Thread for basic questions

[Qyz]

How are the reflectors that require the glider stream to have no gaps (patterns like Merzenich’s p26 glider shuttle and p31 glider shuttle) studied? What are such reflectors called (dependent reflector?) and how likely is it to find such a reflector of p19, p34, p38 or p41?

[mniemiec]

How are the patterns like Merzenich’s p26 glider shuttle and p31 glider shuttle studied? What are such reflectors called (dependent reflector?) and how likely is it to find such a reflector of p19, p34, p38 or p41?

One doesn't study the shuttles per se. One finds mechanisms where hitting a simple pattern (e.g. a honeyfarm or one of its predecessor) is hit by a spark, glider, etc. - and with some possible help (e.g. eaters or other sparks), can re-form the pattern again. If the pattern releases a glider reflected 90 degrees (or 180 degrees, with sufficient clearance between lanes), it may be possible to chain multiple copies of the mechanisms together to make an oscillator. The period of the oscillator must be a multiple of the period of the reaction, and the lower limit depends on how often long it takes the reaction to re-form the original conditions, allowing the incoming glider to approach without being hit first. The ideal case is to find a stable reflector (e.g. the Snark); since the reaction itself stable, all periods are possible, subject to the minimum reset time.

[dvgrn]

How are the patterns like Merzenich’s p26 glider shuttle and p31 glider shuttle studied? What are such reflectors called (dependent reflector?)

One doesn't study the shuttles per se. One finds mechanisms where hitting a simple pattern (e.g. a honeyfarm or one of its predecessor) is hit by a spark, glider, etc...

For the particular shuttles in the link, the active pattern is specifically hit by a glider, and produces a glider output while re-forming the active pattern (honeyfarm explosion in this case) -- and those two patterns are indeed called "dependent reflectors", because the reaction is dependent on the glider coming in.

That is to say, you have to have a constant stream of incoming gliders, or the reaction breaks down, in contrast with more standard reflectors like buckaroos and bouncers and bumpers and so on, which also involve oscillators but they don't really care if a glider comes in or not.

Each dependent reflector will have a specific period, but there's no particular reason that a dependent reflector is more likely to end up at one period than at another... except maybe that the reactions become gradually harder to find as the repeat time increases. But that only affects the likelihood of someone being able to find a particular period, not the odds that such a reaction is Out There Somewhere waiting to be found.

Basically, if we can find enough dependent reflectors of various periods, we'll eventually prove omniperiodicity -- but it might take hundreds of dependent-reflector discoveries, since finding one of the missing periods wouldn't give us any leads on finding the remaining ones. Mark's mention of a (fast-recovering) (non-dependent) reflector as being the ideal case is because if a stable reflector with recovery time 19 could be found, it would solve all the missing cases at once.

It does seem possible that a concentrated effort to find dependent reflectors, very much along the lines of hotDogPi's work with sparked patterns over the last year but feeding in gliders instead of sparks, might well turn up some or all of the missing periods eventually.

[MathAndCode]

I remember seeing a three-glider collision that makes a snake and a block a while back, but I can't find it now. (I checked https://www.conwaylife.com/patterns/snake_synth.rle, https://www.conwaylife.com/ref/mniemiec/0/6sn.rle, and https://catagolue.hatsya.com/census/b3s ... offset=565 (and the next page).) Does anyone know where it can be found?

[dvgrn]

I remember seeing a three-glider collision that makes a snake and a block a while back, but I can't find it now. (I checked https://www.conwaylife.com/patterns/snake_synth.rle, https://www.conwaylife.com/ref/mniemiec/0/6sn.rle, and https://catagolue.hatsya.com/census/b3s ... offset=565 (and the next page).) Does anyone know where it can be found?

I don't remember any such thing, not that my memory is very good.

Could it maybe have been this conversion component? It has three gliders, and it makes a snake and a block, but it would really be 5G in all.

If a real 3G snake + X exists, we could find it pretty quick by running through the 3G collision database and feeding each one through apgsearch 1.x census code. Or maybe someone has already done that, way back years ago?

[MathAndCode]

Could it maybe have been this conversion component? It has three gliders, and it makes a snake and a block, but it would really be 5G in all.

No, I recall thinking at the time that that constitutes a two-step, four-glider snake.

[hkoenig]

The 3Glider database I have shows only 5 collisions where the results contain a Snake:

Code: Select all

x=5, y=19
4bo$2b2o$3b2o9$bo$2bo$3o3$b3o$3bo$2bo!

Code: Select all

x=35, y=35
32bo$32bobo$32b2o27$o$b2o$2o$5bo$4b2o$4bobo!

Code: Select all

x=23, y=18
21bo$22bo$20b3o3$20b2o$21b2o$20bo8$b2o$obo$2bo!

Code: Select all

x=22, y=37
19bo$19bobo$19b2o29$o$b2o$2o$5bo$4b2o$4bobo!

Code: Select all

x=14, y=34
13bo$11b2o$12b2o26$o$b2o$2o$5bo$4b2o$4bobo!

[dvgrn]

The 3Glider database I have shows only 5 collisions where the results contain a Snake...

Is your 3G database based on 2718281828's list of a half-million or so collisions? Or was it separately created (from gencols runs or whatever?) Just checking to see whether might be worth running a census against that list or not.

It's been getting increasingly clear from running synthesise-patt.py for the last while, that 2718281828's list contains quite a lot of duplication. So it's been on my to-do list to wrestle everything into the .sjk format that wildmyron used for the synthesise-constellation-4G script. I'd be just as glad if I didn't have to do that, though...!

