Mysteries in the Travels of Ant
Cellular Automata
Propp's ant universe is an example of Cellular Automata. Propp didn' t actually invent the basic ant universe. He originally came across it in the work of Christopher C. Langton of the Santa Fe(N.M.) Institute. In the mid-1980s, Langton created a number of these simulated ant farms, including examples in which several ants move at the same time, to explore how cellular automata might serve as models of various processes characteristic of living systems.
The mathematician starts by setting a field of cells, typically in am checkerboard or honeycomb pattern, and allowing each cell to exist in one of several possible states. A set of rules specifying how neighboring cells influence each other determines how these states change from one moment to the next. The resulting transitions can be visualized on a grid and strung together into a movie.
One of the most famous of these models is the game "Life," invented by mathematician John H. Conway of Princeton University. The game is played on an infinite grid of square cells. Each cell is initially marked as either occupied or vacant, creating some sort of arbitrary starting configuration.
