Stochastic evolutionary dynamics of bimatrix games

Abstract

Evolutionary game dynamics of two-player asymmetric games in finite populations is studied. We consider two roles in the game, roles alpha and beta. alpha-players and beta-players interact and gain payoffs. The game is described by a pair of matrices, which is called bimatrix. One's payoff in the game is interpreted as its fecundity, thus strategies are subject to natural selection. In addition, strategies can randomly mutate to others. We formulate a stochastic evolutionary game dynamics of bimatrix games as a frequency-dependent Moran process with mutation. We analytically derive the stationary distribution of strategies under weak selection. Our result provides a criterion for equilibrium selection in general bimatrix games.