Time and energy costs for consensus in multi-agent systems with stochastic interactions

Xuewei Tao, Jian Zhu, Xiangxin Yin, Yingke Liu, Donghua Zhao and Yongzheng Sun

Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, 2026, vol. 209, issue P1

Abstract: Collective behaviors in multi-agent systems are of significant research importance. Existing studies typically assume fixed interactions among agents, whereas real-world environments exhibit stochastic inter-agent interactions. These may manifest as attraction, repulsion, or coexisting hybrid modes that switch over time. However, the time and energy costs required for realizing consensus under such stochastic interactions remain unclear. This paper investigates consensus in multi-agent systems with hybrid attractive–repulsive interactions, rigorously quantifying explicit upper bounds for both convergence time and energy costs for the first time. It is found that introducing repulsive interactions is more conducive to energy conservation than traditional attractive interactions. Furthermore, the connection probability and average interaction strength of the system significantly impact the energy cost.

Keywords: Multi-agent systems; Attractive interaction; Repulsive interaction; Consensus; Time cost (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:chsofr:v:209:y:2026:i:p1:s0960077926005424

DOI: 10.1016/j.chaos.2026.118401

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