The Asymmetric Leader Election Algorithm with swedish stopping: A probabilistic analysis

We study a leader election protocol that we call the Swedish leader election protocol. This name comes from a protocol presented by L. Bondesson, T. Nilsson, and G. Wikstrand (2007). The goal is to select one among n > 0 players, by proceeding through a number of rounds. If there is only one player remaining, the protocol stops and the player is declared the leader. Otherwise, all remaining players flip a biased coin; with probability q the player survives to the next round, with probability p = 1 − q the player loses (is killed) and plays no further . . . unless all players lose in a given round (null round), so all of them play again. In the classical leader election protocol, any number of null rounds may take place, and with probability 1 some player will ultimately be elected. In the Swedish leader election protocol there is a maximum number τ of consecutive null rounds, and if the threshold is attained the protocol fails without declaring a leader.