1 In what follows, we consider the Boolean algebra on the set
2 $\Bool=\{0,1\}$ with the classical operators of conjunction '.',
3 of disjunction '+', of negation '$\overline{~}$', and of
4 disjunctive union $\oplus$.
6 Let $n$ be a positive integer. A {\emph{Boolean map} $f$ is
7 a function from $\Bool^n$
10 $x=(x_1,\dots,x_n)$ maps to $f(x)=(f_1(x),\dots,f_n(x))$.
11 Functions are iterated as follows.
12 At the $t^{th}$ iteration, only the $s_{t}-$th component is said to be
13 ``iterated'', where $s = \left(s_t\right)_{t \in \mathds{N}}$ is a sequence of indices taken in $\llbracket 1;n \rrbracket$ called ``strategy''.
15 let $F_f: \llbracket1;n\rrbracket\times \Bool^{n}$ to $\Bool^n$ be defined by
17 F_f(i,x)=(x_1,\dots,x_{i-1},f_i(x),x_{i+1},\dots,x_n).
19 Then, let $x^0\in\Bool^n$ be an initial configuration
21 \llbracket1;n\rrbracket^\Nats$ be a strategy,
22 the dynamics are described by the recurrence
23 \begin{equation}\label{eq:asyn}
28 Let be given a Boolean map $f$. Its associated
29 {\emph{iteration graph}} $\Gamma(f)$ is the
30 directed graph such that the set of vertices is
31 $\Bool^n$, and for all $x\in\Bool^n$ and $i\in \llbracket1;n\rrbracket$,
32 the graph $\Gamma(f)$ contains an arc from $x$ to $F_f(i,x)$.
35 Let us consider for instance $n=3$.
37 $f^*: \Bool^3 \rightarrow \Bool^3$ be defined by
39 (x_2 \oplus x_3, \overline{x_1}\overline{x_3} + x_1\overline{x_2},
40 \overline{x_1}\overline{x_3} + x_1x_2)$.
41 The iteration graph $\Gamma(f^*)$ of this function is given in
42 Figure~\ref{fig:iteration:f*}.
47 \includegraphics[scale=0.5]{images/iter_f0c}
50 \caption{Iteration Graph $\Gamma(f^*)$ of the function $f^*$}\label{fig:iteration:f*}
55 Let thus be given such kind of map.
56 This article focuses on studying its iterations according to
57 the equation~(\ref{eq:asyn}) with a given strategy.
58 First of all, this can be interpreted as walking into its iteration graph
59 where the choice of the edge to follow is decided by the strategy.
60 Notice that the iteration graph is always a subgraph of
61 $n$-cube augmented with all the self-loop, \textit{i.e.}, all the
62 edges $(v,v)$ for any $v \in \Bool^n$.
63 Next, if we add probabilities on the transition graph, iterations can be
64 interpreted as Markov chains.
67 Let us consider for instance
68 the graph $\Gamma(f)$ defined
69 in \textsc{Figure~\ref{fig:iteration:f*}.} and
70 the probability function $p$ defined on the set of edges as follows:
74 = \frac{2}{3} \textrm{ if $e=(v,v)$ with $v \in \Bool^3$,}\\
75 = \frac{1}{6} \textrm{ otherwise.}
79 The matrix $P$ of the Markov chain associated to the function $f^*$ and to its probability function $p$ is
82 \begin{array}{llllllll}
97 % % Let us first recall the \emph{Total Variation} distance $\tv{\pi-\mu}$,
98 % % which is defined for two distributions $\pi$ and $\mu$ on the same set
100 % % $$\tv{\pi-\mu}=\max_{A\subset \Bool^n} |\pi(A)-\mu(A)|.$$
102 % % $$\tv{\pi-\mu}=\frac{1}{2}\sum_{x\in\Bool^n}|\pi(x)-\mu(x)|.$$
104 % % Let then $M(x,\cdot)$ be the
105 % % distribution induced by the $x$-th row of $M$. If the Markov chain
107 % % $M$ has a stationary distribution $\pi$, then we define
108 % % $$d(t)=\max_{x\in\Bool^n}\tv{M^t(x,\cdot)-\pi}.$$
109 % Intuitively $d(t)$ is the largest deviation between
110 % the distribution $\pi$ and $M^t(x,\cdot)$, which
111 % is the result of iterating $t$ times the function.
112 % Finally, let $\varepsilon$ be a positive number, the \emph{mixing time}
113 % with respect to $\varepsilon$ is given by
114 % $$t_{\rm mix}(\varepsilon)=\min\{t \mid d(t)\leq \varepsilon\}.$$
115 % It defines the smallest iteration number
116 % that is sufficient to obtain a deviation lesser than $\varepsilon$.
117 % Notice that the upper and lower bounds of mixing times cannot
118 % directly be computed with eigenvalues formulae as expressed
119 % in~\cite[Chap. 12]{LevinPeresWilmer2006}. The authors of this latter work
120 % only consider reversible Markov matrices whereas we do no restrict our
121 % matrices to such a form.