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DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.DISC.2025.27

On the h-Majority Dynamics with Many Opinions

Authors: Francesco d'Amore, Niccolò D'Archivio, George Giakkoupis, and Emanuele Natale

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 356, 39th International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2025)

Abstract

We present the first upper bound on the convergence time to consensus of the well-known h-majority dynamics with k opinions, in the synchronous setting, for h and k that are both non-constant values. We suppose that, at the beginning of the process, there is some initial additive bias towards some plurality opinion, that is, there is an opinion that is supported by x nodes while any other opinion is supported by strictly fewer nodes. We prove that, with high probability, if the bias is ω(√x) and the initial plurality opinion is supported by at least x = ω(log n) nodes, then the process converges to plurality consensus in O(log n) rounds whenever h = ω(n log n / x). A main corollary is the following: if k = o(n / log n) and the process starts from an almost-balanced configuration with an initial bias of magnitude ω(√{n/k}) towards the initial plurality opinion, then any function h = ω(k log n) suffices to guarantee convergence to consensus in O(log n) rounds, with high probability. Our upper bound shows that the lower bound of Ω(k / h²) rounds to reach consensus given by Becchetti et al. (2017) cannot be pushed further than Ω̃(k / h). Moreover, the bias we require is asymptotically smaller than the Ω(√{nlog n}) bias that guarantees plurality consensus in the 3-majority dynamics: in our case, the required bias is at most any (arbitrarily small) function in ω(√x) for any value of k ≥ 2.

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Francesco d'Amore, Niccolò D'Archivio, George Giakkoupis, and Emanuele Natale. On the h-Majority Dynamics with Many Opinions. In 39th International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 356, pp. 27:1-27:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{damore_et_al:LIPIcs.DISC.2025.27,
  author =	{d'Amore, Francesco and D'Archivio, Niccol\`{o} and Giakkoupis, George and Natale, Emanuele},
  title =	{{On the h-Majority Dynamics with Many Opinions}},
  booktitle =	{39th International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2025)},
  pages =	{27:1--27:24},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-402-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{356},
  editor =	{Kowalski, Dariusz R.},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.DISC.2025.27},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-248448},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.DISC.2025.27},
  annote =	{Keywords: Distributed Algorithms, Randomized Algorithms, Markov Chains, Consensus Problem, Opinion dynamics, Plurality Consensus}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.DISC.2024.18

On the Limits of Information Spread by Memory-Less Agents

Authors: Niccolò D'Archivio and Robin Vacus

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 319, 38th International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2024)

Abstract

We address the self-stabilizing bit-dissemination problem, designed to capture the challenges of spreading information and reaching consensus among entities with minimal cognitive and communication capacities. Specifically, a group of n agents is required to adopt the correct opinion, initially held by a single informed individual, choosing from two possible opinions. In order to make decisions, agents are restricted to observing the opinions of a few randomly sampled agents, and lack the ability to communicate further and to identify the informed individual. Additionally, agents cannot retain any information from one round to the next. According to a recent publication by Becchetti et al. in SODA (2024), a logarithmic convergence time without memory is achievable in the parallel setting (where agents are updated simultaneously), as long as the number of samples is at least Ω(√{n log n}). However, determining the minimal sample size for an efficient protocol to exist remains a challenging open question. As a preliminary step towards an answer, we establish the first lower bound for this problem in the parallel setting. Specifically, we demonstrate that it is impossible for any memory-less protocol with constant sample size, to converge with high probability in less than an almost-linear number of rounds. This lower bound holds even when agents are aware of both the exact value of n and their own opinion, and encompasses various simple existing dynamics designed to achieve consensus. Beyond the bit-dissemination problem, our result sheds light on the convergence time of the "minority" dynamics, the counterpart of the well-known majority rule, whose chaotic behavior is yet to be fully understood despite the apparent simplicity of the algorithm.

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Niccolò D'Archivio and Robin Vacus. On the Limits of Information Spread by Memory-Less Agents. In 38th International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2024). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 319, pp. 18:1-18:21, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2024)

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@InProceedings{darchivio_et_al:LIPIcs.DISC.2024.18,
  author =	{D'Archivio, Niccol\`{o} and Vacus, Robin},
  title =	{{On the Limits of Information Spread by Memory-Less Agents}},
  booktitle =	{38th International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2024)},
  pages =	{18:1--18:21},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-352-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2024},
  volume =	{319},
  editor =	{Alistarh, Dan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.DISC.2024.18},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-212441},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.DISC.2024.18},
  annote =	{Keywords: Opinion Dynamics, Consensus Protocols, Collective Animal Behavior, Lower Bound}
}

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On the h-Majority Dynamics with Many Opinions

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On the Limits of Information Spread by Memory-Less Agents

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