2019/02/19 by David A. Faux, Faux, David, Mayank Shah +3
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #FOS: Physical sciences #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1902.07835
openalex publication_date 2019/02/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Conway's classic game of life is a two-dimensional cellular automaton in which each cell, either alive or dead, evolves according to rules based on its local environment. The semi-quantum game of life (SQGOL) is an adaptation in which each cell is in a superposed state of both dead and alive and evolves according to modified rules. Computer simulation of the SQGOL reveals remarkable complexity and previously unseen game behaviors. Systems evolve to a "quantum cloud" with a liveness distribution of mean =0.3480±0.0001 and standard deviation σ=0.0071 which is dependent solely on the evolutionary rules. Transient lifeforms emerge from the cloud. Semi-quantum still-lifes are discovered including the qutub which contains 4 live cells and 4 semi-quantum cells. A solitary qutub placed in an otherwise empty universe may act as a seed to reproduce child qutubs, one or more classical and/or semi-quantum lifeforms, oscillators, a quantum cloud or death depending on the initial state. Evolution to the quantum cloud occurs chaotically with floating-point errors providing the butterfly effect. Evolutionary outcomes scale in a fractal-like manner.