B35/S236

Quadratic Growth

It seems likely, but very difficult to prove, that chaotic regions in B35/S236 tend to grow quadratically. In life, quadratic growth can instead be achieved by "breeders", puffer train convoys that lay out a linear sequence of glider guns. In B35/S236, also, breeders exist. I used to not know of any puffer trains, so instead I formed the following breeder out of "tethered rakes": fixed gun emplacements which send out glider salvos towards a slower (c/3) spaceship, forming sideways gliders which meet to make the sequence of guns. The only technical complication is that the gun sequence ends up between the tethers, so the gliders need to be timed to pass through the tethers unharmed.

breeder

(Note: this breeder was developed before I found the three-glider p68 synthesis, or the 7x7 c/3 spaceship, and could likely be somewhat simplified by using both of these newer ideas.)


B35/S236 -- Cellular Automata -- D. Eppstein -- UCI Inf. & Comp. Sci.