[hkoenig]

Based on that posting. I created an SQLite database from it, so it could be searched for things like this, but made no attempt at checking for duplicates or other cleanup. Not familiar with SJK format.

[GUYTU6J]

I remember seeing a three-glider collision that makes a snake and a block a while back, but I can't find it now. ...

Could it have been an aircraft carrier? xs10_33y4oi6 comes from a G+B collision:

Code: Select all

#CSYNTH xs10_33y4oi6 costs 3 gliders (pseudo).
#CLL state-numbering golly
x = 20, y = 5, rule = B3/S23
19bo$17b2o$2bo3bobo9b2o$obo3b2o$b2o4bo!

---

My question: where can I read about Dean Hickerson's Fibonacci period-multipliers? As an application of Herschel stopper, it could be linked to in the LifeWiki article.

[dvgrn]

My question: where can I read about Dean Hickerson's Fibonacci period-multipliers? As an application of Herschel stopper, it could be linked to in the LifeWiki article.

I can't find it anywhere except in an email archive from a quarter century ago:

Subject: Herschel-track period doubler

For a while I've been looking for a Herschel-track period doubler, in which every second Herschel that enters a track gets through. I was hoping for something simple, involving only one Herschel move, but I haven't found such a thing. But I have found one that involves several stages.

The basic idea is to use a boat-bit to control the evolution of a B-heptomino. A snake is added near where a Herschel is about to form, in a position where it doesn't interfere. But if a glider hits the snake, it attaches a boat to it; this boat interacts with the forming Herschel, killing the boat and the Herschel but not the snake:

Code: Select all

 .....oo     ....oo          .......oo      ..oo
 .....o.     ....o.          .......o.      ..o.
 ......o     .....o          ........o      ...o
 .....oo     ....oo          .......oo      ..oo
 .......     ......          .........      ....
 .......     ......          .......oo      ....
 ....... --> ......          ......o.o ---> ....
 .......  5  ......          .......o.  24  ....
 o.oo...     ......          ..o.oo...      ....
 oooo...     ....o.          ..oooo...      ....
 o...o..     ..ooo.          ..o...o..      ....
 .ooo...     ..o.o.          ...ooo...      ....
 .ooo...     ..o...          ...ooo...      ....
 .o.....     ......          ...o.....      ....

The glider comes from a later stage in the Herschel-track. So the first Herschel passes by the snake, eventually emitting a glider that creates a boat. The second Herschel deletes the boat and gets destroyed, restoring the track to its original state.

As usual, the need to put a glider on a particular path makes this device unpleasantly large and slow. In the simplest implementation that I've found, after passing the snake, the Herschel goes through 77, 77, 112, 112, 117, and 77 gen moves. Successive Herschels must be at least 748 gens apart. In the pattern below, I've prepended and appended 77 gen moves, to show that this really works in the middle of a Herschel track:

Code: Select all

#C A Herschel passes through a track consisting of 77, 77, 77, 112,
#C 112, 117, 77, and 77 gen moves.  At the end, it fires a glider
#C which attaches a boat to a snake between the first to 77 gen moves.
#C If a second Herschel is inserted into the track, it will die when
#C it reaches the boat.
x = 136, y = 65, rule = B3/S23
81bo$66b2o11b3o34b2o$66bo11bo37bo$67bo10b2o37bo$66b2o48b2o14b2o$132bo$
130bobo$38bo49bo37b2o2b2o$38b3o47b3o35b2o$41bo49bo$40b2o11b2o35b2o11b
2o$53b2o48b2o6$39bo$39bobo$39b3o36b2o52b2o$41bo23b2o11b2o34b2o16bobo$
66bo46bobo18bo$63b3o47bo20b2o$63bo48b2o4b2o$117bobo$32b2o48b2o33bo$33b
o49bo32b2o7b2o$30b3o20b2o25b3o20b2o20b2o$30bo22bo26bo22bo$54b3o47b3o$
56bo49bo$13bo$13b3o$16bo$15b2o4$56bo$54b3o17b2o$53bo20bo$40b2o11b2o20b
o11bo27bo$40b2o32b2o9b3o27b3o$bo82bo33bo$obo81b2o10b2o19b2o$bo94bo15bo
$94bobo15b3o$94b2o19bo$71b2o41b2o$71b2o$15b2o$15b2o11b2o$28bo$29b3o$
31bo79b2o$111b2o17b2o$130b2o$80b2o$40b2o39bo$41bo36b3o50b2o$38b3o37bo
52bo$38bo79b2o12b3o$119bo14bo$116b3o$116bo!

Here's the same thing, but with the boat already present:

Code: Select all

x = 136, y = 65, rule = B3/S23
81bo$66b2o11b3o34b2o$66bo11bo37bo$67bo10b2o37bo$66b2o48b2o14b2o$132bo$
66b2o62bobo$38bo26bobo20bo37b2o2b2o$38b3o25bo21b3o35b2o$41bo49bo$40b2o
11b2o35b2o11b2o$53b2o48b2o6$39bo$39bobo$39b3o36b2o52b2o$41bo23b2o11b2o
34b2o16bobo$66bo46bobo18bo$63b3o47bo20b2o$63bo48b2o4b2o$117bobo$32b2o
48b2o33bo$33bo49bo32b2o7b2o$30b3o20b2o25b3o20b2o20b2o$30bo22bo26bo22bo
$54b3o47b3o$56bo49bo$13bo$13b3o$16bo$15b2o4$56bo$54b3o17b2o$53bo20bo$
40b2o11b2o20bo11bo27bo$40b2o32b2o9b3o27b3o$bo82bo33bo$obo81b2o10b2o19b
2o$bo94bo15bo$94bobo15b3o$94b2o19bo$71b2o41b2o$71b2o$15b2o$15b2o11b2o$
28bo$29b3o$31bo79b2o$111b2o17b2o$130b2o$80b2o$40b2o39bo$41bo36b3o50b2o
$38b3o37bo52bo$38bo79b2o12b3o$119bo14bo$116b3o$116bo!

