Automata, repeated games and noise

Abstract

We consider two-state automata playing repeatedly the Prisoner's Dilemma (or any other 2 × 2-game). The 16 × 16-payoff matrix is computed for the limiting case of a vanishingly small noise term affecting the interaction. Some results concerning the evolution of populations of automata under the action of selection are obtained. The special role of “win-stay, lose-shift”-strategies is examined. © 1995, Springer-Verlag. All rights reserved.