Yes; without self-loops, such a nontrivial simple cooperative game has exactly one positive edge, of weight . For each pair,because singleton and loop contributions are zero. Summing all edge weights gives , so precisely one unordered pair has weight , and all other pairs have weight zero.
Thus the winning coalitions are exactly those containing both and . For any , setThis payoff vector is efficient, since . Every winning coalition receives and every losing coalition receives a nonnegative total, so all inequalities hold. Hence it belongs to the core of a cooperative game.
In fact these are all core allocations. Singleton conditions require , and the winning pair requires ; efficiency then forces equality and zero payoffs outside the pair. The endpoints are both veto players, consistent with the general characterization of the core of a simple cooperative game.
Veto player 2026-10-25
A player belonging to every winning coalition. Giving all of the grand-coalition value to a veto player satisfies every core constraint in a nontrivial simple cooperative game. If there are no veto players, its core of a simple cooperative game is empty.