Distributionally Robust Nash Equilibria via Variational Inequalities

Abstract

Nash Equilibrium and its robust counterpart, Distributionally Robust Nash Equilibrium (DRNE), are fundamental problems in game theory with applications in economics, engineering, and machine learning. This paper addresses the problem of DRNE, where multiple players engage in a noncooperative game under uncertainty. Each player aims to minimize their objective against the worst-case distribution within an ambiguity set, resulting in a minimax structure. We reformulate the DRNE problem as a Variational Inequality (VI) problem, providing a unified framework for analysis and algorithm development. We propose a gradient descent-ascent type algorithm with convergence guarantee that effectively addresses the computational challenges of high-dimensional and nonsmooth objectives.