Rumours, Consensus and Epidemics on Networks
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The course will develop techniques for studying the long-term behaviour of random processes on networks. A large part of the motivation comes from computer science, where one is interested in designing decentralised algorithms for large networked systems such as the Internet or P2P networks or blockchain systems. Decentralised mechanisms for disseminating information or achieving consensus are typically a basic building block of such algorithms. Randomness can help create mechanisms which are exceptionally simple as well as highly robust, both to random faults and to malicious agents. Other motivations for the material studied in this course come from ecology, social science and economics, where one is interested in collective decision-making in humans and other animals, and from infectious disease epidemiology. The course will develop probabilistic tools for analysing these random processes. These mathematical methods have considerable elegance of their own.
Schedule (July 14-18, 2025)
- 09:00 AM to 10:30 AM (Theory Session)
- 10:45 AM to 11:45 AM (Theory Session)
- 12:15 PM to 1:00 PM (Practical Session)
Course outline:
- Hour 1: Preliminaries - Poisson process, Markov chains, martingales.
- Hour 2: Information spreading on networks: model and analysis
- Hour 3: Related topics - some combinatorial optimisation problems in the mean-field model of distance.
- Hour 4: Problem class
- Hours 5 and 6: The voter model, analysis and generalisations
- Hour 7: Problem class
- Hours 8 and 9: The contact process model and analysis. Optimal countermeasures.
- Hour 10: Problem class
Location
Auditorium 1, MP 20, ECE MP building, Indian Institute of Science campus
Registration
Registration is closed now.
Contact
You can email us at outreach.cni@iisc.ac.in with the following subject: “CNI summer school-2025” in case of difficulties in the registration or for any other query.
FAQ
- No, there is no registration fee for the summer school.
- Yes, course participation certificates will be provided. Please try to attend all the sessions of the summer school.
- No, TA/DA will not be provided to the participants.
- There are a few cafeterias/restaurants on the IISc campus where the participants can have their meals.
- No, accommodation will not be provided to the participants.