cellular automata, l-systems, fractals, chaos and ...cellular automata • cellular automata (ca)...

Cellular Automata, L-Systems, Fractals, Chaos and Complex Systems

EXTRA READING: Online tutorial for CAs: http://users.utu.fi/jkari/ca/CAintro.pdf Online tutorial for Chaos: http://www.viewsfromscience.com/documents/webpages/chaos.html Books: The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants, The Fractal Geometry of Nature Paper: Evolving L-systems to generate virtual creatures Also see original papers from my teaching webpage.

Cellular Automata

•  Cellular automata (CA) were originally conceived by Ulam and von Neumann in the 1940s to provide a formal framework for investigating the behaviour of complex, extended systems.

•  CAs are dynamical systems in which space and time are discrete.

•  A cellular automaton consists of a regular grid of cells, each of which can be in one of a finite number of k possible states, updated synchronously in discrete time steps according to a local, identical interaction rule.

•  The state of a cell is determined by the previous states of a surrounding neighbourhood of cells.

•  The cellular array (grid) is n-dimensional, where n=1,2,3 is used in practice.

Cellular Automata

•  The identical rule contained in each cell is essentially a finite state machine, usually specified in the form of a rule table (also known as the transition function), with an entry for every possible neighbourhood configuration of states.

•  The neighbourhood of a cell consists of the surrounding (adjacent) cells.

•  For one-dimensional CAs, a cell is connected to r local neighbours (cells) on either side, where r is a parameter referred to as the radius (thus, each cell has 2r+1 neighbours, including itself).

•  For two-dimensional CAs, two types of cellular neighbourhoods are usually considered: 5 cells, consisting of the cell along with its four immediate nondiagonal neighbours, and 9 cells, consisting of the cell along with its eight surrounding neighbours.

Cellular Automata

•  The term configuration refers to an assignment of states to cells in the grid.

•  When considering a finite-sized grid, spatially periodic boundary conditions are frequently applied, resulting in a circular grid for the one-dimensional case, and a toroidal one for the two-dimensional case.

Cellular Automata

•  This CA has k=2 states for each cell (black or white).

•  The CA has radius r = 1 (two neighbours per cell, and the state of the current cell is ignored).

•  The grid is circular: the neighbour of the leftmost cell is the rightmost one, and the neighbour of the rightmost cell is the leftmost one.

•  Notice the way the pattern in the initial configuration is preserved, but shifted to the left every iteration. •  Will this happen for every

configuration? Can you prove it?

Conway’s Game Of Life

•  One of the most notorious CAs of all was invented by John Horton Conway some 40 years ago.

•  It is a two dimensional CA, with each cell having nine neighbours (including itself), and two states (black or white).

•  Conway discovered that his CA was capable of generating astonishing patterns and structures.

•  He also showed that it was computation-universal.

Conway’s Game Of Life

Ramona Behravan’s 3D R-D cellular automata

Ramona Behravan’s 3D reaction-diffusion CA

Ramona Behravan’s R-D cellular automata

Cellular Automata

•  Over the years CAs have been applied to the study of general aspects of the world, including communication, computation, construction, growth, reproduction, competition and evolution.

•  One notable example was the work of Melanie Mitchell who demonstrated that a genetic algorithm could evolve the rules of a 1D CA to make it perform a simple computation.

•  For example, she evolved CAs capable of producing a final configuration of all 1’s or all 0’s depending on whether there were more 1’s in the initial configuration or not.

•  Other work by Hugo de Garis and later Bentley and Kumar has examined how a GA can evolve CA rules capable of developing a “seed” configuration into specific shapes. This is intended to be similar to the way natural evolution evolved our DNA, which determines how we develop. We’ll return to this in a later lecture.

Cellular Automata

•  CAs have been used to provide simple models of common differential equations of physics, such as the heat and wave equations and the Navier-Stokes equation.

•  CAs also provide a useful discrete model for a branch of dynamical systems theory which studies the emergence of well-characterized collective phenomena such as ordering, turbulence, chaos, symmetry-breaking, fractals, etc.

•  The systematic study of CAs in this context was pioneered by Wolfram and studied extensively by him, identifying four qualitative classes of CA behaviour (referred to as Wolfram classes), with analogues in the field of dynamical systems.

