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In this paper, we address distributed hypothesis testing (DHT) in sensor networks and Bayesian networks using the average-consensus algorithm of Olfati-Saber & Murray. As a byproduct, we obtain a novel belief propagation algorithm called Belief Consensus. This algorithm works for connected networks with loops and arbitrary degree sequence. Belief consensus allows distributed computation of products of n beliefs (or conditional probabilities) that belong to n different nodes of a network. This capability enables distributed hypothesis testing for a broad variety of applications. We show that this belief propagation admits a Lyapunov function that quantifies the collective disbelief in the network. Belief consensus benefits from scalability, robustness to link failures, convergence under variable topology, asynchronous features of average-consensus algorithm. Some connections between small-word …