Cellularautomaton

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Acellularautomaton(pl.cellularautomata,abbrev.CA)
isadiscretemodelstudiedincomputabilitytheory,
mathematics,physics,complexityscience,theoretical
biologyandmicrostructuremodeling.Cellularautomataare
alsocalledcellularspaces,tessellationautomata,
homogeneousstructures,cellularstructures,tessellation
structures,anditerativearrays.[2]
Acellularautomatonconsistsofaregulargridofcells,each
inoneofafinitenumberofstates,suchasonandoff(in
contrasttoacoupledmaplattice).Thegridcanbeinany
Gosper'sGliderGuncreating"gliders"in
finitenumberofdimensions.Foreachcell,asetofcells
thecellularautomatonConway'sGameof
calleditsneighborhoodisdefinedrelativetothespecified
Life[1]
cell.Aninitialstate(timet=0)isselectedbyassigninga
stateforeachcell.Anewgenerationiscreated(advancingt
by1),accordingtosomefixedrule(generally,amathematicalfunction)thatdeterminesthenewstateof
eachcellintermsofthecurrentstateofthecellandthestatesofthecellsinitsneighborhood.Typically,
theruleforupdatingthestateofcellsisthesameforeachcellanddoesnotchangeovertime,andis
appliedtothewholegridsimultaneously,thoughexceptionsareknown,suchasthestochasticcellular
automatonandasynchronouscellularautomaton.
Theconceptwasoriginallydiscoveredinthe1940sbyStanislawUlamandJohnvonNeumannwhile
theywerecontemporariesatLosAlamosNationalLaboratory.Whilestudiedbysomethroughoutthe
1950sand1960s,itwasnotuntilthe1970sandConway'sGameofLife,atwodimensionalcellular
automaton,thatinterestinthesubjectexpandedbeyondacademia.Inthe1980s,StephenWolfram
engagedinasystematicstudyofonedimensionalcellularautomata,orwhathecallselementarycellular
automatahisresearchassistantMatthewCookshowedthatoneoftheserulesisTuringcomplete.
WolframpublishedANewKindofSciencein2002,claimingthatcellularautomatahaveapplicationsin
manyfieldsofscience.Theseincludecomputerprocessorsandcryptography.
Theprimaryclassificationsofcellularautomata,asoutlinedbyWolfram,arenumberedonetofour.
Theyare,inorder,automatainwhichpatternsgenerallystabilizeintohomogeneity,automatainwhich
patternsevolveintomostlystableoroscillatingstructures,automatainwhichpatternsevolveina
seeminglychaoticfashion,andautomatainwhichpatternsbecomeextremelycomplexandmaylastfor
alongtime,withstablelocalstructures.Thislastclassarethoughttobecomputationallyuniversal,or
capableofsimulatingaTuringmachine.Specialtypesofcellularautomataarereversible,whereonlya
singleconfigurationleadsdirectlytoasubsequentone,andtotalistic,inwhichthefuturevalueof
individualcellsdependonthetotalvalueofagroupofneighboringcells.Cellularautomatacansimulate
avarietyofrealworldsystems,includingbiologicalandchemicalones.

Contents
1Overview
2History
3Classification
3.1Reversible
3.2Totalistic

3.2Totalistic
3.3Relatedautomata
4Elementarycellularautomata
5Rulespace
6Biology
7Chemicaltypes
8Applications
8.1Computerprocessors
8.2Cryptography
8.3Errorcorrectioncoding
9Modelingphysicalreality
10Seealso
10.1Specificrules
10.2Problemssolved
10.3Seealso
11Referencenotes
12References
13Externallinks

Overview
Onewaytosimulateatwodimensionalcellularautomatoniswith
aninfinitesheetofgraphpaperalongwithasetofrulesforthecells
tofollow.Eachsquareiscalleda"cell"andeachcellhastwo
possiblestates,blackandwhite.Theneighborhoodofacellisthe
nearby,usuallyadjacent,cells.Thetwomostcommontypesof
neighborhoodsarethevonNeumannneighborhoodandtheMoore
neighborhood.[3]Theformer,namedafterthefoundingcellular
automatontheorist,consistsofthefourorthogonallyadjacent
cells.[3]ThelatterincludesthevonNeumannneighborhoodaswell
asthefourremainingcellssurroundingthecellwhosestateistobe
calculated.[3]ForsuchacellanditsMooreneighborhood,thereare
TheredcellsaretheMoore
512(=29)possiblepatterns.Foreachofthe512possiblepatterns,
neighborhoodforthebluecell.
theruletablewouldstatewhetherthecentercellwillbeblackor
whiteonthenexttimeinterval.Conway'sGameofLifeisapopular
versionofthismodel.AnothercommonneighborhoodtypeistheextendedvonNeumannneighborhood,
whichincludesthetwoclosestcellsineachorthogonaldirection,foratotalofeight.[3]Thegeneral
s

equationforsuchasystemofrulesiskk ,wherekisthenumberofpossiblestatesforacell,andsisthe
numberofneighboringcells(includingthecelltobecalculateditself)usedtodeterminethecell'snext
state.[4]Thus,inthetwodimensionalsystemwithaMooreneighborhood,thetotalnumberofautomata
9

possiblewouldbe22 ,or1.34 10154.

