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Related papers: Smoothed Analysis of Population Protocols

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The population protocol model describes a network of anonymous agents that interact asynchronously in pairs chosen at random. Each agent starts in the same initial state $s$. We introduce the *dynamic size counting* problem: approximately…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2022-02-28 David Doty , Mahsa Eftekhari

For nearly two decades, population protocols have been extensively studied, yielding efficient solutions for central problems in distributed computing, including leader election, and majority computation, a predicate type in Presburger…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2026-03-17 Leszek Gąsieniec , Tytus Grodzicki , Tomasz Jurdziński , Jakub Kowalski , Grzegorz Stachowiak

We consider the problem of counting the population size in the population model. In this model, we are given a distributed system of $n$ identical agents which interact in pairs with the goal to solve a common task. In each time step, the…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2019-05-29 Petra Berenbrink , Dominik Kaaser , Tomasz Radzik

We study the self-stabilizing leader election problem in anonymous $n$-nodes networks. Achieving self-stabilization with low space memory complexity is particularly challenging, and designing space-optimal leader election algorithms remains…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2026-02-20 Lelia Blin , Sylvain Gay , Isabella Ziccardi

This paper studies a variant of the \emph{leader election} problem under the \emph{stone age} model (Emek and Wattenhofer, PODC 2013) that considers a network of $n$ randomized finite automata with very weak communication capabilities (a…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2018-07-26 Yehuda Afek , Yuval Emek , Noa Kolikant

We propose a self-stabilizing leader election protocol on directed rings in the model of population protocols. Given an upper bound $N$ on the population size $n$, the proposed protocol elects a unique leader within $O(nN)$ expected steps…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2021-12-15 Daisuke Yokota , Yuichi Sudo , Toshimitsu Masuzawa

We investigate space-time trade-offs for population protocols in sparse interaction graphs. In complete interaction graphs, optimal space-time trade-offs are known for the leader election and exact majority problems. However, it has…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2026-02-19 Joel Rybicki , Jakob Solnerzik , Robin Vacus

We consider the problem of efficiently simulating population protocols. In the population model, we are given a distributed system of $n$ agents modeled as identical finite-state machines. In each time step, a pair of agents is selected…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2020-05-08 Petra Berenbrink , David Hammer , Dominik Kaaser , Ulrich Meyer , Manuel Penschuck , Hung Tran

Population protocols are a model of distributed computation intended for the study of networks of independent computing agents with dynamic communication structure. Each agent has a finite number of states, and communication opportunities…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2024-09-02 Michael Raskin

We consider distributed plurality consensus in a complete graph of size $n$ with $k$ initial opinions. We design an efficient and simple protocol in the asynchronous communication model that ensures that all nodes eventually agree on the…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2017-02-23 Robert Elsässer , Tom Friedetzky , Dominik Kaaser , Frederik Mallmann-Trenn , Horst Trinker

We propose a self-stabilizing leader election (SS-LE) protocol on ring networks in the population protocol model. Given a rough knowledge $\psi = \lceil \log n \rceil + O(1)$ on the population size $n$, the proposed protocol lets the…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2023-05-16 Daisuke Yokota , Yuichi Sudo , Fukuhito Ooshita , Toshimitsu Masuzawa

Population protocols are a model of distributed computing where $n$ agents, each a simple finite-state machine, interact in pairs to solve a common task against a (adversarial) interaction scheduler. This model was intensively studied in…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2026-05-19 Tom-Lukas Breitkopf , Julien Dallot , Antoine El-Hayek , Stefan Schmid

This paper concerns designing distributed algorithms that are {\em singularly optimal}, i.e., algorithms that are {\em simultaneously} time and message {\em optimal}, for the fundamental leader election problem in {\em asynchronous}…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2021-08-13 Shay Kutten , William K. Moses , Gopal Pandurangan , David Peleg

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

Population protocols are a class of algorithms for modeling distributed computation in networks of finite-state agents communicating through pairwise interactions. Their suitability for analyzing numerous chemical processes has motivated…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2023-04-04 Talley Amir , James Aspnes , John Lazarsfeld

We consider the problem of multi-choice majority voting in a network of $n$ agents where each agent initially selects a choice from a set of $K$ possible choices. The agents try to infer the choice in majority merely by performing local…

Multiagent Systems · Computer Science 2019-07-17 Hamidreza Bandealinaeini , Saber Salehkaleybar

We introduce a new coordination problem in distributed computing that we call the population stability problem. A system of agents each with limited memory and communication, as well as the ability to replicate and self-destruct, is…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2018-03-09 Shafi Goldwasser , Rafail Ostrovsky , Alessandra Scafuro , Adam Sealfon

We revisit the majority problem in the population protocol communication model, as first studied by Angluin et al. (Distributed Computing 2008). We consider a more general version of this problem known as plurality consensus, which has…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2025-05-06 Antoine El-Hayek , Robert Elsässer , Stefan Schmid

This paper concerns designing distributed algorithms that are singularly optimal, i.e., algorithms that are simultaneously time and message optimal, for the fundamental leader election problem in networks. Our main result is a randomized…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2020-08-18 Shay Kutten , William K. Moses , Gopal Pandurangan , David Peleg

We study the message complexity of leader election in synchronous networks of diameter two. Our main contribution is a refined analysis of the randomized algorithm proposed by Chatterjee et al. [DC, 2020]. In their work, the authors…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2026-04-21 Abhijit Sadhukhan , Adri Bhattacharya , Anisur Rahaman Molla