORY

Abstract

AbstractThis article presents two theorems: (1) a generalization of Löb’s Theorem that applies to formal proof systems operating with bounded computational resources, such as formal verification software or theorem provers, and (2) a theorem on the robust cooperation of agents that employ proofs about one another’s source code as unexploitable criteria for cooperation. The latter illustrates a capacity for outperforming classical Nash equilibria and correlated equilibria, attaining mutually cooperative program equilibrium in the Prisoner’s Dilemma while remaining unexploitable, i.e., sometimes achieving the outcome (Cooperate, Cooperate), and never receiving the outcome (Cooperate, Defect) as player 1.