"The theme of this book is the use of Cellular Automatas (CAs) to model biological systems, describing 2-D CAs to create populations of "life-like agents" with their own genomes"--Provided by publisher.

Deeply rooted in fundamental research in Mathematics and Computer Science, Cellular Automata (CA) are recognized as an intuitive modeling paradigm for Complex Systems. Already very basic CA, with extremely simple micro dynamics such as the Game of Life, show an almost endless display of complex emergent behavior. Conversely, CA can also be designed to produce a desired emergent behavior, using either theoretical methodologies or evolutionary techniques. Meanwhile, beyond the original realm of applications - Physics, Computer Science, and Mathematics – CA have also become work horses in very different disciplines such as epidemiology, immunology, sociology, and finance. In this context of fast and impressive progress, spurred further by the enormous attraction these topics have on students, this book emerges as a welcome overview of the field for its practitioners, as well as a good starting point for detailed study on the graduate and post-graduate level. The book contains three parts, two major parts on theory and applications, and a smaller part on software. The theory part contains fundamental chapters on how to design and/or apply CA for many different areas. In the applications part a number of representative examples of really using CA in a broad range of disciplines is provided - this part will give the reader a good idea of the real strength of this kind of modeling as well as the incentive to apply CA in their own field of study. Finally, we included a smaller section on software, to highlight the important work that has been done to create high quality problem solving environments that allow to quickly and relatively easily implement a CA model and run simulations, both on the desktop and if needed, on High Performance Computing infrastructures.

Modeling Chemical Systems using Cellular Automata provides a practical introduction to an exciting modeling paradigm for complex systems. The book first discusses the nature of scientific inquiry using models and simulations, and then describes the nature of cellular automata models. It then gives detailed descriptions, with examples and exercises, of how cellular automata models can be used in the study of a wide variety chemical, physical, and biochemical phenomena. Topics covered include models of water itself, solution phenomena, solution interactions with stationary systems, first- and second-order kinetic phenomena, enzyme kinetics, vapor-liquid equilibrium, and atomic and molecular excited-state kinetics. The student experiences these systems through hands-on examples and guided studies. This book is the first of its kind: a textbook and a laboratory manual about cellular automata modeling of common systems in chemistry. The book is designed to be used as a text in undergraduate courses dealing with complex systems and/or as a computational supplement to laboratory courses taught at the undergraduate level. The book includes: - Compact descriptions of a large variety of physical and chemical phenomena - Illustrative examples of simulations, with exercises for further study - An instructor's manual for use of the program The book will be of great value in undergraduate courses in chemistry, physics, biology, applied mathematics, and bioinformatics, and as a supplement for laboratory courses in introductory chemistry, organic chemistry, physical chemistry, medicinal chemistry, chemical engineering and other courses dealing with statistical and dynamic systems. It allows the exploration of a wide range of dynamic phenomena, many of which are not normally accessible within conventional laboratory settings due to limitations of time, cost, and experimental equipment. The book is both a textbook on applied Cellular Automata and a lab manual for chemistry (physics, engineering) courses with lab activity. It would supplement other lab work and be an additonal book the students would use in the course. The authors have assessed the emerging need for this kind of activity in science labs because of the cost of the practical activitites and the frequent failure of some exercises leading to lost didactic value of some experiments. This book is pioneering an alternative that will grow in use. There are no course directors who would use Cellular Automata exclusively. The authors see an emerging interest in this kind of work in courses that contain lab exercises. One such course is the graduate course that Lemont Kier gives in Life Sciences about complexity. He uses many examples and studies from Cellular Automata in the latter part of this course.

