Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2003 / iii / Paper 37 / 6 / Solution

In a two-player symmetric finite game, represent mixed strategies by probability vectors and let $e(x,y)=x^{T}Ay$ be the payoff to a player using $x$ against one using $y$. A resident strategy $x^{\ast }$ is an evolutionarily stable strategy if every distinct mutant strategy $y$ has an invasion barrier ${\epsilon }_0(y)>0$ such that, for $0<\epsilon <{\epsilon }_0(y)$,Thus when mutants are sufficiently rare, the resident has strictly larger fitness against the population mixture. The barrier may depend on the mutant; a common barrier is not part of this definition.

For fixed $y\ne x^{\ast }$ putBy bilinearity the resident-minus-mutant fitness difference isIf this is positive for all sufficiently small positive $\epsilon$, taking $\epsilon \downarrow 0$ gives $a_y\ge 0$. If $a_y=0$, strict positivity requires $b_y>0$. Conversely, if $a_y>0$, choose $0<{\epsilon }_0\le a_y/[2(a_y+|b_y|)]$; then the difference is at least $a_y-\epsilon (a_y+|b_y|)>a_y/2>0$. If $a_y=0$ and $b_y>0$, it is $\epsilon b_y>0$ for every $0<\epsilon <1$. This proves the two-condition criterion for evolutionary stability: for every $y\ne x^{\ast }$, eitherorThe weak first comparison is the symmetric Nash equilibrium condition; the second excludes neutrally competitive mutants when that comparison is an equality.

For the Hawk-Dove game, let $x^{\ast }=(1/2,1/2)$ and $y=(p,1-p)$, $0\le p\le 1$. Against the resident, both pure strategies give $1/2$, soDirect multiplication of the payoff matrix givesConsequentlyThe equality case of the two-condition criterion for evolutionary stability therefore applies to every distinct mutant. More explicitly, the fitness difference in a mixed population is $2\epsilon (p-1/2{)}^2$, positive for every $0<\epsilon <1$. Hence $\boxed{(1/2,1/2)\text{ is an evolutionarily stable strategy}}$, with the common invasion barrier one.