Of course, we can chain these devices together to multiply a given gun period by any power of 2. For example, a p3000 gun is diagrammed below, obtained by multiplying p750 by 4. (">v<" denote the Herschel track, "/\" denote glider paths, "S" is a snake, and "g" is a gun. Gliders travel away from guns and toward snakes.)

Code: Select all

g750     g150
    \   /
     \ /      S
      >>>>>>>/>>>>
            /     v     period 750*4
    S      /      v
 <<<<\<<<<<<<<<<<<
v     \
v      \
 >>>>>>>>

This gun and the others described below are at the end of this message.

When I first tried to build a period quadrupler, it didn't work; the period was tripled instead. It turned out that I'd put the devices so close together that the second boat prevented a Herschel from firing the glider that would create the first boat:

Code: Select all

g750     g150
    \   /
     \ /      S
      >>>>>>>/>>>>
            /     v     period 750*3
          S/      v
       <<<<\<<<<<<
      v     \
      v      \
       >>>>>>>>

Letting "0" denote the absence of a boat and "1" denote its presence, the device was cycling through the states 00, 11, and 01. Further study showed that a chain of n devices multiplies the period by the Fibonacci number F[n+2]. For example, period 750*3, 750*5, and 750*13 guns are at the end of this message. For the 750*13, the state sequence is:

00000
11111
01111
00111
10011
00011
11001
01001
00001
11100
01100
00100
10000
00000

The rule is: change the first 1 to 0 and change all but the last of the initial 0's to 1's; i.e. 000...0001 becomes 111...1100.

Other multipliers are possible, using different arrangements of the snakes and the gliders that hit them, but these require the input period to be larger than for the Fibonaccis. For example, in the gun diagrammed below, the period would be multiplied by 7; more generally, with N snakes along the top, the period would be multiplied by 2N+1. I haven't built this or determined its minimal period.

Code: Select all

g     g
 \   /                       state sequence
  \ /      S    S    S            0000
   >>>>>>>/>>>>/>>>>/>>>>         1111
         /    /    /     v        0111
       S/    /    /      v        0011
    <<<<\<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<         0001
   v     \                        0110
   v      \                       0010
    >>>>>>>>                      0000

We could also arrange for a Herschel to emit a glider that hits a snake later in the track rather than earlier; I haven't explored
that.

Dean Hickerson
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are the 4 guns mentioned above; I've suppressed most of the output gliders to simplify testing:

Code: Select all

#C period 750*4=3000 glider gun
#C A Herschel is injected into a track every 750 gens (using a p750
#C glider gun due to Dieter Leithner).  The track contains 2 period
#C doublers, each of which deletes half of the Herschels passing
#C through it.  So a Herschel reaches the end every 3000 gens.
x = 241, y = 156
55b2o$55b2o15b2o26b2o$72b2o26b2o2$31b2o$31b2o39b3o$72b3o3$100b3o$70b2o
3b2o22bo3bo$54b3o14b5o$53bo3bo14b3o23bo5bo$52bo5bo14bo24b2o3b2o$30b3o
20bo3bo$29bo3bo20b3o$28bo5bo19b3o44bo$28bo5bo65bob2o$31bo68bo16b2o$29b
o3bo66bo3bo10bo3bo$30b3o41bo26bo2bo4b2o3bo5bo13b2o$31bo24b3o16b2o24b5o
3b2o2b2obo3bo13b2o4b3o$51bo3b2ob2o14b2o25b5o8bo5bo10b2o6b5o$49b2o4b2ob
2o40b2o3b2o8bo3bo10b3o5bo3bobo$28b3o19b2o3b5o41b5o11b2o12b2o6bo3b2o$
28b3o23b2o3b2o21bo11bobo5b3o17bobo9b2o$27bo3bo49bobo10b2o7bo18b2o10b2o
$35bobo30b2o3b2o20bo27bo$26b2o3b2o3b2o8b2o22b3o$36bo9b2o21bo3bo$55b2o
13bobo9bo$71bo8b2o$81bo$43bo38b2o16b2o8b2o$42bo14b2o24bo17bo8b2o$44bo
12b2o11b2o26b3o$41bo2bo25b2o26bo$115b3o$28b2o11b2o43b2o13b2o12bo2b2o$
28b2o31bo24b2o12bobo16bo$61b3o36bo16bobo$64bo16bo17b2o$63b2o15bobo2$
127b2o9b2o$126b2o9bobo$46b2o73bo6bo7b3o4b2o$46bo34b2o37bobo12b3o4bo2b
4o$47b3o14b2o16bo35b2o3bo12b3o4b2ob3o$49bo5bo7bobo13b3o31b2o3b2o3bo13b
obo$53bob2o6bobo13bo33b2o3b2o3bo14b2o$54bobo5bo57bobo$65bo55bo$62bo3bo
$54bob2o5b4o$53bob2o9bo$54b2o21b2o$78bo$77bo$77b2o43bo49bo$120b3o34b2o
11b3o$63b2o31bo22bo26bo10bo11bo26bo$64bo21bo9b3o20b2o25b3o9bo10b2o25b
3o$64bobo17b2o13bo49bo7b2o40bo23b2o$65b2o18b2o11b2o48b2o48b2o23bo$221b
obo$129bo49bo37b2o2b2o$129b3o47b3o35b2o$132bo49bo$107bo23b2o11b2o35b2o
11b2o$105b3o36b2o48b2o$88b2o15bobo$88b2o15bo2$73b2o$72bobo$72bo$71b2o$
85b2o32b2o48b2o52b2o$85bo20b2o11b2o35b2o11b2o34b2o16bobo$86bo20bo49bo
46bobo18bo13b2o$85b2o17b3o47b3o47bo20b2o12bo$104bo49bo48b2o4b2o26bobo$
208bobo26b2o$123b2o48b2o33bo$124bo49bo32b2o7b2o$121b3o20b2o25b3o20b2o
20b2o$121bo22bo26bo22bo$145b3o47b3o$147bo49bo$54bo49bo$54b3o11b2o34b3o
$30bo26bo11bo10bo26bo$28b3o25b2o10bo9b3o25b2o$2b2o23bo40b2o7bo$3bo23b
2o48b2o$3bobo$4b2o2b2o37bo49bo49bo$8b2o35b3o47b3o47b3o17b2o$44bo49bo
49bo20bo$31b2o11b2o35b2o11b2o35b2o11b2o20bo11bo27bo$31b2o48b2o48b2o32b
2o9b3o27b3o$175bo33bo$175b2o10b2o19b2o$187bo15bo$185bobo15b3o$185b2o
19bo$162b2o41b2o$162b2o$2b2o52b2o48b2o$bobo16b2o34b2o11b2o35b2o11b2o$b
o18bobo46bo49bo$2o20bo47b3o47b3o$16b2o4b2o48bo49bo79b2o$16bobo183b2o
17b2o$18bo33b2o48b2o48b2o67b2o$9b2o7b2o32bo49bo49bo18b2o$9b2o20b2o20b
3o25b2o20b3o25b2o20b3o16bo$32bo22bo26bo22bo26bo22bo13b3o50b2o$29b3o47b
3o47b3o37bo52bo$29bo49bo49bo79b2o12b3o$192b2o16bo14bo$192bo14b3o$193b
3o11bo$195bo4$79bo$60b2o17b3o$61bo20bo$20bo27bo11bo20b2o11b2o$18b3o27b
3o9b2o32b2o$17bo33bo$17b2o19b2o10b2o$23bo15bo$21b3o15bobo72b2o$20bo19b
2o72b2o$20b2o41b2o$63b2o4$110b2o$23b2o85b2o$4b2o17b2o$4b2o67b2o$54b2o
18bo$54bo16b3o20b2o$3b2o50b3o13bo22bo$4bo52bo37b3o$b3o12b2o79bo$bo14bo
16b2o$17b3o14bo$19bo11b3o$31bo!