Itisusuallyassumedthateverycellintheuniversestartsinthesamestate,exceptforafinitenumberof
cellsinotherstatestheassignmentofstatevaluesiscalledaconfiguration.[5]Moregenerally,itis
sometimesassumedthattheuniversestartsoutcoveredwithaperiodicpattern,andonlyafinitenumber
ofcellsviolatethatpattern.Thelatterassumptioniscommoninonedimensionalcellularautomata.

Cellularautomataareoftensimulatedonafinitegridratherthanan
infiniteone.Intwodimensions,theuniversewouldbearectangle
insteadofaninfiniteplane.Theobviousproblemwithfinitegridsis
howtohandlethecellsontheedges.Howtheyarehandledwill
affectthevaluesofallthecellsinthegrid.Onepossiblemethodis
toallowthevaluesinthosecellstoremainconstant.Another
methodistodefineneighborhoodsdifferentlyforthesecells.One
couldsaythattheyhavefewerneighbors,butthenonewouldalso
havetodefinenewrulesforthecellslocatedontheedges.These
cellsareusuallyhandledwithatoroidalarrangement:whenone
goesoffthetop,onecomesinatthecorrespondingpositiononthe
bottom,andwhenonegoesofftheleft,onecomesinontheright.
(Thisessentiallysimulatesaninfiniteperiodictiling,andinthefield
ofpartialdifferentialequationsissometimesreferredtoasperiodic
boundaryconditions.)Thiscanbevisualizedastapingtheleftand
rightedgesoftherectangletoformatube,thentapingthetopand
bottomedgesofthetubetoformatorus(doughnutshape).
Universesofotherdimensionsarehandledsimilarly.Thissolves
boundaryproblemswithneighborhoods,butanotheradvantageis
thatitiseasilyprogrammableusingmodulararithmetic
functions.Forexample,ina1dimensionalcellularautomaton
t1,
liketheexamplesbelow,theneighborhoodofacellxitis{xi1

Theredcellsarethevon
Neumannneighborhoodforthe
bluecell,whiletheextended
neighborhoodincludesthepink
cellsaswell.

t1},wheretisthetimestep(vertical),andiistheindex
xit1,xi+1

(horizontal)inonegeneration.

History

Atorus,atoroidalshape

StanislawUlam,whileworkingattheLosAlamosNationalLaboratory
inthe1940s,studiedthegrowthofcrystals,usingasimplelattice
networkashismodel.[6]Atthesametime,JohnvonNeumann,Ulam's
colleagueatLosAlamos,wasworkingontheproblemofselfreplicating
systems.[7]VonNeumann'sinitialdesignwasfoundeduponthenotionof
onerobotbuildinganotherrobot.Thisdesignisknownasthekinematic
model.[8][9]Ashedevelopedthisdesign,vonNeumanncametorealize
thegreatdifficultyofbuildingaselfreplicatingrobot,andofthegreat
costinprovidingtherobotwitha"seaofparts"fromwhichtobuildits
replicant.Neumannreadapaperentitled"Thegeneralandlogicaltheory
ofautomata"attheHixonSymposiumin1948.[7]Ulamwastheonewho
suggestedusingadiscretesystemforcreatingareductionistmodelof
selfreplication.[10][11]NilsAallBarricelliperformedmanyoftheearliest
explorationsofthesemodelsofartificiallife.

JohnvonNeumann,Los
AlamosIDbadge

UlamandvonNeumanncreatedamethodforcalculatingliquidmotioninthelate1950s.Thedriving
conceptofthemethodwastoconsideraliquidasagroupofdiscreteunitsandcalculatethemotionof
eachbasedonitsneighbors'behaviors.[12]Thuswasbornthefirstsystemofcellularautomata.Like
Ulam'slatticenetwork,vonNeumann'scellularautomataaretwodimensional,withhisselfreplicator
implementedalgorithmically.Theresultwasauniversalcopierandconstructorworkingwithinacellular
automatonwithasmallneighborhood(onlythosecellsthattouchareneighborsforvonNeumann's

