Mean-Field Games are games with a continuum of players that incorporate the time-dimension through a control-theoretic approach. Recently, simpler approaches relying on the Best Reply Strategy have been proposed. They assume that the agents navigate their strategies towards their goal by taking the direction of steepest descent of their cost function (i.e. the opposite of the utility function). In this paper, we explore the link between Mean-Field Games and the Best Reply Strategy approach. This is done by introducing a Model Predictive Control framework, which consists of setting the Mean-Field Game over a short time interval which recedes as time moves on. We show that the Model Predictive Control offers a compromise between a possibly unrealistic Mean-Field Game approach and the sub-optimal Best Reply Strategy.

As V. I. Arnold observed in the 1960s, the Euler equations of incompressible fluid flow correspond formally to geodesic equations in a group of volume-preserving diffeomorphisms. Working in an Eulerian framework, we study incompressible flows of shapes as critical paths for action (kinetic energy) along transport paths constrained to be shape densities (characteristic functions). The formal geodesic equations for this problem are Euler equations for incompressible, inviscid potential flow of fluid with zero pressure and surface tension on the free boundary. The problem of minimizing this action exhibits an instability associated with microdroplet formation, with the following outcomes: Any two shapes of equal volume can be approximately connected by an Euler spray---a countable superposition of ellipsoidal geodesics. The infimum of the action is the Wasserstein distance squared, and is almost never attained except in dimension 1. Every Wasserstein geodesic between bounded densities of compact support provides a solution of the (compressible) pressureless Euler system that is a weak limit of (incompressible) Euler sprays. Each such Wasserstein geodesic is also the unique minimizer of a relaxed least-action principle for a two-fluid mixture theory corresponding to incompressible fluid mixed with vacuum.

We consider in this work stochastic differential equation (SDE) model for particles in contact with a heat bath when the memory effects are non-negligible. As a result of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem, the differential equations driven by fractional Brownian noise to model memory effects should be paired with Caputo derivatives and based on this we consider fractional stochastic differential equations (FSDEs), which should be understood in an integral form. We establish the existence of strong solutions for such equations. In the linear forcing regime, we compute the solutions explicitly and analyze the asymptotic behavior, through which we verify that satisfying fluctuation-dissipation indeed leads to the correct physical behavior. We further discuss possible extensions to nonlinear forcing regime, while leave the rigorous analysis for future works.

We study convolution groups generated by completely monotone sequences and completely monotone functions. Using a convolution group, we define a fractional calculus for a certain class of distributions. When acting on causal functions, this definition agrees with the traditional Riemann-Liouville definition for t>0 but includes some singularities at t=0 so that the group property holds. Using this group, we are able to extend the definition of Caputo derivatives of order in (0,1) to a certain class of locally integrable functions without using the first derivative. The group property allows us to de-convolve the fractional differential equations to integral equations with completely monotone kernels, which then enables us to prove the general Gronwall inequality (or comparison principle) with the most general conditions. This then opens the door of a priori energy estimates of fractional PDEs. Some other fundamental results for fractional ODEs are also established within this frame under very weak conditions. Besides, we also obtain some interesting results about completely monotone sequences.

Abstract We study a class of fourth order nonlinear parabolic equations which include the thin-film equation and the quantum drift-diffusion model as special cases. We investigate these equations by first developing functional inequalities of the type $$ \int_\Omega u^{2\gamma-\alpha-\beta}\Delta\ua\Delta\ub dx \geq c\int_\Omega|\Delta \ur |^2dx, $$ which seem to be of interest on their own right.