The Evolutionary Hawk-Dove Game on Graphs

Abstract

In evolutionary game theory, the Prisoner’s Dilemma is a well-studied model for a diverse range of real-life situations. The Hawk-Dove game is closely related to the Prisoner’s Dilemma, but has received much less attention. In this thesis the Hawk-Dove game on graphs is explored, as based on a study by Hauert & Doebeli (2004). The experimental part of this thesis consists of a program written in c++ for modeling the Hawk- Dove game on graphs, reproducing Hauert & Doebeli’s results, as well as extending the scope of research to different graphs, update rules, and payoffs. This part is preceded by the necessary theoretical background in game theory, evolutionary game theory, graph theory and the Prisoner’s Dilemma and Hawk-Dove game.