cellularautomata,onlyorthogonalcells),andwith29statespercell.[13]VonNeumanngaveanexistence
proofthataparticularpatternwouldmakeendlesscopiesofitselfwithinthegivencellularuniverseby
designinga200,000cellconfigurationthatcoulddoso.[13]Thisdesignisknownasthetessellation
model,andiscalledavonNeumannuniversalconstructor.[14]
Alsointhe1940s,NorbertWienerandArturoRosenbluethdevelopedamodelofexcitablemediawith
someofthecharacteristicsofacellularautomaton.[15]Theirspecificmotivationwasthemathematical
descriptionofimpulseconductionincardiacsystems.Howevertheirmodelisnotacellularautomaton
becausethemediuminwhichsignalspropagateiscontinuous,andwavefrontsarecurves.[15][16]Atrue
cellularautomatonmodelofexcitablemediawasdevelopedandstudiedbyJ.M.GreenbergandS.P.
Hastingsin1978seeGreenbergHastingscellularautomaton.TheoriginalworkofWienerand
Rosenbluethcontainsmanyinsightsandcontinuestobecitedinmodernresearchpublicationsoncardiac
arrhythmiaandexcitablesystems.[17]
Inthe1960s,cellularautomatawerestudiedasaparticulartypeofdynamicalsystemandtheconnection
withthemathematicalfieldofsymbolicdynamicswasestablishedforthefirsttime.In1969,GustavA.
Hedlundcompiledmanyresultsfollowingthispointofview[18]inwhatisstillconsideredasaseminal
paperforthemathematicalstudyofcellularautomata.Themostfundamentalresultisthe
characterizationintheCurtisHedlundLyndontheoremofthesetofglobalrulesofcellularautomataas
thesetofcontinuousendomorphismsofshiftspaces.
In1969,GermancomputerpioneerKonradZusepublishedhisbookCalculatingSpace,proposingthat
thephysicallawsoftheuniversearediscretebynature,andthattheentireuniverseistheoutputofa
deterministiccomputationonasinglecellularautomaton"Zuse'sTheory"becamethefoundationofthe
fieldofstudycalleddigitalphysics.[19]
Inthe1970satwostate,twodimensionalcellularautomatonnamedGameofLifebecamewidely
known,particularlyamongtheearlycomputingcommunity.InventedbyJohnConwayandpopularized
byMartinGardnerinaScientificAmericanarticle,[20]itsrulesareasfollows:Ifacellhastwoblack
neighbors,itstaysthesame.Ifithasthreeblackneighbors,itbecomesblack.Inallothersituationsit
becomeswhite.Despiteitssimplicity,thesystemachievesanimpressivediversityofbehavior,
fluctuatingbetweenapparentrandomnessandorder.OneofthemostapparentfeaturesoftheGameof
Lifeisthefrequentoccurrenceofgliders,arrangementsofcellsthatessentiallymovethemselvesacross
thegrid.Itispossibletoarrangetheautomatonsothattheglidersinteracttoperformcomputations,and
aftermucheffortithasbeenshownthattheGameofLifecanemulateauniversalTuringmachine.[21]It
wasviewedasalargelyrecreationaltopic,andlittlefollowupworkwasdoneoutsideofinvestigating
theparticularitiesoftheGameofLifeandafewrelatedrulesintheearly1970s.[22]
StephenWolframindependentlybeganworkingoncellularautomatainmid1981afterconsideringhow
complexpatternsseemedformedinnatureinviolationoftheSecondLawofThermodynamics.[23]His
investigationswereinitiallyspurredbyaninterestinmodellingsystemssuchasneuralnetworks.[23]He
publishedhisfirstpaperinReviewsofModernPhysicsinvestigatingelementarycellularautomata(Rule
30inparticular)inJune1983.[2][23]Theunexpectedcomplexityofthebehaviorofthesesimplerulesled
Wolframtosuspectthatcomplexityinnaturemaybeduetosimilarmechanisms.[23]Hisinvestigations,
however,ledhimtorealizethatcellularautomatawerepooratmodellingneuralnetworks.[23]
Additionally,duringthisperiodWolframformulatedtheconceptsofintrinsicrandomnessand
computationalirreducibility,[24]andsuggestedthatrule110maybeuniversalafactprovedlaterby
Wolfram'sresearchassistantMatthewCookinthe1990s.[25]

In2002Wolframpublisheda1280pagetextANewKindofScience,whichextensivelyarguesthatthe
discoveriesaboutcellularautomataarenotisolatedfactsbutarerobustandhavesignificanceforall
disciplinesofscience.[26]Despiteconfusioninthepress,[27][28]thebookdidnotargueforafundamental
theoryofphysicsbasedoncellularautomata,[29]andalthoughitdiddescribeafewspecificphysical
modelsbasedoncellularautomata,[30]italsoprovidedmodelsbasedonqualitativelydifferentabstract
systems.[31]

