发现细胞自动机中自发出现分布式自复制现象
Rethinking Self-Replication: Detecting Distributed Selfhood in the Outlier Cellular Automaton
- 通过因果溯源框架追踪模式演化路径
- 证实自复制结构可自发形成且由多集群协同实现
- 挑战传统个体与复制概念，适合人工生命研究者
细胞自动机中的自发自复制长期被认为罕见，多数例子需精心设计或人为初始化。本文基于对Outlier规则复杂动态的前期研究，提出一种数据驱动的因果溯源框架，重建确定性细胞自动机中模式的完整因果谱系。该方法使我们能通过明确的因果链严格识别自复制结构。结果表明，Outlier CA中的自复制不仅自发且稳健，常由多个分离簇协同运作而成，这引发了对人工生命系统中个体性与复制定义的重新思考。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Spontaneous self-replication in cellular automata has long been considered rare, with most known examples requiring careful design or artificial initialization. In this paper, we present formal, causal evidence that such replication can emerge unassisted -- and that it can do so in a distributed, multi-component form. Building on prior work identifying complex dynamics in the Outlier rule, we introduce a data-driven framework that reconstructs the full causal ancestry of patterns in a deterministic cellular automaton. This allows us to rigorously identify self-replicating structures via explicit causal lineages. Our results show definitively that self-replicators in the Outlier CA are not only spontaneous and robust, but are also often composed of multiple disjoint clusters working in coordination, raising questions about some conventional notions of individuality and replication in artificial life systems.
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