tim roughgarden
Wondering what my research is about, but not sure where to start? Too busy to sift through the details of my papers? This page outlines some of the major themes in my research over the past 20+ years and provides links to the best entry points for learning more (books, surveys, videos, and papers). Click on a topic to explore further. (Last updated Summer 2023.) Computer science and economics have had a productive relationship over the past 25 years, resulting in a new field called algorithmic game theory or alternatively economics and computation. Many problems central to modern computer science, ranging from resource allocation in large networks to the design of blockchain protocols, fundamentally involve interactions between multiple self-interested parties. Economics and game theory offer a host of useful models and definitions to reason about such problems. The flow of ideas also travels in the other direction, with approximation and complexity notions playing an in