Is she faking it? Get out your slide rule and find out for sure

Most people probably don't think maths is sexy, but judging from a new paper in mathematical game theory, it can be positively lewd.

Alert reader Chloe Swanson from faraway Toronto sent me this intriguing paper by Hugo Mialon, an economics PhD candidate from the University of Texas.

Actually, if you know a little about game theory - or if you have seen Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind - you wouldn't find this so outlandish.

Mialon poses the problem this way: Eve has the strategic options of moaning or staying silent, and Adam of doubting or believing. He then considers whether a faking strategy or an honest strategy works best for couples according to their ages, education, and varying states of zero love, unrequited love, a little love and completely in love. He makes other assumptions but it takes too long to explain.

Anyway, it's a classic one-off, two-person game. To save you the maths, here are some of Mialon's conclusions:

The level of orgasmic satisfaction a woman gets does not affect her probability of faking