We seek a better understanding of the behavior of decentralized systems such as markets (economic and electronic) and traffic networks, through the study of effective resource allocation and price determination for these systems. For network traffic, we seek to understand the impact of selfish network users on system behavior and study methods to control this. For markets where there is an accepted ordering of the desirability of goods (such as ad slots on web pages, quality-of-service customer classes, and network routes with known delays), we seek to design fast algorithms to match buyers and sellers so that all profit from the exchange. For decentralized networked markets, we seek to understand the convergence properties of local price update algorithms. These problems have implications for Internet and transportation networks, networked market economies, and online advertising markets. We will also design and offer new undergraduate courses that introduce both computer science majors and nonmajors to these important issues.