Classification
Wolfram,inANewKindofScienceandseveralpapersdatingfromthemid1980s,definedfourclasses
intowhichcellularautomataandseveralothersimplecomputationalmodelscanbedivideddepending
ontheirbehavior.Whileearlierstudiesincellularautomatatendedtotrytoidentifytypeofpatternsfor
specificrules,Wolfram'sclassificationwasthefirstattempttoclassifytherulesthemselves.Inorderof
complexitytheclassesare:
Class1:Nearlyallinitialpatternsevolvequicklyintoastable,homogeneousstate.Any
randomnessintheinitialpatterndisappears.[32]
Class2:Nearlyallinitialpatternsevolvequicklyintostableoroscillatingstructures.Someofthe
randomnessintheinitialpatternmayfilterout,butsomeremains.Localchangestotheinitial
patterntendtoremainlocal.[32]
Class3:Nearlyallinitialpatternsevolveinapseudorandomorchaoticmanner.Anystable
structuresthatappeararequicklydestroyedbythesurroundingnoise.Localchangestotheinitial
patterntendtospreadindefinitely.[32]
Class4:Nearlyallinitialpatternsevolveintostructuresthatinteractincomplexandinteresting
ways,withtheformationoflocalstructuresthatareabletosurviveforlongperiodsoftime.[33]
Class2typestableoroscillatingstructuresmaybetheeventualoutcome,butthenumberofsteps
requiredtoreachthisstatemaybeverylarge,evenwhentheinitialpatternisrelativelysimple.
Localchangestotheinitialpatternmayspreadindefinitely.Wolframhasconjecturedthatmany,if
notallclass4cellularautomataarecapableofuniversalcomputation.Thishasbeenprovenfor
Rule110andConway'sgameofLife.
Thesedefinitionsarequalitativeinnatureandthereissomeroomforinterpretation.Accordingto
Wolfram,"...withalmostanygeneralclassificationschemethereareinevitablycaseswhichgetassigned
tooneclassbyonedefinitionandanotherclassbyanotherdefinition.Andsoitiswithcellular
automata:thereareoccasionallyrules...thatshowsomefeaturesofoneclassandsomeofanother."[34]
Wolfram'sclassificationhasbeenempiricallymatchedtoaclusteringofthecompressedlengthsofthe
outputsofcellularautomata.[35]
Therehavebeenseveralattemptstoclassifycellularautomatainformallyrigorousclasses,inspiredby
theWolfram'sclassification.Forinstance,CulikandYuproposedthreewelldefinedclasses(anda
fourthonefortheautomatanotmatchinganyofthese),whicharesometimescalledCulikYuclasses
membershipintheseprovedundecidable.[36][37][38]Wolfram'sclass2canbepartitionedintotwo
subgroupsofstable(fixedpoint)andoscillating(periodic)rules.[39]

Reversible
Acellularautomatonisreversibleif,foreverycurrentconfigurationofthecellularautomaton,thereis
exactlyonepastconfiguration(preimage).[40]Ifonethinksofacellularautomatonasafunction
mappingconfigurationstoconfigurations,reversibilityimpliesthatthisfunctionisbijective.[40]Ifa

cellularautomatonisreversible,itstimereversedbehaviorcanalsobedescribedasacellular
automatonthisfactisaconsequenceoftheCurtisHedlundLyndontheorem,atopological
characterizationofcellularautomata.[41][42]Forcellularautomatainwhichnoteveryconfigurationhasa
preimage,theconfigurationswithoutpreimagesarecalledGardenofEdenpatterns.[43]
Foronedimensionalcellularautomatathereareknownalgorithmsfordecidingwhetheraruleis
reversibleorirreversible.[44][45]However,forcellularautomataoftwoormoredimensionsreversibility
isundecidablethatis,thereisnoalgorithmthattakesasinputanautomatonruleandisguaranteedto
determinecorrectlywhethertheautomatonisreversible.TheproofbyJarkkoKariisrelatedtothetiling
problembyWangtiles.[46]
Reversiblecellularautomataareoftenusedtosimulatesuchphysicalphenomenaasgasandfluid
dynamics,sincetheyobeythelawsofthermodynamics.Suchcellularautomatahaverulesspecially
constructedtobereversible.SuchsystemshavebeenstudiedbyTommasoToffoli,NormanMargolus
andothers.Severaltechniquescanbeusedtoexplicitlyconstructreversiblecellularautomatawith
knowninverses.Twocommononesarethesecondordercellularautomatonandtheblockcellular
automaton,bothofwhichinvolvemodifyingthedefinitionofacellularautomatoninsomeway.
Althoughsuchautomatadonotstrictlysatisfythedefinitiongivenabove,itcanbeshownthattheycan
beemulatedbyconventionalcellularautomatawithsufficientlylargeneighborhoodsandnumbersof
states,andcanthereforebeconsideredasubsetofconventionalcellularautomata.Conversely,ithas
beenshownthateveryreversiblecellularautomatoncanbeemulatedbyablockcellular
automaton.[47][48]

Totalistic
Aspecialclassofcellularautomataaretotalisticcellularautomata.Thestateofeachcellinatotalistic
cellularautomatonisrepresentedbyanumber(usuallyanintegervaluedrawnfromafiniteset),andthe
valueofacellattimetdependsonlyonthesumofthevaluesofthecellsinitsneighborhood(possibly
includingthecellitself)attimet1.[49][50]Ifthestateofthecellattimetdoesnotdependonitsown
stateattimet1thenthecellularautomatonisproperlycalledoutertotalistic.[50]Conway'sGameof
Lifeisanexampleofanoutertotalisticcellularautomatonwithcellvalues0and1outertotalistic
cellularautomatawiththesameMooreneighborhoodstructureasLifearesometimescalledlifelike
cellularautomata.[51][52]

