A Survey of Cellular Automata: Types, Dynamics, Non-uniformity and Applications

Cellular automata (CAs) are dynamical systems which exhibit complex global behavior from simple local interaction and computation. Since the inception of cellular automaton (CA) by von Neumann in 1950s, it has attracted the attention of several researchers over various backgrounds and fields for modelling different physical, natural as well as real-life phenomena. Classically, CAs are uniform. However, non-uniformity has also been introduced in update pattern, lattice structure, neighborhood dependency and local rule. In this survey, we tour to the various types of CAs introduced till date, the different characterization tools, the global behaviors of CAs, like universality, reversibility, dynamics etc. Special attention is given to non-uniformity in CAs and especially to non-uniform elementary CAs, which have been very useful in solving several real-life problems.Comment: 43 pages; Under review in Natural Computin

Chromatic Polynomials for J(∏H)IJ(\prod H)I Strip Graphs and their Asymptotic Limits

We calculate the chromatic polynomials $P$ for $n$-vertex strip graphs of the form $J(\prod_{\ell=1}^m H)I$, where $J$ and $I$ are various subgraphs on the left and right ends of the strip, whose bulk is comprised of $m$-fold repetitions of a subgraph $H$. The strips have free boundary conditions in the longitudinal direction and free or periodic boundary conditions in the transverse direction. This extends our earlier calculations for strip graphs of the form $(\prod_{\ell=1}^m H)I$. We use a generating function method. From these results we compute the asymptotic limiting function $W=\lim_{n \to \infty}P^{1/n}$; for $q \in {\mathbb Z}_+$ this has physical significance as the ground state degeneracy per site (exponent of the ground state entropy) of the $q$-state Potts antiferromagnet on the given strip. In the complex $q$ plane, $W$ is an analytic function except on a certain continuous locus ${\cal B}$. In contrast to the $(\prod_{\ell=1}^m H)I$ strip graphs, where ${\cal B}$ (i) is independent of $I$, and (ii) consists of arcs and possible line segments that do not enclose any regions in the $q$ plane, we find that for some $J(\prod_{\ell=1}^m H)I$ strip graphs, ${\cal B}$ (i) does depend on $I$ and $J$, and (ii) can enclose regions in the $q$ plane. Our study elucidates the effects of different end subgraphs $I$ and $J$ and of boundary conditions on the infinite-length limit of the strip graphs.Comment: 33 pages, Latex, 7 encapsulated postscript figures, Physica A, in press, with some typos fixe

Chromatic Polynomials for Families of Strip Graphs and their Asymptotic Limits

We calculate the chromatic polynomials $P((G_s)_m,q)$ and, from these, the asymptotic limiting functions $W(\{G_s\},q)=\lim_{n \to \infty}P(G_s,q)^{1/n}$ for families of $n$-vertex graphs $(G_s)_m$ comprised of $m$ repeated subgraphs $H$ adjoined to an initial graph $I$. These calculations of $W(\{G_s\},q)$ for infinitely long strips of varying widths yield important insights into properties of $W(\Lambda,q)$ for two-dimensional lattices $\Lambda$. In turn, these results connect with statistical mechanics, since $W(\Lambda,q)$ is the ground state degeneracy of the $q$-state Potts model on the lattice $\Lambda$. For our calculations, we develop and use a generating function method, which enables us to determine both the chromatic polynomials of finite strip graphs and the resultant $W(\{G_s\},q)$ function in the limit $n \to \infty$. From this, we obtain the exact continuous locus of points ${\cal B}$ where $W(\{G_s\},q)$ is nonanalytic in the complex $q$ plane. This locus is shown to consist of arcs which do not separate the $q$ plane into disconnected regions. Zeros of chromatic polynomials are computed for finite strips and compared with the exact locus of singularities ${\cal B}$. We find that as the width of the infinitely long strips is increased, the arcs comprising ${\cal B}$ elongate and move toward each other, which enables one to understand the origin of closed regions that result for the (infinite) 2D lattice.Comment: 48 pages, Latex, 12 encapsulated postscript figures, to appear in Physica