00-189 Jean Pierre Boon
How fast does Langton's ant move? (261K, tar.gz file) Apr 19, 00
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Abstract. The automaton known as `Langton's ant' exhibits a dynamical transition from a disordered phase to an ordered phase where the particle dynamics (the ant) produces a regular periodic pattern (called `highway'). Despite the simplicity of its basic algorithm, Langton's ant has remained a puzzle in terms of analytical description. Here I show that the highway dynamics obeys a discrete equation where from the speed of the ant ($c={\sqrt 2}/52$) follows exactly.

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