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We study the problems of leader election and population size counting for population protocols: networks of finite-state anonymous agents that interact randomly under a uniform random scheduler. We show a protocol for leader election that…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2018-06-08 Othon Michail , Paul G. Spirakis , Michail Theofilatos

Population protocols are a model of distributed computation in which an arbitrary number of indistinguishable finite-state agents interact in pairs to decide some property of their initial configuration. We investigate the behaviour of…

Formal Languages and Automata Theory · Computer Science 2024-12-17 Benno Lossin , Philipp Czerner , Javier Esparza , Roland Guttenberg , Tobias Prehn

The Population Protocol model is a distributed model that concerns systems of very weak computational entities that cannot control the way they interact. The model of Network Constructors is a variant of Population Protocols capable of…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2015-12-10 Othon Michail , Paul G. Spirakis

For a binary choice problem, the spatial coordination of decisions in an agent community is investigated both analytically and by means of stochastic computer simulations. The individual decisions are based on different local information…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2009-11-07 Frank Schweitzer , Joerg Zimmermann , Heinz Muehlenbein

We study uniform population protocols: networks of anonymous agents whose pairwise interactions are chosen at random, where each agent uses an identical transition algorithm that does not depend on the population size $n$. Many existing…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2019-07-30 David Doty , Mahsa Eftekhari

The population control problem is a parameterised problem where a controller sends messages to a whole population of identical finite-state agents, aiming to eventually move them all into a target state. The decision problem asks whether…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2026-02-11 Hugo Gimbert , Corto Mascle , Patrick Totzke

In distributed problems where consensus between agents is required but average consensus is not desired, it can be necessary for each agent to know not only the data of each other agent in the network, but also the origin of each piece of…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2023-04-20 Henry W. Abrahamson , Ermin Wei

Extending well-structured transition systems to incorporate a probabilistic scheduling rule, we define a new class of stochastic well-structured transition systems that includes population protocols, chemical reaction networks, and many…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2025-12-25 James Aspnes

We study the problem of how to coordinate the actions of independent agents in a distributed system where message arrival times are unbounded, but are determined by an exponential probability distribution. Asynchronous protocols executed in…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2023-11-10 Ariel Livshits , Yoram Moses

Population protocols have been introduced by Angluin et al. as a model of networks consisting of very limited mobile agents that interact in pairs but with no control over their own movement. A collection of anonymous agents, modeled by…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2011-09-22 Olivier Bournez , Jérémie Chalopin , Johanne Cohen , Xavier Koegler , Mikael Rabie

In the distributed localization problem (DLP), $n$ anonymous robots (agents) $a_0, a_1, ..., a_{n-1}$ begin at arbitrary positions $p_0, ..., p_{n-1}$ in $S$, where $S$ is an Euclidean space. The primary goal in DLP is for agents to reach a…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2025-05-09 Leszek Gąsieniec , Łukasz Kuszner , Ehsan Latif , Ramviyas Parasuraman , Paul Spirakis , Grzegorz Stachowiak

In this paper, finite-time state consensus problems for continuous-time multi-agent systems are discussed, and two distributive protocols, which ensure that the states of agents reach an agreement in a finite time, are presented. By…

Dynamical Systems · Mathematics 2007-05-23 Long Wang , Feng Xiao

This paper studies a consensus problem of multi-agent systems subjected to external disturbances over the clustered network. It considers that the agents are divided into several clusters. They are almost all the time isolated one from…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2021-06-08 Thiem V. Pham , Quynh T. T. Nguyen

In this paper we analyze the computational power of variants of population protocols (PP), a formalism for distributed systems with anonymous agents having very limited capabilities. The capabilities of agents are enhanced in mediated…

Multiagent Systems · Computer Science 2019-08-26 Tobias Prehn , Myron Rotter

Over the years, population protocols with the goal of reaching consensus have been studied in great depth. However, many systems in the real-world do not result in all agents eventually reaching consensus, but rather in the opposite: they…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2021-06-08 Nan Kang , Frederik Mallmann-Trenn , Nicolás Rivera

Effective coordination of agents actions in partially-observable domains is a major challenge of multi-agent systems research. To address this, many researchers have developed techniques that allow the agents to make decisions based on…

Multiagent Systems · Computer Science 2011-09-28 P. S. Dutta , N. R. Jennings , L. Moreau

A variety of problems in distributed control involve a networked system of autonomous agents cooperating to carry out some complex task in a decentralized fashion, e.g., orienting a flock of drones, or aggregating data from a network of…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2018-05-01 Bernadette Charron-Bost , Patrick Lambein-Monette

We consider a population of $n$ agents which communicate with each other in a decentralized manner, through random pairwise interactions. One or more agents in the population may act as authoritative sources of information, and the…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2017-11-30 Bartlomiej Dudek , Adrian Kosowski

The {\em parallel time} of a population protocol is defined as the average number of required interactions that an agent in the protocol participates, i.e., the quotient between the total number of interactions required by the protocol and…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2021-08-27 Artur Czumaj , Andrzej Lingas

Many of society's most pressing challenges, from pandemic response to supply chain disruptions to climate adaptation, emerge from the collective behavior of millions of autonomous agents making decisions over time. Large Population Models…

Multiagent Systems · Computer Science 2025-07-15 Ayush Chopra