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  • © 2016

Turing Machine Universality of the Game of Life

Authors:

  • Presents a proof of universal computation in the Game of Life cellular automaton by using a Turing machine construction
  • Background material is presented giving a description of Conway’s
  • Game of Life, Turing machines and Counter Machines
  • Self-consistent and well-illustrated book
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: Emergence, Complexity and Computation (ECC, volume 18)

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Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
  2. Introduction

    • Paul Rendell
    Pages 1-3
  3. Background

    • Paul Rendell
    Pages 5-16
  4. Literature Review/Related Work

    • Paul Rendell
    Pages 17-43
  5. Game of Life Turing Machine

    • Paul Rendell
    Pages 45-70
  6. Game of Life Universal Turing Machine

    • Paul Rendell
    Pages 71-89
  7. Optimizing Transition Order

    • Paul Rendell
    Pages 91-105
  8. Forty Five Degree Stack

    • Paul Rendell
    Pages 107-117
  9. Stack Constructor

    • Paul Rendell
    Pages 119-141
  10. Universal Counter Machine—Turing Machine

    • Paul Rendell
    Pages 143-146
  11. Wolfram’s Two State Three Symbol UTM

    • Paul Rendell
    Pages 147-149
  12. Conclusions and Discussion

    • Paul Rendell
    Pages 151-159
  13. Further Work

    • Paul Rendell
    Pages 161-162
  14. Back Matter

    Pages 163-177

About this book

This book presents a proof of universal computation in the Game of Life cellular automaton by using a Turing machine construction. It provides an introduction including background information and an extended review of the literature for Turing Machines, Counter Machines and the relevant patterns in Conway's Game of Life so that the subject matter is accessibly to non specialists.

The book contains a description of the author’s Turing machine in Conway’s Game of Life including an unlimited storage tape provided by growing stack structures and it also presents a fast universal Turing machine designed to allow the working to be demonstrated in a convenient period of time.

 

Reviews

“The book contains numerous detailed illustrations … . an avid reader who is a Game of Life enthusiast to the core will cherish every word. However, less detail-oriented readers may also enjoy this manuscript, focusing more on the tale told by the illustrations and their accompanying captions. These in themselves provide much insight into the fascinating universe of cellular automata–and into the amazing feats they can accomplish.” (Moshe Sipper, Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines, Vol. 18, 2017)

“Rendell’s volume reports an extended project on such engineering of universal computers in the GoL. … individual chapters have references to the literature relevant to each of them. Aficionados of the Game of Life willwelcome this volume as the journal of a fellow enthusiast as he explores new ways to configure and manipulate the simple potential of this fascinating algorithm.” (H. Van Dyke Parunak, Computing Reviews, November, 2015)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Computer Science, University of the West of England, Bristol, United Kingdom

    Paul Rendell

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access