Code: Select all

#C period 750*3=2250 gun
x = 215, y = 156, rule = B3/S23
29b2o$29b2o15b2o26b2o$46b2o26b2o2$5b2o$5b2o39b3o$46b3o3$74b3o$44b2o3b
2o22bo3bo$28b3o14b5o$27bo3bo14b3o23bo5bo$26bo5bo14bo24b2o3b2o$4b3o20bo
3bo$3bo3bo20b3o$2bo5bo19b3o44bo$2bo5bo65bob2o$5bo68bo16b2o$3bo3bo66bo
3bo10bo3bo$4b3o41bo26bo2bo4b2o3bo5bo13b2o$5bo24b3o16b2o24b5o3b2o2b2obo
3bo13b2o4b3o$25bo3b2ob2o14b2o25b5o8bo5bo10b2o6b5o$23b2o4b2ob2o40b2o3b
2o8bo3bo10b3o5bo3bobo$2b3o19b2o3b5o41b5o11b2o12b2o6bo3b2o$2b3o23b2o3b
2o21bo11bobo5b3o17bobo9b2o$bo3bo49bobo10b2o7bo18b2o10b2o$9bobo30b2o3b
2o20bo27bo$2o3b2o3b2o8b2o22b3o$10bo9b2o21bo3bo$29b2o13bobo9bo$45bo8b2o
$55bo$17bo38b2o16b2o8b2o$16bo14b2o24bo17bo8b2o$18bo12b2o11b2o26b3o$15b
o2bo25b2o26bo$89b3o$2b2o11b2o43b2o13b2o12bo2b2o$2b2o31bo24b2o12bobo16b
o$35b3o36bo16bobo$38bo16bo17b2o$37b2o15bobo2$101b2o9b2o$100b2o9bobo$
20b2o73bo6bo7b3o4b2o$20bo34b2o37bobo12b3o4bo2b4o$21b3o14b2o16bo35b2o3b
o12b3o4b2ob3o$23bo5bo7bobo13b3o31b2o3b2o3bo13bobo$27bob2o6bobo13bo33b
2o3b2o3bo14b2o$28bobo5bo57bobo$39bo55bo$36bo3bo$28bob2o5b4o$27bob2o9bo
$28b2o21b2o$52bo$51bo$51b2o43bo49bo$94b3o34b2o11b3o$37b2o31bo22bo26bo
10bo11bo26bo$38bo21bo9b3o20b2o25b3o9bo10b2o25b3o$38bobo17b2o13bo49bo7b
2o40bo23b2o$39b2o18b2o11b2o48b2o48b2o23bo$195bobo$103bo49bo37b2o2b2o$
103b3o47b3o35b2o$106bo49bo$81bo23b2o11b2o35b2o11b2o$79b3o36b2o48b2o$
62b2o15bobo$62b2o15bo2$47b2o$46bobo$46bo$45b2o$59b2o32b2o48b2o52b2o$
59bo20b2o11b2o35b2o11b2o34b2o16bobo$60bo20bo49bo46bobo18bo13b2o$59b2o
17b3o47b3o47bo20b2o12bo$78bo49bo48b2o4b2o26bobo$182bobo26b2o$97b2o48b
2o33bo$98bo49bo32b2o7b2o$95b3o20b2o25b3o20b2o20b2o$95bo22bo26bo22bo$
119b3o47b3o$121bo49bo$78bo$78b3o11b2o$54bo26bo11bo$52b3o25b2o10bo$26b
2o23bo40b2o$27bo23b2o$27bobo$28b2o2b2o37bo49bo$32b2o35b3o47b3o17b2o$
68bo49bo20bo$55b2o11b2o35b2o11b2o20bo11bo27bo$55b2o48b2o32b2o9b3o27b3o
$149bo33bo$149b2o10b2o19b2o$161bo15bo$159bobo15b3o$159b2o19bo$136b2o
41b2o$136b2o$26b2o52b2o$25bobo16b2o34b2o11b2o$25bo18bobo46bo$24b2o20bo
47b3o$40b2o4b2o48bo79b2o$40bobo133b2o17b2o$42bo33b2o48b2o67b2o$33b2o7b
2o32bo49bo18b2o$33b2o20b2o20b3o25b2o20b3o16bo$56bo22bo26bo22bo13b3o50b
2o$53b3o47b3o37bo52bo$53bo49bo79b2o12b3o$166b2o16bo14bo$166bo14b3o$
167b3o11bo$169bo4$103bo$84b2o17b3o$85bo20bo$44bo27bo11bo20b2o11b2o$42b
3o27b3o9b2o32b2o$41bo33bo$41b2o19b2o10b2o$47bo15bo$45b3o15bobo72b2o$
44bo19b2o72b2o$44b2o41b2o$87b2o4$134b2o$47b2o85b2o$28b2o17b2o$28b2o67b
2o$78b2o18bo$78bo16b3o20b2o$27b2o50b3o13bo22bo$28bo52bo37b3o$25b3o12b
2o79bo$25bo14bo16b2o$41b3o14bo$43bo11b3o$55bo!

