Instead of checking infinite execution traces, you simply check if the "shape" of the inputs can be mathematically mapped onto the "shape" of the outputs.
Communication rounds can be modeled as subdivisions of the input complex: each round refines processes’ knowledge and breaks simplices into smaller ones. After r rounds, the protocol complex is an r-fold subdivision. The minimum number of rounds required to solve a task corresponds to how many subdivisions are needed before a continuous simplicial map to the output complex becomes possible. This gives lower bounds on round complexity grounded in combinatorial topology.
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| | Distributed Computing Analogue | |------------------------|-------------------------------------| | Simplex (vertex set) | A set of processes' local states | | Simplicial complex | All possible global states reachable | | Subdivision | Adding more interleavings (execution steps) | | Connectivity | Possibility of solving tasks like consensus | | Carrier map | Relation between input and output complexes | | Chromatic complex | Process IDs + states (preserves names) |