m (Exactly one of the recent edits to this page was constructive (namely the minimum number of knightwave components necessary to connect two minstrels).)
[[Tagalong]]s and other extensions of Sir Robin that exclude a [[knightwave]] are dubbed '''minstrels'''{{refn|group=note|"Minstrel", like "Sir Robin", is a reference to Monty Python's movie ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''.}}. There are eight known ways in which Sir Robin can be extended by attaching minstrels:
[[Tagalong]]s and other extensions of Sir Robin are dubbed '''minstrels'''{{refn|group=note|"Minstrel", like "Sir Robin", is a reference to Monty Python's movie ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''.}}. There are eight known ways in which Sir Robin can be extended by attaching minstrels:
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The complete spaceships are named '''Minstrel 0''' (Sir Robin) through to '''Minstrel 8''', in order of discovery. The indecomposable tagalongs are given the following names:
The complete spaceships are named '''Minstrel 0''' (Sir Robin) through to '''Minstrel 8''', in order of discovery. The indecomposable tagalongs are given the following names:
* Errant minstrel :=
* Errant minstrel := Minstrel 1 - Minstrel 0
** When attached directly to Minstrel 0, it is Minstrel 1 (0+1).
* Lightweight minstrel := Minstrel 2 - Minstrel 0
** When attached to Heavyweight minstrel, it is Minstrel 4.
* Heavyweight minstrel := Minstrel 3 - Minstrel 0
** When attached to Ragged/Middleweight minstrel (which in turn is attached to Lightweight minstrel), it is Minstrel 7.
* Wandering minstrel := Minstrel 5 - Minstrel 3
* Lightweight minstrel :=
* Ragged minstrel := Minstrel 6 - Minstrel 2
** When attached directly to Minstrel 0, it is Minstrel 2.
* Heavyweight minstrel :=
** When attached directly to Minstrel 0, it is Minstrel 3.
* Wandering minstrel :=
** When attached to Heavyweight minstrel, it is Minstrel 5.
** When attached to Ragged/Middleweight minstrel (which in turn is attached to Lightweight minstrel), it is Minstrel 8.
* Ragged/middleweight minstrel :=
** When attached to Lightweight minstrel, it is Minstrel 6.
Unlike the lightweight and heavyweight minstrels, the spark of the middleweight/ragged minstrel is on the other side.
* A horizontal sequence of two or more spaceships, each of the above form, with adjacent spaceships joined by a horizontal segment of [[knightwave]] containing any sufficiently large number of repeating components (where 'sufficiently large' is such that the two knightships do not interact, i.e. 3 units). All spaceships in the on that line must contain lightweight minstrels besides the leftmost one, which otherwise must contain a heavyweight minstrel.
* A horizontal sequence of two or more spaceships, each of the above form, with adjacent spaceships joined by a horizontal segment of [[knightwave]] containing any sufficiently large number of repeating components (where 'sufficiently large' is such that the two knightships do not interact, i.e. 3 units). The leftmost spaceship in the sequence must contain either a lightweight or heavyweight minstrel, and the remaining spaceships must all contain lightweight minstrels.
==Notes==
==Notes==
Revision as of 12:41, 18 January 2019
Sir Robin
#N Sir Robin
#O Adam P. Goucher, Tom Rokicki; 2018
#C The first elementary knightship to be found in Conway's Game of Life.
#C http://conwaylife.com/wiki/282P6H2V1
x = 31, y = 79, rule = B3/S23
4b2o$4bo2bo$4bo3bo$6b3o$2b2o6b4o$2bob2o4b4o$bo4bo6b3o$2b4o4b2o3bo$o9b
2o$bo3bo$6b3o2b2o2bo$2b2o7bo4bo$13bob2o$10b2o6bo$11b2ob3obo$10b2o3bo2b
o$10bobo2b2o$10bo2bobobo$10b3o6bo$11bobobo3bo$14b2obobo$11bo6b3o2$11bo
9bo$11bo3bo6bo$12bo5b5o$12b3o$16b2o$13b3o2bo$11bob3obo$10bo3bo2bo$11bo
4b2ob3o$13b4obo4b2o$13bob4o4b2o$19bo$20bo2b2o$20b2o$21b5o$25b2o$19b3o
6bo$20bobo3bobo$19bo3bo3bo$19bo3b2o$18bo6bob3o$19b2o3bo3b2o$20b4o2bo2b
o$22b2o3bo$21bo$21b2obo$20bo$19b5o$19bo4bo$18b3ob3o$18bob5o$18bo$20bo$
16bo4b4o$20b4ob2o$17b3o4bo$24bobo$28bo$24bo2b2o$25b3o$22b2o$21b3o5bo$
24b2o2bobo$21bo2b3obobo$22b2obo2bo$24bobo2b2o$26b2o$22b3o4bo$22b3o4bo$
23b2o3b3o$24b2ob2o$25b2o$25bo2$24b2o$26bo!