Code: Select all

#C period 750*5=3750 gun
#C Note the use of an integral sign as a 2-mouthed eater.
x = 215, y = 187, rule = B3/S23
29b2o$29b2o15b2o26b2o$46b2o26b2o2$5b2o$5b2o39b3o$46b3o3$74b3o$44b2o3b
2o22bo3bo$28b3o14b5o$27bo3bo14b3o23bo5bo$26bo5bo14bo24b2o3b2o$4b3o20bo
3bo$3bo3bo20b3o$2bo5bo19b3o44bo$2bo5bo65bob2o$5bo68bo16b2o$3bo3bo66bo
3bo10bo3bo$4b3o41bo26bo2bo4b2o3bo5bo13b2o$5bo24b3o16b2o24b5o3b2o2b2obo
3bo13b2o4b3o$25bo3b2ob2o14b2o25b5o8bo5bo10b2o6b5o$23b2o4b2ob2o40b2o3b
2o8bo3bo10b3o5bo3bobo$2b3o19b2o3b5o41b5o11b2o12b2o6bo3b2o$2b3o23b2o3b
2o21bo11bobo5b3o17bobo9b2o$bo3bo49bobo10b2o7bo18b2o10b2o$9bobo30b2o3b
2o20bo27bo$2o3b2o3b2o8b2o22b3o$10bo9b2o21bo3bo$29b2o13bobo9bo$45bo8b2o
$55bo$17bo38b2o16b2o8b2o$16bo14b2o24bo17bo8b2o$18bo12b2o11b2o26b3o$15b
o2bo25b2o26bo$89b3o$2b2o11b2o43b2o13b2o12bo2b2o$2b2o31bo24b2o12bobo16b
o$35b3o36bo16bobo$38bo16bo17b2o$37b2o15bobo2$101b2o9b2o$100b2o9bobo$
20b2o73bo6bo7b3o4b2o$20bo34b2o37bobo12b3o4bo2b4o$21b3o14b2o16bo35b2o3b
o12b3o4b2ob3o$23bo5bo7bobo13b3o31b2o3b2o3bo13bobo$27bob2o6bobo13bo33b
2o3b2o3bo14b2o$28bobo5bo57bobo$39bo55bo$36bo3bo$28bob2o5b4o$27bob2o9bo
$28b2o21b2o$52bo$51bo$51b2o43bo49bo$94b3o34b2o11b3o$37b2o31bo22bo26bo
10bo11bo26bo$38bo21bo9b3o20b2o25b3o9bo10b2o25b3o$38bobo17b2o13bo49bo7b
2o40bo23b2o$39b2o18b2o11b2o48b2o48b2o23bo$195bobo$103bo49bo37b2o2b2o$
103b3o47b3o35b2o$106bo49bo$81bo23b2o11b2o35b2o11b2o$79b3o36b2o48b2o$
62b2o15bobo$62b2o15bo2$47b2o$46bobo$46bo$45b2o$59b2o32b2o48b2o52b2o$
59bo20b2o11b2o35b2o11b2o34b2o16bobo$60bo20bo49bo46bobo18bo13b2o$59b2o
17b3o47b3o47bo20b2o12bo$78bo49bo48b2o4b2o26bobo$182bobo26b2o$97b2o48b
2o33bo$98bo49bo32b2o7b2o$95b3o20b2o25b3o20b2o20b2o$95bo22bo26bo22bo$
119b3o47b3o$121bo49bo$78bo$78b3o11b2o$54bo26bo11bo$52b3o25b2o10bo$26b
2o23bo40b2o$27bo23b2o$27bobo$28b2o2b2o37bo49bo$32b2o35b3o47b3o17b2o$
68bo49bo20bo$55b2o11b2o35b2o11b2o20bo11bo27bo$55b2o48b2o32b2o9b3o27b3o
$149bo33bo$149b2o10b2o19b2o$161bo15bo$159bobo15b3o$159b2o19bo$136b2o
41b2o$136b2o$26b2o52b2o$25bobo16b2o34b2o11b2o$10b2o13bo18bobo46bo$11bo
12b2o20bo47b3o$11bobo26b2o4b2o48bo79b2o$12b2o26bobo133b2o17b2o$42bo33b
2o48b2o67b2o$33b2o7b2o32bo49bo18b2o$33b2o20b2o20b3o25b2o20b3o16bo$56bo
22bo26bo22bo13b3o50b2o$53b3o47b3o37bo52bo$53bo49bo79b2o12b3o$146bo20b
2o15bo14bo$131b2o11b3o20bobo11b3o$131bo11bo25bo11bo$132bo10b2o24bobo$
131b2o37b2o25b2o$197bo$195bobo$103bo49bo37b2o2b2o$84b2o17b3o47b3o35b2o
$85bo20bo49bo$44bo27bo11bo20b2o11b2o35b2o11b2o$42b3o27b3o9b2o32b2o48b
2o$41bo33bo$41b2o19b2o10b2o$47bo15bo$45b3o15bobo$44bo19b2o$44b2o41b2o$
87b2o$143b2o52b2o$130b2o11b2o34b2o16bobo$131bo46bobo18bo$128b3o47bo20b
2o$47b2o79bo48b2o4b2o$28b2o17b2o133bobo$28b2o67b2o48b2o33bo$78b2o18bo
49bo32b2o7b2o$78bo16b3o20b2o25b3o20b2o20b2o$27b2o50b3o13bo22bo26bo22bo
$28bo52bo37b3o47b3o$25b3o12b2o79bo49bo$25bo14bo16b2o$41b3o14bo$43bo11b
3o$55bo4$121bo$119b3o17b2o$118bo20bo$105b2o11b2o20bo11bo27bo$105b2o32b
2o9b3o27b3o$149bo33bo$149b2o10b2o19b2o$161bo15bo$85b2o72bobo15b3o$85b
2o72b2o19bo$136b2o41b2o$136b2o4$89b2o$89b2o85b2o$176b2o17b2o$126b2o67b
2o$126bo18b2o$105b2o20b3o16bo$106bo22bo13b3o50b2o$103b3o37bo52bo$103bo
79b2o12b3o$166b2o16bo14bo$166bo14b3o$167b3o11bo$169bo!

