Sample Questions Week 10

Complex Systems I

1. Explain how a 3-bit rule (eg 00010000) is used in a 1D cellular automata to create patterns.
2. What type of patterns would rule 00000000 create?
3. What other classes of patterns are possible in 1D CAs?
4. If one bit is changed in the initial state of a CA with rule 00000000, would this change affect all subsequent states? Justify your answer.
5. Summarise how sensitive each of the classes of CA is to initial conditions.
6. What is the Game of Life?
7. What does a glider do in the Game of Life?
8. What is the initial condition of
• a 1D CA?
• the Game of Life?
9. Define what “emergence” means in the field of complex systems
10. Is complexity easy or hard to achieve in CAs? Justify your answer.