Strong Convergence of a Random Actions Model in Opinion Dynamics

Abstract

We study an opinion dynamics model in which each agent takes a random Bernoulli distributed action whose probability is updated at each discrete time step, and we prove that this model converges almost surely to consensus. We also provide a detailed critique of a claimed proof of this result in the literature. We generalize the result by proving that the assumption of irreducibility in the original model is not necessary. Furthermore, we prove as a corollary of the generalized result that the almost sure convergence to consensus holds also in the presence of a stubborn agent which never changes its opinion. In addition, we show that the model, in both the original and generalized cases, converges to consensus also in $r$th mean.