Code: Select all

#C period 750*13=9750 gun
x = 215, y = 249, rule = B3/S23
29b2o$29b2o15b2o26b2o$46b2o26b2o2$5b2o$5b2o39b3o$46b3o3$74b3o$44b2o3b
2o22bo3bo$28b3o14b5o$27bo3bo14b3o23bo5bo$26bo5bo14bo24b2o3b2o$4b3o20bo
3bo$3bo3bo20b3o$2bo5bo19b3o44bo$2bo5bo65bob2o$5bo68bo16b2o$3bo3bo66bo
3bo10bo3bo$4b3o41bo26bo2bo4b2o3bo5bo13b2o$5bo24b3o16b2o24b5o3b2o2b2obo
3bo13b2o4b3o$25bo3b2ob2o14b2o25b5o8bo5bo10b2o6b5o$23b2o4b2ob2o40b2o3b
2o8bo3bo10b3o5bo3bobo$2b3o19b2o3b5o41b5o11b2o12b2o6bo3b2o$2b3o23b2o3b
2o21bo11bobo5b3o17bobo9b2o$bo3bo49bobo10b2o7bo18b2o10b2o$9bobo30b2o3b
2o20bo27bo$2o3b2o3b2o8b2o22b3o$10bo9b2o21bo3bo$29b2o13bobo9bo$45bo8b2o
$55bo$17bo38b2o16b2o8b2o$16bo14b2o24bo17bo8b2o$18bo12b2o11b2o26b3o$15b
o2bo25b2o26bo$89b3o$2b2o11b2o43b2o13b2o12bo2b2o$2b2o31bo24b2o12bobo16b
o$35b3o36bo16bobo$38bo16bo17b2o$37b2o15bobo2$101b2o9b2o$100b2o9bobo$
20b2o73bo6bo7b3o4b2o$20bo34b2o37bobo12b3o4bo2b4o$21b3o14b2o16bo35b2o3b
o12b3o4b2ob3o$23bo5bo7bobo13b3o31b2o3b2o3bo13bobo$27bob2o6bobo13bo33b
2o3b2o3bo14b2o$28bobo5bo57bobo$39bo55bo$36bo3bo$28bob2o5b4o$27bob2o9bo
$28b2o21b2o$52bo$51bo$51b2o43bo49bo$94b3o34b2o11b3o$37b2o31bo22bo26bo
10bo11bo26bo$38bo21bo9b3o20b2o25b3o9bo10b2o25b3o$38bobo17b2o13bo49bo7b
2o40bo23b2o$39b2o18b2o11b2o48b2o48b2o23bo$195bobo$103bo49bo37b2o2b2o$
103b3o47b3o35b2o$106bo49bo$81bo23b2o11b2o35b2o11b2o$79b3o36b2o48b2o$
62b2o15bobo$62b2o15bo2$47b2o$46bobo$46bo$45b2o$59b2o32b2o48b2o52b2o$
59bo20b2o11b2o35b2o11b2o34b2o16bobo$60bo20bo49bo46bobo18bo13b2o$59b2o
17b3o47b3o47bo20b2o12bo$78bo49bo48b2o4b2o26bobo$182bobo26b2o$97b2o48b
2o33bo$98bo49bo32b2o7b2o$95b3o20b2o25b3o20b2o20b2o$95bo22bo26bo22bo$
119b3o47b3o$121bo49bo$78bo$78b3o11b2o$54bo26bo11bo$52b3o25b2o10bo$26b
2o23bo40b2o$27bo23b2o$27bobo$28b2o2b2o37bo49bo$32b2o35b3o47b3o17b2o$
68bo49bo20bo$55b2o11b2o35b2o11b2o20bo11bo27bo$55b2o48b2o32b2o9b3o27b3o
$149bo33bo$149b2o10b2o19b2o$161bo15bo$159bobo15b3o$159b2o19bo$136b2o
41b2o$136b2o$26b2o52b2o$25bobo16b2o34b2o11b2o$10b2o13bo18bobo46bo$11bo
12b2o20bo47b3o$11bobo26b2o4b2o48bo79b2o$12b2o26bobo133b2o17b2o$42bo33b
2o48b2o67b2o$33b2o7b2o32bo49bo18b2o$33b2o20b2o20b3o25b2o20b3o16bo$56bo
22bo26bo22bo13b3o50b2o$53b3o47b3o37bo52bo$53bo49bo79b2o12b3o$146bo20b
2o15bo14bo$131b2o11b3o20bobo11b3o$131bo11bo25bo11bo$132bo10b2o24bobo$
