Related papers: Easy Impossibility Proofs for k-Set Agreement in M…
In this paper, we investigate the approximate consensus problem in highly dynamic networks in which topology may change continually and unpredictably. We prove that in both synchronous and partially synchronous systems, approximate…
This paper considers a probabilistic generalization of the $N$-$k$ failure-identification problem in power transmission networks, where the probability of failure of each component in the network is known a priori and the goal of the…
We present two main theorems along the lines of Lyapunov's second method that guarantee asymptotic state consensus in multi-agent systems of agents in R^m with switching interconnection topologies. The two theorems complement each other in…
The famous Fischer, Lynch, and Paterson impossibility proof shows that it is impossible to solve the consensus problem in a natural model of an asynchronous distributed system if even a single process can fail. Since its publication, two…
We propose a new distributed-computing model, inspired by permissionless distributed systems such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, that allows studying permissionless consensus in a mathematically regular setting. Like in the sleepy model of Pass…
A popular approach to the MAP inference problem in graphical models is to minimize an upper bound obtained from a dual linear programming or Lagrangian relaxation by (block-)coordinate descent. This is also known as convex/convergent…
This paper addresses the problem of distributed hypothesis testing in multi-agent networks, where agents repeatedly collect local observations about an unknown state of the world, and try to collaboratively detect the true state through…
We introduce a framework of layered subsets, and give a sufficient condition for when a set system supports an agreement test. Agreement testing is a certain type of property testing that generalizes PCP tests such as the plane vs. plane…
The unbeatability of a consensus protocol, introduced by Halpern, Moses and Waarts in 2001, is a stronger notion of optimality than the accepted notion of early stopping protocols. Using a novel knowledge-based analysis, this paper derives…
Preference aggregation is a fundamental problem in voting theory, in which public input rankings of a set of alternatives (called preferences) must be aggregated into a single preference that satisfies certain soundness properties. The…
The classic Fischer, Lynch, and Paterson impossibility proof demonstrates that any deterministic protocol for consensus in either a message-passing or shared-memory system must violate at least one of termination, validity, or agreement in…
In this paper, we study the consensus problem for continuous-time and discrete-time multi-agent systems in state-dependent switching networks. In each case, we first consider the networks with fixed connectivity, in which the communication…
In a multiparty message-passing model of communication, there are $k$ players. Each player has a private input, and they communicate by sending messages to one another over private channels. While this model has been used extensively in…
The consensus problem, briefly stated, consists of having processes in an asynchronous distributed system agree on a value. It is widely known that the consensus problem does not have a deterministic solution that ensures both termination…
We address the problem of verifying message passing programs, defined as a set of parallel processes communicating through unbounded FIFO buffers. We introduce a bounded analysis that explores a special type of computations, called…
We address the problem of analyzing asynchronous event-driven programs, in which concurrent agents communicate via unbounded message queues. The safety verification problem for such programs is undecidable. We present in this paper a…
In this paper, we provide a simple framework for deriving one-shot achievable bounds for some problems in quantum information theory. Our framework is based on the joint convexity of the exponential of the collision relative entropy, and is…
This article unifies and generalizes fundamental results related to $n$-process asynchronous crash-prone distributed computing. More precisely, it proves that for every $0\leq k \leq n$, assuming that process failures occur only before the…
The aim of this paper is to provide a systematic overview of results on asymptotic consensus for the Hegselmann-Krause-type model with delay and discuss the corresponding analytical tools. We explain that two types (sources) of delay -…
In this paper, we study sufficient conditions for the emergence of asymptotic consensus and flocking in a certain class of non-linear generalised Cucker-Smale systems subject to multiplicative communication failures. Our approach is based…