Counting derangements and Nash equilibria

Abstract

The maximal number of totally mixed Nash equilibria in games of several players equals the number of block derangements, as proved by McKelvey and McLennan.On the other hand, counting the derangements is a well studied problem. The numbers are identified as linearization coefficients for Laguerre polynomials. MacMahon derived a generating function for them as an application of his master theorem. This article relates the algebraic, combinatorial and game-theoretic problems that were not connected before. New recurrence relations, hypergeometric formulas and asymptotics for the derangement counts are derived. An upper bound for the total number of all Nash equilibria is given.