Water transport on graphs

Abstract

If the nodes of a graph are considered to be identical barrels - featuring different water levels - and the edges to be (locked) water-filled pipes in between the barrels, one might consider the optimization problem of how much the water level in a fixed barrel can be raised with no pumps available, i.e. by opening and closing the locks in an elaborate succession. This problem originated from the analysis of an opinion formation process and proved to be not only sufficiently intricate in order to be of independent interest, but also algorithmically complex. We deal with both finite and infinite graphs as well as deterministic and random initial water levels and find that the infinite line graph, due to its leanness, behaves much more like a finite graph in this respect.