#distributed-systems

Two armies on opposite hills must attack a city at the same time to win, and an army attacking alone is destroyed. The generals can communicate only by messengers who cross a valley and may be captured. Is there a protocol with a finite number of messages that guarantees the generals always attack…

$n$ generals must agree on whether to attack or retreat by exchanging oral (unsigned) messages, and up to $m$ of them are traitors who may send arbitrary messages. All loyal generals must reach the same decision, and if the commanding general is loyal they must follow the commander's order. For…