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The Universe as Automaton pp 67–74Cite as

Time in the Universe of Cellular Automata

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Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Complexity ((BRIEFSCOMPLEXITY))

Abstract

An examination of Figures (10–14) at the end of the last chapter shows that, except for period-k isle of Eden bit strings (Figs. 12, 14b), all attractors of the cellular automaton 62 have a non-empty basin of attraction with several gardens of Eden. Therefore, given any bit string on an attractor, it is impossible to retrace its dynamics in backward time to find where it had originated in the transient regime. Unlike in ordinary differential equations used in modeling dynamical systems, it is impossible, for most rules of cellular automata, to retrace its past history on the attractor. This observation leads us to exciting and deep insights in the concept of time with respect to the universe of cellular automata and physics (Chua et al. 2006; Mainzer 2002; Sachs 1987).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Technische Unviversität München, Lehrstuhl für Philosophie und Wissenschaftstheorie, Arcisstrasse 21, 80333, Munich, Germany

    Klaus Mainzer

  2. EECS Department, University of California, Cory Hall #1770 253, Berkeley, CA, 94720-1770, USA

    Leon Chua

Authors
  1. Klaus Mainzer
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  2. Leon Chua
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Correspondence to Klaus Mainzer .

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© 2012 Klaus Mainzer

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Mainzer, K., Chua, L. (2012). Time in the Universe of Cellular Automata. In: The Universe as Automaton. SpringerBriefs in Complexity. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23477-4_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23477-4_6

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-23476-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-23477-4

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