Self-Organisation in a System of Binary Strings
Wolfgang Banzhaf · The MIT Press eBooks · 1994
We discuss a system of autocatalytic sequences of binary numbers. Sequences come in two forms, a 1dimensional form (operands) and a 2-dimensional form (operators) that are able to react with each other. The resulting reaction network shows signs of emerging metabolisms. We discuss the general framework and examine specific interactions for a system with strings of length 4 bits. A selfmaintaining network of string types and parasitic interactions are shown to exist. Introduction Published in: Proceedings ARTIFICIAL LIFE IV R. Brooks and P. Maes (Eds.) MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1994 pp. 109 --- 118 Sequences of binary numbers are the most primitive form of information storage we know today. They are able to code any kind of man-made information, be it still or moving images, sound waves and other sensory stimulations, be it written language or the rules of mathematics, just to name a few. As the success of vonNeumann computers has shown over the last 50 years, binary sequences are also...