Discrepancy Analysis of a New Randomized Diffusion Algorithm

Abstract

For an arbitrary initial configuration of discrete loads over vertices of a distributed graph, we consider the problem of minimizing the {\em discrepancy} between the maximum and minimum loads among all vertices. For this problem, this paper is concerned with the ability of natural diffusion-based iterative algorithms: at each discrete and synchronous time step on an algorithm, each vertex is allowed to distribute its loads to each neighbor (including itself) without occurring negative loads or using the information of previous time steps. In this setting, this paper presents a new {\em randomized} diffusion algorithm like multiple random walks. Our algorithm archives $O(\sqrt{d \log N})$ discrepancy for any $d$-regular graph with $N$ vertices with high probability, while {\em deterministic} diffusion algorithms have $\Omega(d)$ lower bound. Furthermore, we succeed in generalizing our algorithm to any symmetric round matrix. This yields that $O(\sqrt{ d_{\max} \log N})$ discrepancy for arbitrary graphs without using the information of maximum degree $d_{\max}$.