Cellular Automata

A cellular automaton is a collection of cells arranged in a grid, where each cell changes state as a function of time according to a defined set of rules based on states of neighboring cells.

3 flashcards · Computer Science · by lakesare

1. What are 3 characteristics of cellular automaton?

   The cells live on a grid (any dimensions). Each cell has a state. The simplest example has the two possibilities of 1 and 0. Each cell has a neighbourhood. It is typically a list of adjacent cells.

2. What to do with edges?

   It's up to you. Set their state to constant, wrap them around the grid, set up some arbitrary rules specifically for edges.

3. Name 3 uses for cellular automata.

   Image processing (eg antialiasing) Pseudo random generator (because results of some are unexpected) Public key cryptography (as a one-way function, evolution of a CA whose inverse is believed to be hard to find)