Relatedautomata
Therearemanypossiblegeneralizationsofthecellularautomatonconcept.
Onewayisbyusingsomethingotherthanarectangular(cubic,etc.)grid.Forexample,ifaplaneistiled
withregularhexagons,thosehexagonscouldbeusedascells.Inmanycasestheresultingcellular
automataareequivalenttothosewithrectangulargridswithspeciallydesignedneighborhoodsandrules.
Anothervariationwouldbetomakethegriditselfirregular,suchaswithPenrosetiles.[53]
Also,rulescanbeprobabilisticratherthandeterministic.Suchcellularautomataarecalledprobabilistic
cellularautomata.Aprobabilisticrulegives,foreachpatternattimet,theprobabilitiesthatthecentral
cellwilltransitiontoeachpossiblestateattimet+1.Sometimesasimplerruleisusedforexample:
"TheruleistheGameofLife,butoneachtimestepthereisa0.001%probabilitythateachcellwill
transitiontotheoppositecolor."

Theneighborhoodorrulescouldchangeovertimeorspace.For
example,initiallythenewstateofacellcouldbedeterminedbythe
horizontallyadjacentcells,butforthenextgenerationthevertical
cellswouldbeused.
Incellularautomata,thenewstateofacellisnotaffectedbythe
newstateofothercells.Thiscouldbechangedsothat,forinstance,
a2by2blockofcellscanbedeterminedbyitselfandthecells
adjacenttoitself.
Therearecontinuousautomata.Theseareliketotalisticcellular
automata,butinsteadoftheruleandstatesbeingdiscrete(e.g.a
table,usingstates{0,1,2}),continuousfunctionsareused,andthe
statesbecomecontinuous(usuallyvaluesin[0,1]).Thestateofa
locationisafinitenumberofrealnumbers.Certaincellular
automatacanyielddiffusioninliquidpatternsinthisway.

Acellularautomatonbasedon
hexagonalcellsinsteadofsquares
(rule34/2)

Continuousspatialautomatahaveacontinuumoflocations.Thestateofalocationisafinitenumberof
realnumbers.Timeisalsocontinuous,andthestateevolvesaccordingtodifferentialequations.One
importantexampleisreactiondiffusiontextures,differentialequationsproposedbyAlanTuringto
explainhowchemicalreactionscouldcreatethestripesonzebrasandspotsonleopards.[54]Whenthese
areapproximatedbycellularautomata,theyoftenyieldsimilarpatterns.MacLennan[1]
(http://www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/contincomp.html)considerscontinuousspatialautomataasamodel
ofcomputation.
Thereareknownexamplesofcontinuousspatialautomata,whichexhibitpropagatingphenomena
analogoustoglidersintheGameofLife.[55]

Elementarycellularautomata
Thesimplestnontrivialcellularautomatonwouldbeonedimensional,withtwopossiblestatespercell,
andacell'sneighborsdefinedastheadjacentcellsoneithersideofit.Acellanditstwoneighborsform
aneighborhoodof3cells,sothereare23=8possiblepatternsforaneighborhood.Aruleconsistsof
deciding,foreachpattern,whetherthecellwillbea1ora0inthenextgeneration.Therearethen
28=256possiblerules.[4]These256cellularautomataaregenerallyreferredtobytheirWolframcode,a
standardnamingconventioninventedbyWolframthatgiveseachruleanumberfrom0to255.A
numberofpapershaveanalyzedandcomparedthese256cellularautomata.Therule30andrule110
cellularautomataareparticularlyinteresting.Theimagesbelowshowthehistoryofeachwhenthe
startingconfigurationconsistsofa1(atthetopofeachimage)surroundedby0s.Eachrowofpixels
representsagenerationinthehistoryoftheautomaton,witht=0beingthetoprow.Eachpixeliscolored
whitefor0andblackfor1.

Rule30cellularautomaton
currentpattern

111 110 101 100 011 010 001 000

newstateforcentercell 0

0
Rule30

Rule110cellularautomaton
currentpattern

111 110 101 100 011 010 001 000

newstateforcentercell 0

Rule110

Rule30exhibitsclass3behavior,meaningevensimpleinputpatternssuchasthatshownleadto
chaotic,seeminglyrandomhistories.
Rule110,liketheGameofLife,exhibitswhatWolframcallsclass4behavior,whichisneither
completelyrandomnorcompletelyrepetitive.Localizedstructuresappearandinteractinvarious
complicatedlookingways.InthecourseofthedevelopmentofANewKindofScience,asaresearch
assistanttoWolframin1994,MatthewCookprovedthatsomeofthesestructureswererichenoughto
supportuniversality.Thisresultisinterestingbecauserule110isanextremelysimpleonedimensional
system,anddifficulttoengineertoperformspecificbehavior.Thisresultthereforeprovidessignificant
supportforWolfram'sviewthatclass4systemsareinherentlylikelytobeuniversal.Cookpresentedhis
proofataSantaFeInstituteconferenceonCellularAutomatain1998,butWolframblockedtheproof
frombeingincludedintheconferenceproceedings,asWolframdidnotwanttheproofannouncedbefore
thepublicationofANewKindofScience.[56]In2004,Cook'sproofwasfinallypublishedinWolfram's
journalComplexSystems(Vol.15,No.1),overtenyearsafterCookcameupwithit.Rule110hasbeen
thebasisforsomeofthesmallestuniversalTuringmachines.[57]

