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[Nor04] G. Norman. Analysing Randomized Distributed Algorithms. In C. Baier, B. Haverkort, H. Hermanns, J-P. Katoen, M. Siegle and F. Vaandrager (editors), Validation of Stochastic Systems: A Guide to Current Research, volume 2925 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 384--418, Springer. October 2004. [ps.gz] [pdf] [bib] [Describes techniques to verify randomised distributed algorithms, including various PRISM-based case studies.]
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Front cover Abstract. Randomization is of paramount importance in practical applications and randomized algorithms are used widely, for example in co-ordinating distributed computer networks, message routing and cache management. The appeal of randomized algorithms is their simplicity and elegance. However, this comes at a cost: the analysis of such systems become very complex, particularly in the context of distributed computation. This arises through the interplay between probability and nondeterminism. To prove a randomized distributed algorithm correct one usually involves two levels: classical, assertion-based reasoning, and a probabilistic analysis based on a suitable probability space on computations. In this paper we describe a number of approaches which allows us to verify the correctness of randomized distributed algorithms.

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