131b2o37b2o25b2o$197bo$195bobo$103bo49bo37b2o2b2o$84b2o17b3o47b3o35b2o
$85bo20bo49bo$44bo27bo11bo20b2o11b2o35b2o11b2o$42b3o27b3o9b2o32b2o48b
2o$41bo33bo$41b2o19b2o10b2o$47bo15bo$45b3o15bobo$44bo19b2o$44b2o41b2o$
87b2o$143b2o52b2o$130b2o11b2o34b2o16bobo$131bo46bobo18bo13b2o$128b3o
47bo20b2o12bo$47b2o79bo48b2o4b2o26bobo$28b2o17b2o133bobo26b2o$28b2o67b
2o48b2o33bo$78b2o18bo49bo32b2o7b2o$78bo16b3o20b2o25b3o20b2o20b2o$27b2o
50b3o13bo22bo26bo22bo$28bo52bo37b3o47b3o$25b3o12b2o79bo49bo$25bo14bo
15b2o20bo$41b3o11bobo20b3o11b2o$43bo11bo25bo11bo$53bobo24b2o10bo$26b2o
25b2o37b2o$27bo$27bobo$28b2o2b2o37bo49bo$32b2o35b3o47b3o17b2o$68bo49bo
20bo$55b2o11b2o35b2o11b2o20bo11bo27bo$55b2o48b2o32b2o9b3o27b3o$149bo
33bo$149b2o10b2o19b2o$161bo15bo$159bobo15b3o$159b2o19bo$136b2o41b2o$
136b2o$26b2o52b2o$25bobo16b2o34b2o11b2o$10b2o13bo18bobo46bo$11bo12b2o
20bo47b3o$11bobo26b2o4b2o48bo79b2o$12b2o26bobo133b2o17b2o$42bo33b2o48b
2o67b2o$33b2o7b2o32bo49bo18b2o$33b2o20b2o20b3o25b2o20b3o16bo$56bo22bo
26bo22bo13b3o50b2o$53b3o47b3o37bo52bo$53bo49bo79b2o12b3o$146bo20b2o15b
o14bo$131b2o11b3o20bobo11b3o$131bo11bo25bo11bo$132bo10b2o24bobo$131b2o
37b2o25b2o$197bo$195bobo$103bo49bo37b2o2b2o$84b2o17b3o47b3o35b2o$85bo
20bo49bo$44bo27bo11bo20b2o11b2o35b2o11b2o$42b3o27b3o9b2o32b2o48b2o$41b
o33bo$41b2o19b2o10b2o$47bo15bo$45b3o15bobo$44bo19b2o$44b2o41b2o$87b2o$
143b2o52b2o$130b2o11b2o34b2o16bobo$131bo46bobo18bo$128b3o47bo20b2o$47b
2o79bo48b2o4b2o$28b2o17b2o133bobo$28b2o67b2o48b2o33bo$78b2o18bo49bo32b
2o7b2o$78bo16b3o20b2o25b3o20b2o20b2o$27b2o50b3o13bo22bo26bo22bo$28bo
52bo37b3o47b3o$25b3o12b2o79bo49bo$25bo14bo16b2o$41b3o14bo$43bo11b3o$
55bo4$121bo$119b3o17b2o$118bo20bo$105b2o11b2o20bo11bo27bo$105b2o32b2o
9b3o27b3o$149bo33bo$149b2o10b2o19b2o$161bo15bo$85b2o72bobo15b3o$85b2o
72b2o19bo$136b2o41b2o$136b2o4$89b2o$89b2o85b2o$176b2o17b2o$126b2o67b2o
$126bo18b2o$105b2o20b3o16bo$106bo22bo13b3o50b2o$103b3o37bo52bo$103bo
79b2o12b3o$166b2o16bo14bo$166bo14b3o$167b3o11bo$169bo!

[Book]

What is QuickSIlver?

[C28]

will the person who solves the uniquie father problem get the $50 cash prize even though john conway is deceased?

[Ian07]

What is QuickSIlver?

The fully Spartan Demonoid, which can be found here.

will the person who solves the uniquie father problem get the $50 cash prize even though john conway is deceased?