Rulespace
Anelementarycellularautomatonruleisspecifiedby8bits,andallelementarycellularautomatonrules
canbeconsideredtositontheverticesofthe8dimensionalunithypercube.Thisunithypercubeisthe
cellularautomatonrulespace.Fornextnearestneighborcellularautomata,aruleisspecifiedby25=32
bits,andthecellularautomatonrulespaceisa32dimensionalunithypercube.Adistancebetweentwo
rulescanbedefinedbythenumberofstepsrequiredtomovefromonevertex,whichrepresentsthefirst
rule,andanothervertex,representinganotherrule,alongtheedgeofthehypercube.Thisruletorule
distanceisalsocalledtheHammingdistance.
Cellularautomatonrulespaceallowsustoaskthequestionconcerningwhetherruleswithsimilar
dynamicalbehaviorare"close"toeach.Graphicallydrawingahighdimensionalhypercubeonthe2
dimensionalplaneremainsadifficulttask,andonecrudelocatorofaruleinthehypercubeisthe
numberofbit1inthe8bitstringforelementaryrules(or32bitstringforthenextnearestneighbor
rules).DrawingtherulesindifferentWolframclassesintheseslicesoftherulespaceshowthatclass1
rulestendtohavelowernumberofbit1's,thuslocatedinoneregionofthespace,whereasclass3rules
tendtohavehigherproportion(50%)ofbit1's.[39]

Forlargercellularautomatonrulespace,itisshownthatclass4rulesarelocatedbetweentheclass1and
class3rules.[58]Thisobservationisthefoundationforthephraseedgeofchaos,andisreminiscentof
thephasetransitioninthermodynamics.

Biology
Somebiologicalprocessesoccurorcanbesimulatedby
cellularautomata.

Conustextileexhibitsacellular
automatonpatternonitsshell. [59]

Patternsofsomeseashells,liketheonesinConusandCymbiola
genus,aregeneratedbynaturalcellularautomata.Thepigment
cellsresideinanarrowbandalongtheshell'slip.Eachcell
secretespigmentsaccordingtotheactivatingandinhibiting
activityofitsneighborpigmentcells,obeyinganaturalversion
ofamathematicalrule.[59]Thecellbandleavesthecolored
patternontheshellasitgrowsslowly.Forexample,the
widespreadspeciesConustextilebearsapatternresembling
Wolfram'srule30cellularautomaton.[59]

Plantsregulatetheirintakeandlossofgasesviaacellularautomatonmechanism.Eachstomaontheleaf
actsasacell.[60]
Movingwavepatternsontheskinofcephalopodscanbesimulatedwithatwostate,twodimensional
cellularautomata,eachstatecorrespondingtoeitheranexpandedorretractedchromatophore.[61]
Thresholdautomatahavebeeninventedtosimulateneurons,andcomplexbehaviorssuchasrecognition
andlearningcanbesimulated.[62]
Fibroblastsbearsimilaritiestocellularautomata,aseachfibroblastonlyinteractswithitsneighbors.[63]

Chemicaltypes
TheBelousovZhabotinskyreactionisaspatiotemporalchemicaloscillatorthatcanbesimulatedby
meansofacellularautomaton.Inthe1950sA.M.Zhabotinsky(extendingtheworkofB.P.Belousov)
discoveredthatwhenathin,homogenouslayerofamixtureofmalonicacid,acidifiedbromate,anda
cericsaltweremixedtogetherandleftundisturbed,fascinatinggeometricpatternssuchasconcentric
circlesandspiralspropagateacrossthemedium.Inthe"ComputerRecreations"sectionoftheAugust
1988issueofScientificAmerican,[64]A.K.Dewdneydiscussedacellularautomaton[65]developedby
MartinGerhardtandHeikeSchusteroftheUniversityofBielefeld(WestGermany).Thisautomaton
produceswavepatternsthatresemblethoseintheBelousovZhabotinskyreaction.

