Linear-Quadratic Mean Field Games with Common Noise: A Direct Approach

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Cong, Wenyu, Shi, Jingtao, Wang, Bingchang
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Cong, Wenyu
Shi, Jingtao
Wang, Bingchang
author_facet Cong, Wenyu
Shi, Jingtao
Wang, Bingchang
contents This paper investigates a linear-quadratic mean field games problem with common noise, where the drift term and diffusion term of individual state equations are coupled with both the state, control, and mean field terms of the state, and we adopt the direct approach to tackle this problem. Compared with addressing the corresponding mean field teams problem, the mean field games problem with state coupling presents greater challenges. This is not only reflected in the explosive increase in the number of adjoint equations when applying variational analysis but also in the need for more Riccati equations during decoupling the high-dimensional forward-backward stochastic differential equations system. We take a different set of steps and ingeniously utilize the inherent properties of the equations to address this challenge. First, we solve an $N$-player games problem within a vast and finite population setting, and obtain a set of forward-backward stochastic differential equations by variational analysis. Then, we derive the limiting forward-backward stochastic differential equations by taking the limit as $N$ approaches infinity and applying the law of large numbers. Based on the existence and uniqueness of solutions to backward stochastic differential equations, some variables in the equations are identically zero, which significantly reduces the complexity of the analysis. This allows us to introduce just two Riccati equations to explicitly construct decentralized strategies for all participants. Moreover, we demonstrate that the constructed decentralized strategies constitute an $ε$-Nash equilibrium strategy for the original problem. We also extend the results to the infinite-horizon case and analyze the solvability of algebraic Riccati equations. Finally, numerical simulations are provided to illustrate the preceding conclusions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_07271
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Linear-Quadratic Mean Field Games with Common Noise: A Direct Approach
Cong, Wenyu
Shi, Jingtao
Wang, Bingchang
Optimization and Control
93E20, 60H10, 49K45, 49N70, 91A23
This paper investigates a linear-quadratic mean field games problem with common noise, where the drift term and diffusion term of individual state equations are coupled with both the state, control, and mean field terms of the state, and we adopt the direct approach to tackle this problem. Compared with addressing the corresponding mean field teams problem, the mean field games problem with state coupling presents greater challenges. This is not only reflected in the explosive increase in the number of adjoint equations when applying variational analysis but also in the need for more Riccati equations during decoupling the high-dimensional forward-backward stochastic differential equations system. We take a different set of steps and ingeniously utilize the inherent properties of the equations to address this challenge. First, we solve an $N$-player games problem within a vast and finite population setting, and obtain a set of forward-backward stochastic differential equations by variational analysis. Then, we derive the limiting forward-backward stochastic differential equations by taking the limit as $N$ approaches infinity and applying the law of large numbers. Based on the existence and uniqueness of solutions to backward stochastic differential equations, some variables in the equations are identically zero, which significantly reduces the complexity of the analysis. This allows us to introduce just two Riccati equations to explicitly construct decentralized strategies for all participants. Moreover, we demonstrate that the constructed decentralized strategies constitute an $ε$-Nash equilibrium strategy for the original problem. We also extend the results to the infinite-horizon case and analyze the solvability of algebraic Riccati equations. Finally, numerical simulations are provided to illustrate the preceding conclusions.
title Linear-Quadratic Mean Field Games with Common Noise: A Direct Approach
topic Optimization and Control
93E20, 60H10, 49K45, 49N70, 91A23
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.07271