Multiagent systems combine multiple autonomous entities, each having diverging interests or different information. This overview of the field offers a computer science perspective, but also draws on ideas from game theory, economics, operations research, logic, philosophy and linguistics. It will serve as a reference for researchers in each of these fields, and be used as a text for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses. The authors emphasize foundations to create a broad and rigorous treatment of their subject, with thorough presentations of distributed problem solving, game theory, multiagent communication and learning, social choice, mechanism design, auctions, cooperative game theory, and modal logics of knowledge and belief. For each topic, basic concepts are introduced, examples are given, proofs of key results are offered, and algorithmic considerations are examined. An appendix covers background material in probability theory, classical logic, Markov decision processes and mathematical programming.

Table of Contents

1. Distributed constraint satisfaction; 2. Distributed optimization; 3. Introduction to non-cooperative game theory; 4. Computing solution concepts of normal-form games; 5. Games with sequential actions; 6. Richer representations; 7. Learning and teaching; 8. Communication; 9. Aggregating preferences; 10. Protocols for strategic agents; 11. Protocols for multiagent resource allocation; 12. Teams of selfish agents; 13. Logics of knowledge and belief; 14. Beyond belief.

About the Author

Yoav Shoham is Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, where he has been since receiving his PhD in computer science from Yale University in 1987. Shoham is a Fellow of the Association for Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) and charter member of the International Game Theory Society. Aside from authoring four books and numerous other works, he is director of TARK (Theoretical Aspects of Rationality and Knowledge), a non-profit organization. Kevin Leyton-Brown is an assistant professor of computer science at the University of British Columbia. His affiliations include the Laboratory for Computational Intelligence (LCI) and the Bioinformatics, and Empirical & Theoretical Algorithmics Laboratory (BETA-Lab) and membership on the editorial board of the Journal of AI Research (JAIR).

Reviews

"This is by far the best text in the field of multiagent systems, one of the fastest-growing areas in computer science." Stuart Russell, University of California at Berkeley "The integration of methodologies that study different aspects of interactive strategic systems is of vital importance in modern society. Through excellent side-by-side presentation of the main approaches in computer science, game theory and economics, this pioneering textbook is a major advance towards the education of a better-equipped generation of computer scientists as well as social scientists." Ehud Kalai, Northwestern University "This is a rich and comprehensive text on multiagent systems, written by two of the leading researchers in the area in an engaging and accessible style. It is unique in covering the diverse foundations of multiagent systems, including logic. Its extensive treatment of the interplay between computer science and game theory will define how the subject should be taught. I recommend the book for graduate students and advanced undergraduates, as well as researchers in both computer science and economics trying to learn the basics of the field." Joseph Halpern, Cornell University "With the emergence of the Internet, the focus of much of the research in computer science and in artificial intelligence is shifting from the the study of the single program to the study of the interactions among different computers and programs. Multiagent Systems presents for the first time this cutting-edge research in a textbook form. The book transcends the traditional boundaries of artificial intelligence and touches all aspects of multiagent systems: from artificial intelligence to algorithms to game theory, to logic, and beyond. Written by leaders in this research area, this book is certain to become the textbook of choice for classes on multiagent systems." Noam Nisan, Hebrew University "Shoham and Leyton-Brown traverse several disciplines to bring together the most salient and useful technical principles for understanding multiagent systems. This text is the first to provide computer scientists with a comprehensive treatment of the mathematical machinery they need to analyze systems of autonomous agents, integrating their computational and strategic dimensions." Michael Wellman, University of Michigan