Applications
Computerprocessors
CellularautomatonprocessorsarephysicalimplementationsofCAconcepts,whichcanprocess
informationcomputationally.Processingelementsarearrangedinaregulargridofidenticalcells.The
gridisusuallyasquaretiling,ortessellation,oftwoorthreedimensionsothertilingsarepossible,but

notyetused.Cellstatesaredeterminedonlybyinteractionswithadjacentneighborcells.Nomeans
existstocommunicatedirectlywithcellsfartheraway.[66]Onesuchcellularautomatonprocessorarray
configurationisthesystolicarray.Cellinteractioncanbeviaelectriccharge,magnetism,vibration
(phononsatquantumscales),oranyotherphysicallyusefulmeans.Thiscanbedoneinseveralwaysso
nowiresareneededbetweenanyelements.Thisisveryunlikeprocessorsusedinmostcomputerstoday,
vonNeumanndesigns,whicharedividedintosectionswithelementsthatcancommunicatewithdistant
elementsoverwires.

Cryptography
Rule30wasoriginallysuggestedasapossibleBlockcipherforuseincryptography.Twodimensional
cellularautomataareusedforrandomnumbergeneration.[67]
Cellularautomatahavebeenproposedforpublickeycryptography.Theonewayfunctionisthe
evolutionofafiniteCAwhoseinverseisbelievedtobehardtofind.Giventherule,anyonecaneasily
calculatefuturestates,butitappearstobeverydifficulttocalculatepreviousstates.

Errorcorrectioncoding
CAhavebeenappliedtodesignerrorcorrectioncodesinthepaper"DesignofCAECCCellular
AutomataBasedErrorCorrectingCode",byD.RoyChowdhury,S.Basu,I.SenGupta,P.Pal
Chaudhuri.ThepaperdefinesanewschemeofbuildingSECDEDcodesusingCA,andalsoreportsa
fasthardwaredecoderforthecode.

Modelingphysicalreality
AsAndrewIlachinskipointsoutinhisCellularAutomata,manyscholarshaveraisedthequestionof
whethertheuniverseisacellularautomaton.[68]Ilachinskiarguesthattheimportanceofthisquestion
maybebetterappreciatedwithasimpleobservation,whichcanbestatedasfollows.Considerthe
evolutionofrule110:ifitweresomekindof"alienphysics",whatwouldbeareasonabledescriptionof
theobservedpatterns?[69]Ifanobserverdidnotknowhowtheimagesweregenerated,thatobserver
mightendupconjecturingaboutthemovementofsomeparticlelikeobjects.Indeed,physicistJames
Crutchfieldhasconstructedarigorousmathematicaltheoryoutofthisidea,provingthestatistical
emergenceof"particles"fromcellularautomata.[70]Then,astheargumentgoes,onemightwonderif
ourworld,whichiscurrentlywelldescribedbyphysicswithparticlelikeobjects,couldbeaCAatits
mostfundamentallevel.
Whileacompletetheoryalongthislinehasnotbeendeveloped,entertaininganddevelopingthis
hypothesisledscholarstointerestingspeculationandfruitfulintuitionsonhowcanwemakesenseof
ourworldwithinadiscreteframework.MarvinMinsky,theAIpioneer,investigatedhowtounderstand
particleinteractionwithafourdimensionalCAlattice[71]KonradZusetheinventorofthefirst
workingcomputer,theZ3developedanirregularlyorganizedlatticetoaddressthequestionofthe
informationcontentofparticles.[72]Morerecently,EdwardFredkinexposedwhathetermsthe"finite
naturehypothesis",i.e.,theideathat"ultimatelyeveryquantityofphysics,includingspaceandtime,
willturnouttobediscreteandfinite."[73]FredkinandWolframarestrongproponentsofaCAbased
physics.

Inrecentyears,othersuggestionsalongtheselineshaveemergedfromliteratureinnonstandard
computation.Wolfram'sANewKindofScienceconsidersCAthekeytounderstandingavarietyof
subjects,physicsincluded.TheMathematicsoftheModelsofReferencecreatedbyiLabs[74]founder
GabrieleRossianddevelopedwithFrancescoBertoandJacopoTagliabuefeaturesanoriginal2D/3D
universebasedonanew"rhombicdodecahedronbased"latticeandauniquerule.Thismodelsatisfies
universality(itisequivalenttoaTuringMachine)andperfectreversibility(adesideratumifonewants
toconservevariousquantitieseasilyandneverloseinformation),anditcomesembeddedinafirstorder
theory,allowingcomputable,qualitativestatementsontheuniverseevolution.[75]

Seealso
Specificrules
Brian'sBrain
Langton'sant
Wireworld
Rule90
Rule184
vonNeumanncellularautomata
Nobilicellularautomata
Codd'scellularautomaton
Langton'sloops
CoDi

Problemssolved
Firingsquadsynchronizationproblem
Majorityproblem

Seealso
Automatatheory
Bidirectionaltraffic
Cellularautomatainpopularculture
Cycliccellularautomaton
Excitablemedium
Mirek'sCellebration
Movablecellularautomaton
Quantumcellularautomata
Spatialdecisionsupportsystem
Turmites

