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Distributed Computing 22, 2 (2009) 117-127
The Cost of Monotonicity in Distributed Graph Searching
David Ilcinkas 1, 2, Nicolas Nisse 3, David Soguet 4
(2009)

Blin et al. (TCS 2008) proposed a distributed protocol enabling the smallest possible number of searchers to clear any unknown graph in a decentralized manner. However, the strategy that is actually performed lacks of an important property, namely the monotonicity. This paper deals with the smallest number of searchers that are necessary and sufficient to monotonously clear any unknown graph in a decentralized manner. The clearing of the graph is required to be connected, i.e., the clear part of the graph must remain permanently connected, and monotone, i.e., the clear part of the graph only grows. We prove that a distributed protocol clearing any unknown $n$-node graph in a monotone connected way, in a decentralized setting, can achieve but cannot beat competitive ratio of $\Theta(\frac{n}{\log n})$, compared with the centralized minimum number of searchers. Moreover, our lower bound holds even in a synchronous setting, while our constructive upper bound holds even in an asynchronous setting.
1:  Laboratoire Bordelais de Recherche en Informatique (LaBRI)
CNRS : UMR5800 – Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux I – Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Electronique, Informatique et Radiocommunications de Bordeaux – Université Victor Segalen - Bordeaux II
2:  CEPAGE (INRIA Bordeaux - Sud-Ouest)
INRIA – CNRS : UMR5800 – Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux I – ENSEIRB
3:  MASCOTTE (INRIA Sophia Antipolis / Laboratoire I3S)
INRIA – Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis (UNS) – CNRS : UMR7271
4:  Laboratoire de Recherche en Informatique (LRI)
CNRS : UMR8623 – Université Paris XI - Paris Sud
Computer Science/Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing
Graph searching – Mobile agent – Monotonicity – Competitive ratio
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