Quantum physics and game theory
When the average person thinks of quantum physics, they might think of strange cats, strange last names, or maybe nothing at all. On the other hand, game theory might bring about things like decision making and problem solving to mind. Overall, these two concepts aren’t often thought to be related – most people never even think of either of the concepts. However, a group of French physicists have recently proven that quantum physics and game theory can in fact cross paths.
Before I go on, let me add an important caveat to this blog post: I am by no means an expert in quantum physics (a topic I only remotely understand) or game theory (a topic I am just learning about now). I will however do my best to explain what I have found online. In quantum physics, probabilities regarding location and time come into play in discussing the behavior of atoms. Game theory looks at how subjects make decisions, and this can be specified to on average behavior in the mean-field game theory area. With this in mind, the French physicists bring up the example of a school of fish who stay together but also independently gather food. The school moves at one while the fish move at random within. A fish might see food, swim to it, and then move back with the group. If you wanna find a fish, you pick a spot and look at the probability that a fish is there or not, based on where the school is. As the school swims through the spot, the probability goes up, and down for when it moves on. This is apparently similar to the probability of finding an electron in an atom.
This connection could bring a lot of progress in the field of game theory. I’m not going to pretend I understand all the implications, but I can gather that this is something of great importance.
Source:
http://www.sciencealert.com/physicists-just-figured-out-how-quantum-mechanics-pops-up-in-game-theory