The study of competitive and non-competitive games, equilibrium concepts such as Nash equilibrium, and related subjects. Combinatorial games such as Nim are under [tag:combinatorial-game-theory], and algorithmic aspects (e.g. auctions) are under [tag:algorithmic-game-theory].
Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interaction between rational decision-makers. Modern game theory began with the idea regarding the existence of mixed-strategy equilibria in two-person zero-sum games and its proof by John von Neumann. Von Neumann's original proof used the Brouwer fixed-point theorem on continuous mappings into compact convex sets, which became a standard method in game theory and mathematical economics.