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Encyclopedia of Systems and Control pp 1–7Cite as

Markov Chains and Ranking Problems in Web Search

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Abstract

Markov chains refer to stochastic processes whose states change according to transition probabilities determined only by the states of the previous time step. They have been crucial for modeling large-scale systems with random behavior in various fields such as control, communications, biology, optimization, and economics. In this entry, we focus on their recent application to the area of search engines, namely, the PageRank algorithm employed at Google, which provides a measure of importance for each page in the web. We present several researches carried out with control theoretic tools such as aggregation, distributed randomized algorithms, and PageRank optimization. Due to the large size of the web, computational issues are the underlying motivation of these studies.

†Roberto Tempo passed away before publication of this work was completed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Japan

    Hideaki Ishii

  2. CNR-IEIIT, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy

    Roberto Tempo

Authors
  1. Hideaki Ishii
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  2. Roberto Tempo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hideaki Ishii .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Electrical and Computer Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA

    John Baillieul

  2. Automation and Control Solutions, Honeywell, Golden Valley, MN, USA

    Tariq Samad

Section Editor information

  1. Systems Modeling & Control Group, CNR-IEIIT, c/o Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy

    Fabrizio Dabbene

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Ishii, H., Tempo, R. (2020). Markov Chains and Ranking Problems in Web Search. In: Baillieul, J., Samad, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Systems and Control. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5102-9_135-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5102-9_135-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-5102-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-5102-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EngineeringReference Module Computer Science and Engineering

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Markov Chains and Ranking Problems in Web Search
    Published:
    29 November 2019

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5102-9_135-2

  2. Original

    Markov Chains and Ranking Problems in Web Search
    Published:
    12 February 2014

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5102-9_135-1

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