Cellular Automata:

An Introduction

Gustavo Camelo Neto

Consortium of the Americas for Interdisciplinary Science
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of New Mexico - USA
Concepts
Concepts

Cellular automata form a class of mathematical tools for modeling

phenomena that can be described in terms of elementary interacting
objects. Each of these objects is one automaton.
Concepts

Cellular automata form a class of mathematical tools for modeling

phenomena that can be described in terms of elementary interacting
objects. Each of these objects is one automaton.
The basic idea is to make the macroscopic behavior emerge from the
individual microscopic dynamics, when each automaton applies the
same set of rules in parallel.
Concepts

Cellular automata form a class of mathematical tools for modeling

phenomena that can be described in terms of elementary interacting
objects. Each of these objects is one automaton.
The basic idea is to make the macroscopic behavior emerge from the
individual microscopic dynamics, when each automaton applies the
same set of rules in parallel.
Automata models are, in general, discrete. Space and time change
by fixed steps and the possible values for the state of the automaton
are finite. This is only for conceptual simplicity, since real numbers
requires an infinite amount of information to be specified, computers
do not manipulates real numbers efficiently.
Types of Automata
Types of Automata

There are two classes of automata.

Types of Automata

There are two classes of automata.

• Molecular automata: are individuals that wander in space, like
molecules of a gas, mice, etc. Each automaton has information
about its own properties, like mass, momentum, etc, and its
position. This class of automata gives rise to what is known by
molecular dynamics.
Types of Automata

There are two classes of automata.

• Molecular automata: are individuals that wander in space, like
molecules of a gas, mice, etc. Each automaton has information
about its own properties, like mass, momentum, etc, and its
position. This class of automata gives rise to what is known by
molecular dynamics.
• Cellular automata: are stick to a cell in a lattice, like trees,
patches of space, etc. Each automaton has information about
the properties of the space.
Types of Automata

There are two classes of automata.

• Molecular automata: are individuals that wander in space, like
molecules of a gas, mice, etc. Each automaton has information
about its own properties, like mass, momentum, etc, and its
position. This class of automata gives rise to what is known by
molecular dynamics.
• Cellular automata: are stick to a cell in a lattice, like trees,
patches of space, etc. Each automaton has information about
the properties of the space.
Cellular automata may be thought as a field description, while molec-
ular automata as a particle description.
Cellular Automata
Cellular Automata

Cellular automata were introduced in the forties by John von Neu-

mann, they become interesting to physicists in the seventies, after
the publication of “The Game of Life”, by John Conway (Scientific
American, 223, 120 (1970))
Cellular Automata

Cellular automata were introduced in the forties by John von Neu-

mann, they become interesting to physicists in the seventies, after
the publication of “The Game of Life”, by John Conway (Scientific
American, 223, 120 (1970))
A compact way of specifying deterministic rules for one-dimensional,
binary, and short range cellular automata was introduced by Wolfram
in 1987. (Theory and Applications of Cellular Automata (World
Scientific, 1987))
Suppose we have an arbitrary lattice. We associate an automaton to
each site, i. The automaton state at time t is given by σit .
Suppose we have an arbitrary lattice. We associate an automaton to
each site, i. The automaton state at time t is given by σit .
The complete state of the system is, then, defined by:

~σ t ≡ (σ1t , . . . , σN
t
)
Suppose we have an arbitrary lattice. We associate an automaton to
each site, i. The automaton state at time t is given by σit .
The complete state of the system is, then, defined by:

~σ t ≡ (σ1t , . . . , σN
t
)

The dynamic is defined by an evolution rule:

~σ t+1 = F~ (~σ t )
Suppose we have an arbitrary lattice. We associate an automaton to
each site, i. The automaton state at time t is given by σit .
The complete state of the system is, then, defined by:

~σ t ≡ (σ1t , . . . , σN
t
)

The dynamic is defined by an evolution rule:

~σ t+1 = F~ (~σ t )

In general, this global rule can be written in terms of local rules,

σit+1 = f (σi−k
t
, . . . , σit , . . . , σi+k
t
)
Wolfram Rules
Wolfram Rules

Wolfram enumerated 256 possible deterministic rules for cellular au-

tomata in one-dimension with first-neighbors interactions.
Wolfram Rules

Wolfram enumerated 256 possible deterministic rules for cellular au-

tomata in one-dimension with first-neighbors interactions.
These 256 rules can be classified in 4 classes:
Class 1 −→ Homogeneous Configuration
Class 2 −→ Periodic Patterns
Class 3 −→ Chaotic Patterns
Class 4 −→ Complex Patterns
Rule 22
Rule 22

(22)10 = (00010110)2
Rule 22

(22)10 = (00010110)2

n t
σi−1 σit t
σi+1 σit+1
0 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 1 1
2 0 1 0 1
3 0 1 1 0
4 1 0 0 1
5 1 0 1 0
6 1 1 0 0
7 1 1 1 0
To be continued...