A comprehensive introduction to new approaches in artificial intelligence and robotics that are inspired by self-organizing biological processes and structures. New approaches to artificial intelligence spring from the idea that intelligence emerges as much from cells, bodies, and societies as it does from evolution, development, and learning. Traditionally, artificial intelligence has been concerned with reproducing the abilities of human brains; newer approaches take inspiration from a wider range of biological structures that that are capable of autonomous self-organization. Examples of these new approaches include evolutionary computation and evolutionary electronics, artificial neural networks, immune systems, biorobotics, and swarm intelligence—to mention only a few. This book offers a comprehensive introduction to the emerging field of biologically inspired artificial intelligence that can be used as an upper-level text or as a reference for researchers. Each chapter presents computational approaches inspired by a different biological system; each begins with background information about the biological system and then proceeds to develop computational models that make use of biological concepts. The chapters cover evolutionary computation and electronics; cellular systems; neural systems, including neuromorphic engineering; developmental systems; immune systems; behavioral systems—including several approaches to robotics, including behavior-based, bio-mimetic, epigenetic, and evolutionary robots; and collective systems, including swarm robotics as well as cooperative and competitive co-evolving systems. Chapters end with a concluding overview and suggested reading.

Cellular automata make up a class of completely discrete dynamical systems, which have became a core subject in the sciences of complexity due to their conceptual simplicity, easiness of implementation for computer simulation, and their ability to exhibit a wide variety of amazingly complex behavior. The feature of simplicity behind complexity of cellular automata has attracted the researchers' attention from a wide range of divergent fields of study of science, which extend from the exact disciplines of mathematical physics up to the social ones, and beyond. Numerous complex systems containing many discrete elements with local interactions have been and are being conveniently modelled as cellular automata. In this book, the versatility of cellular automata as models for a wide diversity of complex systems is underlined through the study of a number of outstanding problems using these innovative techniques for modelling and simulation.

Self-contained, pedagogic introduction to powerful techniques for graduate students and researchers in physics and computer science.

Theory of Computation -- Computation by Abstracts Devices.

This text explores the use of cellular automata in modeling pattern formation in biological systems. It describes several mathematical modeling approaches utilizing cellular automata that can be used to study the dynamics of interacting cell systems both in simulation and in practice. New in this edition are chapters covering cell migration, tissue development, and cancer dynamics, as well as updated references and new research topic suggestions that reflect the rapid development of the field. The book begins with an introduction to pattern-forming principles in biology and the various mathematical modeling techniques that can be used to analyze them. Cellular automaton models are then discussed in detail for different types of cellular processes and interactions, including random movement, cell migration, adhesive cell interaction, alignment and cellular swarming, growth processes, pigment cell pattern formation, tissue development, tumor growth and invasion, and Turing-type patterns and excitable media. In the final chapter, the authors critically discuss possibilities and limitations of the cellular automaton approach in modeling various biological applications, along with future research directions. Suggestions for research projects are provided throughout the book to encourage additional engagement with the material, and an accompanying simulator is available for readers to perform their own simulations on several of the models covered in the text. QR codes are included within the text for easy access to the simulator. With its accessible presentation and interdisciplinary approach, Cellular Automaton Modeling of Biological Pattern Formation is suitable for graduate and advanced undergraduate students in mathematical biology, biological modeling, and biological computing. It will also be a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners in applied mathematics, mathematical biology, computational physics, bioengineering, and computer science. PRAISE FOR THE FIRST EDITION “An ideal guide for someone with a mathematical or physical background to start exploring biological modelling. Importantly, it will also serve as an excellent guide for experienced modellers to innovate and improve their methodologies for analysing simulation results.” —Mathematical Reviews

Are mathematical equations the best way to model nature? For many years it had been assumed that they were. But in the early 1980s, Stephen Wolfram made the radical proposal that one should instead build models that are based directly on simple computer programs. Wolfram made a detailed study of a class of such models known as cellular automata, and discovered a remarkable fact: that even when the underlying rules are very simple, the behaviour they produce can be highly complex, and can mimic many features of what we see in nature. And based on this result, Wolfram began a program of research to develop what he called A Science of Complexity."The results of Wolfram's work found many applications, from the so-called Wolfram Classification central to fields such as artificial life, to new ideas about cryptography and fluid dynamics. This book is a collection of Wolfram's original papers on cellular automata and complexity. Some of these papers are widely known in the scientific community others have never been published before. Together, the papers provide a highly readable account of what has become a major new field of science, with important implications for physics, biology, economics, computer science and many other areas.