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Five Cellular Automata
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Version
5.57
A cellular automaton consists of:
(a) A structure of cells, such as the squares on a
chess board.
(b) A set of values or "states" such that each cell is
associated with a particular state.
(c) A set of rules describing how one state of the
system (a particular configuration of cells in specific
states) is to be transformed or converted to another
state of the system.
This is software for exploring five cellular automata,
as follows:
1. An extended version of Conway's Life, called q-state
Life.
2. A simulation of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky chemical
reaction in which, beginning from a random state of the
system, spirals and curlicues "spontaneously" emerge.
3. A process called Togetherness in which cells with
random states move so as to maximize the number of
neighbors of each cell in the same state as that cell
(or, thought of in another way, in which the cells
rearrange themselves so as to form maximal clusters of
cells all having the same state).
4. Viral Replication, a simulation of a population of
dividing cells subject to viral infection.
5. Diffusion-Limited Aggregation, illustrating a
process in which particles diffuse (moving randomly)
and aggregate to form a fractal structure.
The documentation provides a complete description of
the algorithms used.
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