We consider the parity problem in one-dimensional, binary, circular cellular
automata: if the initial configuration contains an odd number of 1s, the
lattice should converge to all 1s; otherwise, it should converge to all 0s. It
is easy to see that the problem is ill-defined for even-sized lattices (which,
by definition, would never be able to converge to 1). We then consider only odd
lattices.
We are interested in determining the minimal neighbourhood that allows the
problem to be solvable for any initial configuration. On the one hand, we show
that radius 2 is not sufficient, proving that there exists no radius 2 rule
that can possibly solve the parity problem from arbitrary initial
configurations. On the other hand, we design a radius 4 rule that converges
correctly for any initial configuration and we formally prove its correctness.
Whether or not there exists a radius 3 rule that solves the parity problem
remains an open problem.Comment: In Proceedings AUTOMATA&JAC 2012, arXiv:1208.249