Unfortunately, I doubt it. As far as I know, mtve never even got the other $50 for solving the grandfather problem in 2016. I have a feeling Conway was expecting both of these problems to take only a few years at most and then forgot about them after he retired from CA research, since the prize wasn't adjusted for inflation ($50 in 1972 is equivalent to $286.98 in 2016 and $321.87 in 2022).

[Macbi]

will the person who solves the uniquie father problem get the $50 cash prize even though john conway is deceased?

Unfortunately, I doubt it. As far as I know, mtve never even got the other $50 for solving the grandfather problem in 2016. I have a feeling Conway was expecting both of these problems to take only a few years at most and then forgot about them after he retired from CA research, since the prize wasn't adjusted for inflation ($50 in 1972 is equivalent to $286.98 in 2016 and $321.87 in 2022).

I think it would be nice to send Törmä and Salo the $50 prize from the community as a whole. I'm happy to pay the cost of this if people think it's a good idea. (I also mentioned this on the Discord.) I'll happily send a belated prize to mtve as well if there's a postal address for them.

I don't think it's really in the spirit of such prizes to inflation-adjust them.

[Pavgran]

What is QuickSIlver?

I took the liberty to name the overclocked Silver's reflector as QuickSilver.
The initial idea and demonoid design are by googolplex (see this topic)
The demonoid itself is called QuickSilver Demonoid, as it uses QuickSilver as a core part.

[GUYTU6J]

Not sure whether I missed something, but how do I create a .rle.gz file with comments in Golly (like four-primers.rle.gz)? Simply opening an RLE containing the comment and saving it as .rle.gz will lose it, and .rle.gz files cannot be edited by notepad to add info.

[dvgrn]

Not sure whether I missed something, but how do I create a .rle.gz file with comments in Golly (like four-primers.rle.gz)? Simply opening an RLE containing the comment and saving it as .rle.gz will lose it, and .rle.gz files cannot be edited by notepad to add info.

You definitely didn't miss anything obvious, but there is a workaround to trick Golly into saving rle.gz or mc.gz with comments. I'm sure I've explained it somewhere before, but can't find it, so this must be a good question to answer again!

Golly's current behavior is that it keeps comments if you save a file with the same file name, but discards comments if you change the file name (which includes changing the file type).

Workaround for Disappearing Comments
So... the workaround is ... take the uncompressed .rle or .mc file that contains the comments that you want, and rename it to .rle.gz or .mc.gz (!) -- don't change the actual format, just change the name. Golly just takes file extensions as polite suggestions about what the format will be, but it will still cheerfully open files even if their format doesn't match their file extension.

So once you have the pattern open, just save it again with the same file name, right over the top of the misnamed plain-text macrocell or RLE format -- and Golly will produce the .gz format version of the file but retain the comments.

-- Yeah, someone should probably fix that. Probably me. But it's a little bit tricky, and I'm not all that good at patching C++ code without introducing weird new bugs. You can always feel free to just post .mc or .rle files with their comments, and have the #N line say that it's an .rle.gz or .mc.gz -- I'll know what to do.

HashLife vs. QuickLife = .mc vs. .rle
While I'm sort of on the subject, it's good to create a file in .mc or mc.gz format instead of in .rle or .rle.gz, if you want the pattern to open automatically in the HashLife algorithm. That's a good idea if you know the pattern will run much better in HashLife than in QuickLife,

[Wyirm]

Pretty specific question, are there any "edgy" glider converters? edgy meaning it accepts the glider from the edge of the conduit (perpendicular to the direction of the gilder), down to the very half diagonal. One that would convert a glider in one lane, but another glider 1 hd over would pas by cleanly? There is likely nothing like this out there, but it would certainly be nice if there are.

[hotdogPi]

Pretty specific question, are there any "edgy" glider converters? edgy meaning it accepts the glider from the edge of the conduit (perpendicular to the direction of the gilder), down to the very half diagonal. One that would convert a glider in one lane, but another glider 1 hd over would pas by cleanly? There is likely nothing like this out there, but it would certainly be nice if there are.

Highway robber, but the best known one is pretty large.

[Wyirm]

Thank you, Hopefully a smaller highway robber can be engineered with a lower repeat time. With this I will create a stable gX pair identifier.

[creeperman7002]

The p6 found in Cloudsale makes me question the current definition of trivial. Under that definition, that p6 would be trivial since no cell oscillates at the full period, but that oscillator looks quite non-trivial despite satisfying that definition. Maybe the definition should be changed to:

An oscillator is considered trivial if no cell oscillates at the full period and none of the rotors interact with each other.

[C28]

The p6 found in Cloudsale makes me question the current definition of trivial. Under that definition, that p6 would be trivial since no cell oscillates at the full period, but that oscillator looks quite non-trivial despite satisfying that definition. Maybe the definition should be changed to:

An oscillator is considered trivial if no cell oscillates at the full period and none of the rotors interact with each other.

it's the "rotors" part that solves this. the Cloudsdale p6 doesn't seem to be decomposable into smaller oscillators.

[GUYTU6J]

1)How is the number 37653 significant in the history of Game of Life? It is one of the red links on the page User:Methodood/sandbox, allegedly from a "Silver's list". It is slightly smaller than the synthetic cost in gliders for a parallel HBK (38380).
2)Why is the repeat script faster in QuickLife than in HashLife? I observed the speed difference while running on some big 2-state pattern that I'm developing, with param t=0 and no overlap between copies.

[Book]

Is there a technical definition of a pattern "motif" or is this just the common dictionary def? (Used in several articles in the wiki, sometimes as a red link.)