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References
Adamatzky,Andrew,ed.(2010).GameofLifeCellularAutomata.Springer.ISBN9781849962162.
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Automata.Springer.ISBN9781402036576.
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ISBN9781118030639.
Wolfram,Stephen(2002).ANewKindofScience.WolframMedia.ISBN9781579550080.
CellularautomatonFAQ(http://cafaq.com/)fromthenewsgroupcomp.theory.cellautomata
"NeighbourhoodSurvey"(http://cellauto.com/neighbourhood/index.html)(includesdiscussionontriangular
grids,andlargerneighborhoodCAs)
vonNeumann,John,1966,TheTheoryofSelfreproducingAutomata,A.Burks,ed.,Univ.ofIllinoisPress,
Urbana,IL.
CosmaShalizi'sCellularAutomataNotebook(http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/notebooks/cellular
automata.html)containsanextensivelistofacademicandprofessionalreferencematerial.
Wolfram'spapersonCAs(http://www.stephenwolfram.com/publications/articles/ca/)
A.M.Turing.1952.TheChemicalBasisofMorphogenesis.Phil.Trans.RoyalSociety,vol.B237,pp.37
72.(proposesreactiondiffusion,atypeofcontinuousautomaton).
EvolvingCellularAutomatawithGeneticAlgorithms:AReviewofRecentWork,MelanieMitchell,JamesP.
Crutchfeld,RajarshiDas(InProceedingsoftheFirstInternationalConferenceonEvolutionaryComputation
andItsApplications(EvCA'96).Moscow,Russia:RussianAcademyofSciences,1996.)
TheEvolutionaryDesignofCollectiveComputationinCellularAutomata,JamesP.Crutchfeld,Melanie
Mitchell,RajarshiDas(InJ.P.CrutcheldandP.K.Schuster(editors),EvolutionaryDynamics|Exploring
theInterplayofSelection,Neutrality,Accident,andFunction.NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,2002.)
TheEvolutionofEmergentComputation,JamesP.CrutchfieldandMelanieMitchell(SFITechnicalReport
9403012)

Ganguly,Sikdar,DeutschandChaudhuri"ASurveyonCellularAutomata"
(http://www.wepapers.com/Papers/16352/files/swf/15001To20000/16352.swf)

Externallinks
CellularAutomata
WikimediaCommonshas
(http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/cellularautomata)entry
mediarelatedtoCellular
byFrancescoBerto&JacopoTagliabueintheStanford
automata.
EncyclopediaofPhilosophy
Mirek'sCellebration
Wikibookshasabookon
(http://www.mirekw.com/ca/index.html)Hometofree
thetopicof:Cellular
MCellandMJCellcellularautomataexplorersoftwareand
Automata
rulelibraries.Thesoftwaresupportsalargenumberof1D
and2Drules.Thesiteprovidesbothanextensiveruleslexiconandmanyimagegalleriesloaded
withexamplesofrules.MCellisaWindowsapplication,whileMJCellisaJavaapplet.Source
codeisavailable.
ModernCellularAutomata(http://www.collidoscope.com/modernca/)Easytouseinteractive
exhibitsoflivecolor2Dcellularautomata,poweredbyJavaapplet.Includedareexhibitsof
traditional,reversible,hexagonal,multiplestep,fractalgenerating,andpatterngeneratingrules.
Thousandsofrulesareprovidedforviewing.Freesoftwareisavailable.
SelfreplicationloopsinCellularSpace(http://necsi.edu/postdocs/sayama/sdsr/java/)Javaapplet
poweredexhibitsofselfreplicationloops.
Acollectionofover10differentcellularautomataapplets
(http://vlab.infotech.monash.edu.au/simulations/cellularautomata/)(inMonashUniversity's
VirtualLab)
Golly(http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/golly)supportsvonNeumann,Nobili,GOL,anda
greatmanyothersystemsofcellularautomata.DevelopedbyTomasRokickiandAndrew
Trevorrow.ThisistheonlysimulatorcurrentlyavailablethatcandemonstratevonNeumanntype
selfreplication.
WolframAtlas(http://atlas.wolfram.com/TOC/TOC_200.html)Anatlasofvarioustypesofone
dimensionalcellularautomata.
ConwayLife(http://www.conwaylife.com/)
Firstreplicatingcreaturespawnedinlifesimulator
(http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627653.800firstreplicatingcreaturespawnedinlife
simulator.html)
TheMathematicsoftheModelsofReference(http://www.mmdr.it/provaEN.asp),featuringa
generaltutorialonCA,interactiveapplet,freecodeandresourcesonCAasmodeloffundamental
physics
FourmilabCellularAutomataLaboratory(http://www.fourmilab.ch/cellab)
BusyBoxes(http://busyboxes.org),a3D,reversible,SALT(http://64.78.31.152/wp
content/uploads/2012/08/2stateRevCAin3D.pdf)architectureCA
CellularAutomataRepository(http://uncomp.uwe.ac.uk/genaro/CA_repository.html)(CA
researchers,historiclinks,freesoftware,booksandbeyond)
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