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This section focuses on the algorithm developed by David Gale and Lloyd Shapley in 1962. The algorithm, called the Stable matching problem, is meant to answer the question: "Could one design a college admissions process, or a job recruiting process, that was
self-enforcing?“ This algorithm can also be illustrated by matching groups of people into “couples” so that they all are matched with the best possible individual to lead to a stable relationship environment. The remainder of the section goes on to discuss implementation and results of the algorithm and related proofs which will be discussed after this summary. /As aforementioned, the motivation for the problem is to develop a college admissions/job recruitment process that self-enforced and avoided people “jumping ship” to other opportunities.
Here is a sketch of the algorithm as given by the text:
Initially all m E M and w E W are free
While there is a man m who is free and hasn’t proposed to
every woman
Choose such a man m
Let w be the highest-ranked woman in m’s preference list
to whom m has not yet proposed
If w is free then
(m, w) become engaged
Else w is currently engaged to m’
If w prefers m’ to m then
m remains free
Else w prefers m to m’
(m,w) become engaged
m' becomes free
Endif
Endif
Endwhile Return the set S of engaged pairs
