Gap functions for quasivariational inequalities and generalized Nash equilibrium problems (Q662856)

A problem of quasivariational inequalities for two set-valued maps \(S\) and \(T\), which are defined on \(\mathbb{R}^n\) with subsets of \(\mathbb{R}^n\) as values, consists of finding \(\bar{x}\in{S(\bar{x})}\) such that there exists \({\bar{x}}^\ast\in{T(\bar{x})}\), for which the inequality \(\langle{\bar{x}^\ast},y-\bar{x}\rangle\geq0\) holds for every \(y\in{S(\bar{x})}\). The authors consider the problem of formalization of quasivariational inequalities as a problem of optimization. The task is accomplished using the concept of a gap function. A function is called gap function if it is nonnegative on the set of fixed points of the map \(S\) and vanishes only on the solutions to the problem of quasivariational inequalities. This result is applied to a generalized Nash equilibrium. The generalized Nash equilibrium is defined as a game of a finite number of players where each of them minimizes ones own loss criterion knowing the strategies of all other players. The admissible strategies available to each player are subject to constraints depending on the strategies of all other players. The authors described a condition under which a solution to a generalized Nash equilibrium problem can be equivalently described as a solution to a set of quasivariational inequalities. Thus, in conjunction with the results described above, the authors characterize a class of generalized Nash equilibrium problems where the solutions can be characterized by a gap function.