We introduce a class of embedded-particle models for describing the emergent computational strategies observed in cellular automata (CAs) that were evolved for performing certain computational tasks. The models are evaluated by comparing their estimated performances with the actual performances...

In many complex systems control situations, searching for solutions or alternatives is involved. Searching for solutions can be modeled by a search on a fitness landscape. Knowing the structure of the underlying landscape can help in explaining or predicting aspects of an actual seach on it, and...

A correlation analysis will be applied to subspaces of the fitness landscape generated by the synchronization task for one- dimensional cellular automata. This results in a stochastic model that can be used to characterize the correlation structure of those subspaces. The results show that both...

Evolving one-dimensional cellular automata (CAs) with genetic algorithms has provided insight into how improved performance on a task requiring global coordination emerges when only local interactions are possible. Two approaches that can affect the search efficiency of the genetic algorithm are...

We investigate the ability of a genetic algorithm to design cellular automata that perform computations. The computational strategies of the resulting cellular automata can be understood using a framework in which "particles" embedded in space-time configurations carry information and...

We introduce a simple spin model which shows glassy behavior at low temperatures, despite a Hamiltonian which is completely homogeneous and possesses no randomness; ergodicity breaking in this model is due entirely to the model's dynamics. We solve exactly for the model's equilibrium partition...

We study cellular automata where the state at each site is decided by a majority vote of the sites in its neighborhood. These are equivalent, for a restricted set of initial conditions, to non-zero probability transitions in single spin-flip dynamics of the Ising model at zero temperature. <p> We...</p>

We describe a simple framework for micro simulation of city traffic. A medium sized excerpt of Dallas was used to examine different levels of simulation fidelity of a cellular automaton method for the traffic flow simulation and simple intersection model. We point out problems arising with the...

We show that predicting the HPP or FHP III lattice gas for finite time is equivalent to calculating the output of an arbitrary Boolean circuit, and is therefore P-complete: that is, it is just as hard as any other problem solvable by a serial computer in polynomial time. <p> It is widely believed...</p>