#C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]]
#C [[ AUTOSTART ]]
#C [[ TRACKLOOP 6 -1/6 -1/3 THUMBSIZE 2 HEIGHT 480 ZOOM 4 GPS 12 ]]
Sir Robin[note 1] (also known by its systematic name 282P6H2V1, and alternatively called seahorse) is a (2,1)c/6spaceship found by Adam P. Goucher on March 6, 2018 using his ikpx search program. It is based on a partial found by Tomas Rokicki, which makes up about 62% of the ship,[1] and which was itself an independent rediscovery of roughly half of a partial found by Josh Ball in April 2017.[2] Sir Robin is the first elementaryknightship in Conway's Game of Life. Sir Robin can also be considered the "Minstrel 0".
A scientific paper describing the method used to find the ship is forthcoming.[3]
Josh Ball's original partial from April 2017 is shown below:
#O Josh Ball, April 2017
#C Knightship partial, later independently rediscovered in extended form by Tom Rokicki
#C and developed into a true elementary knightship, Sir Robin, by Adam P. Goucher.
#C http://conwaylife.com/wiki/Partial_result
#C http://conwaylife.com/wiki/Sir_Robin
x = 26, y = 31, rule = B3/S23
4b3o$3bo2b2o$3bo4bo2$3b3o3b2ob3o$b2obobo4bob2o$3bo2bo4bo2b2o$o2bo8bo$o
4bo2b2o2bo2bo$bob3o2b2o3b2o$3b2obob2obo3bo$9b2ob3o$9bo5bo$12b3o2b3o$
15bob2o$10b2obo3b3o$10b2o2bo2b2o$12b4o3bo$13b2obo2bo$11b2obobobo$14bo$
11bo7b2o$12b2o5b2o$14b2obo$16b3o2bobo$16b2o3bo$17bo$18b5obo$19b2o2b3o$
19b2o4bo$23b2o!
#C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]]
#C [[ ZOOM 16 THUMBSIZE 2 WIDTH 640 HEIGHT 560 GPS 6 ]]
No glider synthesis for Sir Robin exists as of March 10, 2018; finding a synthesis is considered a challenging task at best, due to the large size of the ship, and the amount of space dust it contains.
Tagalongs and other extensions of Sir Robin are dubbed minstrels[note 2]. There are eight known ways in which Sir Robin can be extended by attaching minstrels:
The complete spaceships are named Minstrel 0 (Sir Robin) through to Minstrel 8, in order of discovery. The indecomposable tagalongs are given the following names:
Errant minstrel := Minstrel 1 - Minstrel 0
Lightweight minstrel := Minstrel 2 - Minstrel 0
Heavyweight minstrel := Minstrel 3 - Minstrel 0
Wandering minstrel := Minstrel 5 - Minstrel 3
Ragged minstrel := Minstrel 6 - Minstrel 2
History
The first tagalong, Minstrel 1, was discovered by Adam P. Goucher on July 15, 2018, after resuming the original ikpx search.[5]
Dave Greene modified Martin Grant's Sir Robin eater to act as a Minstrel 1 detector the same day, which removes the errant minstrel to yield the original Sir Robin.[6]
On July 19, 2018, Adam P. Goucher found a second and third minstrel, dubbed Minstrel 2 and Minstrel 3, that follow Sir Robin more closely. The lightweight and heavyweight minstrels are not true tagalongs because they change the evolution of the Sir Robin itself.[7]
On July 20, 2018, Goldtiger997 built a stable circuit that can accept any of Minstrel 0 through to Minstrel 3,[8] emitting a glider in one of four directions (depending on the input spaceship) along with an unadorned Sir Robin travelling along the original path. When the original input is a Sir Robin, this circuit is a Heisenburp; otherwise, it is a downconverter. The circuit was later optimised by including a bend in the 2c/3 signal wire, among other bounding-box reductions.
On Christmas Day in 2018, Entity Valkyrie discovered that the heavyweight and errant can be composed, yielding Minstrel 4[9]. Two days later, Goldtiger997 updated the previous minstrel remover/detector to accept any of the known tagalongs including the composite Minstrel 4.[10]
On December 31, 2018, Adam P. Goucher resumed the ikpx search and another Minstrel 3 tagalong was found, dubbed Minstrel 5. Again, Goldtiger997's minstrel remover/detector was updated to accept the newest spaceship.
The following month a further tagalong, Minstrel 6, was discovered by the ikpx search program. Dave Greene assembled existing components to discover two new spaceships, Minstrels 7 and 8.
Minstrel arithmetic
By pure coincidence, the relationships between these spaceships can be encapsulated by 'minstrel arithmetic': the observation that integer 'weights' can be assigned to Sir Robin and its indecomposable tagalongs such that the sum of the weights of the components of Minstrel n is exactly n:
The lightweight minstrel is also capable of supporting both ends of knightwave, as noted by Matthias Merzenich. The heavyweight minstrel can support the left end in the same manner.[11]
Currently, the grammar of known (2,1)c/6 spaceships can be completely classified. In particular, every known (2,1)c/6 spaceship is either:
Minstrel n (for some n between 0 and 8), or
A horizontal sequence of two or more spaceships, each of the above form, with adjacent spaceships joined by a horizontal segment of knightwave containing any sufficiently large number of repeating components (where 'sufficiently large' is such that the two knightships do not interact, i.e. 3 units). The leftmost spaceship in the sequence must contain either a lightweight or heavyweight minstrel, and the remaining spaceships must all contain lightweight minstrels.