•  Non-uniform CAs can also be used in which the local update rule (i.e., rule table) need not be identical for all grid cells.

Lindenmayer Systems

•  Lindenmayer was a biologist who was interested in expressing natural growth using a computer.

•  He created a system, or language, for describing how things change over time.

•  Today we call this language an L-System

Lindenmayer Systems

•  L-systems are a string-rewriting grammar. They define a string and a set of rules which are applied in parallel to rewrite that string into a new form, each iteration.

•  Lindenmayer's original L-system for modelling the growth of algae: variables : A B constants : none start : A rules : (A → AB), (B → A)

•  which produces: n = 0 : A n = 1 : AB n = 2 : ABA n = 3 : ABAAB n = 4 : ABAABABA n = 5 : ABAABABAABAAB n = 6 : ABAABABAABAABABAABABA n = 7 : ABAABABAABAABABAABABAABAABABAABAAB

Lindenmayer Systems

•  The fractal plant shown a couple of slides back is defined by: 2 variables : X F constants : + − Starting string : X rules : (X → F-[[X]+X]+F[+FX]-X), (F → FF) angle : 25°

•  We can then interpret parts of the resulting string as drawing instructions, where, F means "draw forward", - means "turn left 25°” and + means "turn right 25°”.

•  X does not correspond to any drawing action and is used to control the evolution of the curve. [ corresponds to saving the current values for position and angle, which are restored when the corresponding ] is executed.

Lindenmayer Systems

•  There are many variations of L-System. We commonly use a parametric L-systems defined as a tuple G = (V, ω, P),

•  Where V (the alphabet) is a set of symbols containing elements that can be replaced (variables) ω (start, axiom or initiator) is a string of symbols from V defining the initial state of the

system P is a set of production rules or productions defining the way variables can be replaced

with combinations of constants and other variables.

•  A production consists of two strings, the predecessor and the successor. For any symbol A in V which does not appear on the left hand side of a production in P, the identity production A → A is assumed; these symbols are called constants.

•  The rules of the L-system grammar are applied iteratively starting from the initial state. As many rules as possible are applied simultaneously, per iteration.

Lindenmayer Systems

•  An L-system is context-free if each production rule refers only to an individual symbol and not to its neighbours.

•  Context-free L-systems are thus specified by either a prefix grammar, or a regular grammar. If a rule depends not only on a single symbol but also on its neighbours, it is termed a context-sensitive L-system.

•  If there is exactly one production for each symbol, then the L-system is said to be deterministic (a deterministic context-free L-system is popularly called a D0L-system).

•  If there are several, and each is chosen with a certain probability during each iteration, then it is a stochastic L-system.

Evolving Generative Systems

•  Evolving L-systems to generate virtual creatures Gregory S. Hornby, Jordan B. Pollack

•  Greg had the idea of evolving L-Systems, first for virtual creatures, then for designs. (After completing his PhD he went to work for NASA and used the same method to evolve an antenna which was sent to space.)

•  Some of his evolved virtual creatures:

Evolving Generative Systems

•  Jon McCormack’s evolved generative artwork

Fractals

•  A fractal is “a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole” according to Mandelbrot.

•  In other words it has self-similarity.

•  Although L-Systems can create fractals, the first and most famous fractal was discovered by the mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot in 1978.

•  It is known as the Mandelbrot Set and some regard it as so important that they call it “the true geometry of nature”.

•  Mandelbrot used a computer to visualise a very simple equation: xt+1 = xt

2 + c •  •  Rather like the L-System rules, this equation is applied iteratively,

transforming the current state into a new state.

Fractals

•  Mandelbrot was interested in what this equation did for imaginary numbers.

•  Benoit Mandelbrot wanted to know which values of c would make the length of xt stop growing when the equation was applied for an infinite number of times.

•  He discovered that if the length ever went above 2, then it was unbounded – it would grow forever. But for the right imaginary values of c, sometimes the result would simply oscillate between different lengths less than 2.

•  Mandelbrot used his computer to apply the equation many times for different values of c. For each value of c, the computer would stop early if the length of the imaginary number in xt was 2 or more. If the computer hadn’t stopped early for that value of c, a black dot was drawn.

•  The dot was placed at coordinate (m, n) using the numbers from the value of c: (m + ni) where m was varied from –2.4 to 1.34 and n was varied from 1.4 to -1.4, to fill the computer screen.

Fractals

•  The resulting image was the Mandelbrot Set – an inkblot resembling a squashed bug with little tendrils at the edges. Instead of being a pure geometric form such as a square or circle, it looked distinctly organic.

•  Its appearance was so strange that Mandelbrot tried magnifying the image – only to find more detail. The more he zoomed in, the more intricate structure he saw.

Chaos

•  As we’ve seen from CAs, L-Systems and Fractals, even deterministic systems can be unpredictable. Chaotic systems are another example:

Chaos

•  Chaotic systems can be defined as:

•  sensitive to initial conditions an arbitrarily small perturbation of the current trajectory may lead to significantly different future behaviour (the Butterfly Effect)

•  topologically mixing the system will evolve over time so that any given region or open set of its phase space will eventually overlap with any other given region

•  dense periodic orbits every point in the space is approached arbitrarily closely by periodic orbits

Chaos

•  strange attractors •  some chaotic systems are only chaotic in one region of their phase spaces •  although a chaotic system is unpredictable, it may have strange attractors –

classes of behaviours that the system may switch between. •  the most famous is the Lorenz attractor, derived from a simple model of weather

Complex Systems

Complex Systems

•  An example of a complex system is a society. •  A society consists of many independent, locally interacting

components, namely humans. •  The current state of the society is the global structure. •  Each and every individual responds to the current state and thereby

create the new state of society in the next moment. •  And so on.

•  Other examples of complex systems include: the economy, the Internet, and most biologist systems, e.g., evolution, the brain, embryogenesis, the immune system, an ant colony, etc…

Complex Systems

•  A complex system:

•  consists of many independent components,

•  these components interact locally,

•  the overall behavior is independent of the internal structure of the components, and

•  the overall behavior of the system is well-defined.

Complex Systems

•  "The system consists of many independent components”

•  Two important points: there are independent components in the system and there are many of them.

•  In other words, a Complex system is NOT a whole that is built up of parts. It is a whole built up of other wholes.

•  These components may therefore themselves be complex systems. (Think of an ecology built from animals, built from cells, built from molecules, etc)

Complex Systems

•  "The components interact locally”

•  a neuron only interacts with its nearby neurons, ants with its nearby ants and so on.

•  No component interacts with all the other components in the system, at least not simultaneously. Each component is indirectly connected to all other components in the system via other components.

•  So although the components of the system only interact locally they have global effect on the system.

•  An example of this is a car queue. If a car in car queue suddenly slows down from 50 m/h to 40 m/h then the car behind him would have to slow down too and the car behind that car and so on. The speed reduction of that single car will propagate like a shock wave through the car queue and affect the speed of the cars miles down the road. This illustrates how local interactions produces global effects in complex systems.

Complex Systems

•  "The overall behavior is independent of the internal structure of the components”

•  it doesn't matter how the components of the complex system is built up as long as they do the same things.

•  This means that the same emergent property will arise in completely different systems.

•  One example of this is the wave. Waves of course emerge in water and air. We also saw that a speed reduction travels like a wave through a car queue. You’ll even see the same thing in an ant colony: bump one ant and it moves erratically, bumping into other ants which makes them move erratically, until the whole nest is boiling.

Complex Systems

•  "The overall behavior of the system is well-defined”

•  If we disregard the components in a complex system and only look at the emergent phenomenon then it turns out that it behaves in easily described patterns.

•  Indeed, the simplest of all emergent phenomena, the wave, is incorporated as a part of mathematics because it has exact and well-defined overall properties. Waves are linear, i.e. they can be added, and the derivative of a sine wave is a cosine wave.

•  Likewise more complex emergent phenomena evolves along quite distinct patterns. You could even say economies follow clear patterns – cycles of boom and bust.

Properties of Complex Systems

•  A complex system is not amenable to precise prediction

•  Same as a chaotic system: there are often clear types of behaviour, but it is not possible to predict exactly which behaviour the system will be exhibiting (or the precise details of that behaviour) at any arbitrary point in the future. This is true even if the rules that govern the behaviour are deterministic (non random).

