Cloaking for random walks using a discrete potential theory

Trent DeGiovanni, Fernando Guevara Vasquez

Published 2024-05-13Version 1

The diffusion of charged particles in a graph can be modeled using random walks on a weighted graph. We give strategies to hide (or cloak) changes in a subgraph from the perspective of measurements of expected net particle charges made at nodes away from the cloaked subgraph. We distinguish between passive and active strategies, depending on whether the strategy involves injecting particles. The passive strategy can hide topology and edge weight changes. In addition to these capabilities, the active strategy can also hide sources of particles, at the cost of prior knowledge of the expected net particle charges in the reference graph. The strategies we present rely on discrete analogues of classic potential theory, that include a Calder\'on calculus on graphs.