Boolean Delay Equations: A simple way of looking at complex systems

Boolean Delay Equations (BDEs) are semi-discrete dynamical models with Boolean-valued variables that evolve in continuous time. Systems of BDEs can be classified into conservative or dissipative, in a manner that parallels the classification of ordinary or partial differential equations. Solutions to certain conservative BDEs exhibit growth of complexity in time. They represent therewith metaphors for biological evolution or human history. Dissipative BDEs are structurally stable and exhibit multiple equilibria and limit cycles, as well as more complex, fractal solution sets, such as Devil's staircases and ``fractal sunbursts``. All known solutions of dissipative BDEs have stationary variance. BDE systems of this type, both free and forced, have been used as highly idealized models of climate change on interannual, interdecadal and paleoclimatic time scales. BDEs are also being used as flexible, highly efficient models of colliding cascades in earthquake modeling and prediction, as well as in genetics. In this paper we review the theory of systems of BDEs and illustrate their applications to climatic and solid earth problems. The former have used small systems of BDEs, while the latter have used large networks of BDEs. We moreover introduce BDEs with an infinite number of variables distributed in space (``partial BDEs``) and discuss connections with other types of dynamical systems, including cellular automata and Boolean networks. This research-and-review paper concludes with a set of open questions.Comment: Latex, 67 pages with 15 eps figures. Revised version, in particular the discussion on partial BDEs is updated and enlarge

Integrable 1D Toda cellular automata

First, we recall the algebro-geometric method of construction of finite field valued solutions of the discrete KP equation and next we perform a reduction of the dKP equation to the discrete 1D Toda equation. This gives a method of construction of solutions of the discrete 1D Toda equation taking values in a finite field.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures; Corrected typo

Quantumness of discrete Hamiltonian cellular automata

We summarize a recent study of discrete (integer-valued) Hamiltonian cellular automata (CA) showing that their dynamics can only be consistently defined, if it is linear in the same sense as unitary evolution described by the Schr\"odinger equation. This allows to construct an invertible map between such CA and continuous quantum mechanical models, which incorporate a fundamental scale. Presently, we emphasize general aspects of these findings, the construction of admissible CA observables, and the existence of solutions of the modified dispersion relation for stationary states.Comment: 4 pages; invited talk at the symposium "Wigner 111 - Colourful and Deep" (Budapest, November 2013), to appear in EPJ Web of Conference