•  For example, despite using the most powerful computers in the world the weather remains unpredictable; despite intensive study and analysis, ecosystems and immune systems do not behave as expected. Even in something as simple as a CA, no-one can predict what emergent behaviours will result from a few simple rules applied iteratively.

•  However – like chaotic systems, a complex system may have a state space containing attractors, where each attractor corresponds to a common type of behaviour.


•  A complex system is emergent

•  Rather than being planned or controlled, the agents in a complex system interact (perhaps in apparently random ways).

•  From all these interactions, patterns emerge, which inform the behaviour of the agents within the system and the behaviour of the system itself.

•  For example a termite hill is a wondrous piece of architecture with a maze of interconnecting passages, large caverns, ventilation tunnels and much more. Yet there is no grand plan and no central controller, the hill just emerges as a result of the termites following a few simple local rules.


•  A complex system is embodied / co-evolves

•  All systems exist within their own environment and they are also part of that environment.

•  Therefore, as their environment changes they change to ensure best fit.

•  But because they are part of their environment, when they change, they change their environment, and as it changes they need to change again, and so it goes on as a constant process.


•  A complex system is non-homogeneous

•  If everything was the same in a complex system then when one agent fails (e.g. from a new disease) then they all fail.

•  Variety within the system makes the system stronger.

•  Evolution could not occur without variation driving novelty.

•  Democracy is a good example in that its strength is derived from its tolerance and even insistence of a variety of political perspectives.


•  A complex system is highly connected

•  The ways in which the agents in a system connect and relate to one another is critical to the survival of the system, because it is from these connections that the patterns are formed and the feedback disseminated.

•  The relationships between the agents are generally more important than the agents themselves.

•  Indeed, you can argue that the three most important ways to vary a complex system are: the number of agents, the number of connections between the agents, and the strength of the connections between agents. (For more on this, read about Kauffman’s N-K model, where systems are modelled as N nodes linked by K connections.)


•  A complex system is driven by simple rules

•  Complex adaptive systems are often not complicated.

•  The emerging patterns may have a rich variety, but like a kaleidoscope the rules governing the function of the system are quite simple.

•  A classic example is that all the water systems in the world, all the streams, rivers, lakes, oceans, waterfalls etc with their infinite beauty, power and variety are governed by the simple principle that water finds its own level.


•  A complex system is driven by iteration

•  Because those simple rules are iterated over and over, small changes in the initial conditions of the system can have significant effects after they have passed through the emergence-feedback loop a few times (often referred to as the butterfly effect in chaotic systems).

•  A rolling snowball for example gains on each roll much more snow than it did on the previous roll and very soon a fist sized snowball becomes a giant one.


•  A complex system is self-organising

•  There is no hierarchy of command and control in a complex adaptive system.

•  There is no planning or managing, but there is a constant re-organising to find the best fit with the environment.

•  A classic example is that if one were to take any western town and add up all the food in the shops and divide by the number of people in the town there will be near enough two weeks supply of food, but there is no food plan, food manager or any other formal controlling process.

•  The system is continually self organising through the process of emergence and feedback.


•  A complex system is “on the edge of chaos”

•  Complexity theory is not the same as chaos theory, which is derived from mathematics.

•  But chaos does have a place in complexity theory in that systems exist on a spectrum ranging from equilibrium to chaos.

•  A system in equilibrium does not have the internal dynamics to enable it to respond to its environment and will slowly (or quickly) die.

•  A system in chaos ceases to function as a system. The most productive state to be in is at the “edge of chaos” where there is maximum variety and creativity, leading to new possibilities


•  A complex system comprises nested systems / embedded hierarchies

•  Most systems are nested within other systems and many systems are systems of smaller systems.

•  Take the example in self organising previously and consider a food shop.

•  The shop is itself a system with its staff, customers, suppliers, and neighbours. It also belongs the food system of that town and the larger food system of that country. It belongs to the retail system locally and nationally and the economy system locally and nationally, and probably many more. Therefore it is part of many different systems most of which are themselves part of other systems.

End of Lecture!

cellular automata, l-systems, fractals, chaos and ...cellular automata • cellular automata (ca)...

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