Self-synchronized linear replicator
| Self-synchronized linear replicator | |||||||||
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| Pattern type | Puffer | ||||||||
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| Number of cells | 16702 | ||||||||
| Bounding box | 65676 × 65520 | ||||||||
| Direction | Orthogonal | ||||||||
| Period | 1048576 | ||||||||
| Speed | 256c/1048576 | ||||||||
| Discovered by | lumi | ||||||||
| Year of discovery | 2026 | ||||||||
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Self-synchronized linear replicator is a single-channel universal constructor pattern assembled by lumi with help from inductivetype and russellsprouts, and posted on May 17, 2026.[1] Nine days previous, lumi had published a similar single-channel linear propagator design, but it was much less HashLife-friendly because each child replicator was created in a different phase from its parent.[2] That pattern in turn was a rebuild of an initial much larger design completed back in February 2026.[3]
The design took inspiration from the 2013 linear propagator, but is heavily based on modern construction techniques.
Design details
The design is comprised of a permanent glider memory loop consisting of custom reflectors, a custom glider duplicator, and three Snarks. This circuitry creates two carefully rephased glider outputs. The timing of the first output allows the memory loop's period to be adjusted to a power of two. The second output can be reflected with another temporary Snark to put the copied gliders into exactly the same phase as the original gliders, shifted by 256 cells horizontally. This means that, unlike in the original linear propagator, each child replicator will be precisely synchronized with its parent.
The circuitry was mostly designed by inductivetype based on lumi's specifications. Also unlike the 2013 linear propagator, the construction is purely single-channel, with both the circuit construction and recipe insertion happening on the same lane.
Like the May 17th design, this replicator uses the Simkin gun construction arm invented by russellsprouts and inductivetype in 2026, which makes possible a huge improvement in construction efficiency over the original linear propagator. russellsprouts' hyperoptimized Snarkmaker, also from 2026, is used to build the temporary Snark for inserting the child recipe.
To qualify as a true self-replicating pattern, a linear propagator has to remain undamaged and capable of creating another child in future cycles, if the first constructed child is somehow removed. For the new design it was necessary to include an edgy eater seed directly on the single channel lane, to block each parent from attempting to construct additional child replicators in the same location as the first child. Using russellsprouts' large database of direct still life construction recipes, lumi combined three such recipes to form the seed in just 14 fast gliders.
The temporary Snark that is used for inserting the copied recipe has to be partially destroyed at the right time, after it has completed its work of filling the memory loop, but before the inserted recipe completes a full loop. This is accomplished with a series of one-time turners, similar to the single-use switching circuitry in many other self-constructing patterns.
Unlike the previous design, the construction is two-sided, with both NE and SW salvos. The recipe glider stream just barely fits in a p524288 glider loop.
References
- ↑ lumi (May 18, 2026). Re: Single-channel linear propagator (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums
- ↑ lumi (May 8, 2026). Re: Single-channel linear propagator (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums
- ↑ lumi (February 16, 2026). Single-channel linear propagator (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums