Small Heisenburp device in Conway's Life
Mike Playle
few years ago. I haven't seen it in any pattern collections - is
it new?
Here's the basic reaction:
........**...........*.
.......*.*..........**.
.........*..........*.*
...........***.........
...........*...........
............*..........
.......................
.......................
***....................
..*....................
.*.....................
The signal glider is at the top right.
Here's a complete device about to duplicate two gliders:
x = 68, y = 74, rule = S23/B3
47bo$45b3o$44bo$44boo5bo$51b3o$54bo$53boo4$39boo3boo$40b5o$40booboo11b
o$40booboo10b3o$41b3o10b5o$53boo3boo$o$3o$3bo$bboo51b3o$55b3o$46bo$40b
o3bobo11bo$39b3o3boo10bobo$38b5o13bo3bo$37bobobobo13b3o$37boo3boo11boo
3boo$50boo$3b5o3bobo36boo$bbob3obobbo3bo$3bo3bo5boobo$4b3o7bobo$5bo9bo
21boo$6boo4b3o23bo4bo$6bobo3boo21b3o4bo$6bobo3bo22bo6b3o10boo$7bo48bo$
53b3o$53bo$4booboboo$4bo5bo$5bo3bo25boo$6b3o26bobo$27bo7bo$26boo$26bob
o$21boo$21bobo$16boo4b3o$12b4obbo4b3o$7boo3b3oboo4b3o$7boo12bobo7boo$
21boo8bobo$33bo$33boo17$65boo$65bobo$65bo!
Mike
Dave Greene
> I found this "Heisenburp device" with a pattern search program a
> few years ago. I haven't seen it in any pattern collections - is
> it new?
I believe it is indeed new -- I've gone back through everything I can
find, as far back as the early 90's when Heisenburp devices were first
invented, and there don't seem to be any reactions based on a glider
suppressing a blinker. The earliest devices tended to be a little
slower than this one, usually needing a minimum following distance of
90 or 120 ticks, I believe, whereas this works fine at p60. Very nice!
> Here's a complete device about to duplicate two gliders:
>
> x = 68, y = 74, rule = S23/B3
> ...
This is quite simple and compact as Heisenburp devices go -- see the
two examples in the Golly 1.0 pattern collection [
http://golly.sourceforge.net ] for comparison; there's one that works
at p90 and a different mechanism for p46, but both are much more
complex than this.
Since about 1996 people have mostly been trying to build "pure"
Heisenburp devices, which superstitiously avoid affecting the glider in
any way, even temporarily; the two that come with Golly manage to
maintain a ring of OFF cells all around the glider at all times. The
preference for pure as opposed to "dirty" (!) devices is just a matter
of aesthetics (as I understand it) -- it's not like there's any
measurable difference between an untouched glider and a reconstructed
one with the same path and timing.
You may have found the following in a collection somewhere, but an
extra sample pattern or so never hurt anybody... Here is a previous
p30 device that, like yours, can handle gliders spaced 60 ticks apart:
#C p30 pure Heisenburp device, repeatable at p60
#C David Bell, 25 September 1996
x = 205, y = 194, rule = B3/S23
141bo$141b3o$144bo$132boo9boo$132boo$132boo$132bo12b3o$131bobo11b3o$
131bobo10bo3bo$132bo$143boo3boo$$129boo3boo$129bobobobo$130b5o$131b3o
13b3o$132bo11boo$144boo$143boo$144bobo$145boo3$133bobo9boo3boo$134boo
9boo3boo$134bo4bo$137boo8b3o$138boo7b3o$129b3o16bo27bo$128bo3bo41b3o$
127bo5bo7bo31bo$128bo3bo9boo29boo9boo$129b3o9boo7boo32boo$129b3o18bo$
151b3o$132boo19bo$132bo$133b3o$135bo32boo3boo$169b5o$169booboo11bo$
162bo6booboo10b3o$160b3o7b3o10b5o$159bo22boo3boo$159boo$$153bo$152bo
31b3o$152b3o29b3o$175bo$169bo3bobo11bo$168b3o3boo10bobo$156b3o8b5o13bo
3bo$155bo3bo6bobobobo13b3o$154bo5bo5boo3boo6bo4boo3boo$154bo5bo18bobo$
157bo21boo$155bo3bo$156bo$157bobbo$160bo5boo$134boo23bo7bo$133bobo24b
3ob3o$135bo26bobo$$186boo$148boo6boo28boo$147boo6boo$149bo7bo$164bo$
164bobo$136bobobbobo20boo$132boobobbobbobboboo21boo$136bobobbobo26bo$
170bobo5bo$148bo22boo3bobo$120boo24b4o25bobo17bo$121boo22boboboo23bobb
o16boo$120bo9bo13bobbob3o23bobo15boo4boo$129b3o12booboboo25bobo13b3o4b
oobboo$128b5o9b3ob4o9boo17bo4bobo7boo4boobboo$127boo3boo7bobo4bo10bobo
9boo10boo9boo$141bo19bo8boo12bo10bo$140boo19boo9bo$$129b3o$129b3o$176b
oo$176boo$129boo$129boo17bo17boo21bobo$105boo40b4o16bo19bo3bo$106boo
27boo9boob4o5boo7bobo5boo10bo12boo$105bo29boo8b3oboo3bo3bobbo6boo5bobb
o7bo4bo8boo$146booboo3bo7bo16bo7bo$147b5o3bo6bo16bo7bo3bo$148bo3b3o7bo
16bo9bobo$130bobo25bobbo5boo6bobbo$129bobbo25boo7bobo5boo$119bo8boo10b
oo27bo$118bobo5boo3bo8boo4bo22boo$118boobo6boo5boo7boo$106boo10booboo
6bobbo4bo7boo$106boo10boobo8bobo$118bobo$119bo9bo$90boo38bo$91boo35b3o
$90bo46bobo$137boo$138bo3$137bo$135bobo$136boo3$88b4o26b4o27boo$88bo3b
o25bo3bo26boo4b3o$88bo29bo27boo6b5o$83boo4bobbo26bobbo22b3o5bo3bobo$
82boo62boo6bo3boo$84bo64boo$149boo$79boo$80bo$77b3o$77bo13bo$90boo$90b
obo50bo$61boo38bo40b3o$60bobo37bobo38b5o$62bo26bo8boo3bo9boo25boo3boo$
84bo4b4o5boo3bo9boo$84bo5b4o4boo3bo$79boo9bobbo6bobo$79boo9b4o7bo40b3o
$89b4o49b3o$89bo$$142boo$142boo4$46boo$45bobo$47bo13$31boo$30bobo$32bo
28$boo$obo$bbo!
Dietrich Leithner built a smaller "dirty" version a couple of days
later, which works at p30 but bounces the input gliders around a lot.
It still takes some sneaky tricks to get down as low as p30 pure
Heisenburp detection. At least, I can't find anything recent that
improves on Jason Summers' "pseudo-Heisenburp" device; amazingly
enough, the entire device is on one side of the input glider path:
#C Pseudoperiod 30 pure Heisenburp device
#C Detects and duplicates a p30 stream of gliders without
#C influencing it, even temporarily. The device works by
#C interlacing two period-60 detectors.
#C Jason Summers, 3-Jul-1999
x = 330, y = 315, rule = B3/S23
,,,
This, along with Leithner's smaller "dirty" version, is in Jason's
collection at http://entropymine.com/jason/life/p/jslife-20060831.zip ,
in the "misc" section. But of course they're both considerably larger
than your Heisenblinker device.
Keep the cheer,
Dave Greene