Emulator
An emulator is one of the three period-4 oscillators that produce sparks similar to those produced by a lightweight spaceship, middleweight spaceship, or heavyweight spaceship. They are the lightweight emulator, middleweight emulator, and heavyweight emulator respectively. It is possible to construct larger emulators, but they require stabilizing objects to suppress their non-sparks and so are of little use (except for the overweight T-nosed p4). The three standard emulators were discovered by Robert Wainwright in June 1980. All of the p4 oscillators can eat gliders with their sparks.
Period-4 emulators
On November 4, 2021, JP21 created a collection of p4 emulators with various height, width, clearance, and presence or absence of side sparks on this page in the oscillator discussion thread on the forums.[n 1]
Single-sided clearance-improving mechanisms
These are included in this page rather than any for a particular oscillator because they can be applied to any of the three, and may be interchanged and applied simultaneously.
| A replacement for one end (or both, in a middle/heavyweight emulator), as used in the period-16 glider gun (click above to open LifeViewer) Catagolue: here |
. This improves clearance for catalysis at the cost of an increased population.
Other emulators
"Emulator" has occasionally been used to refer to higher-period oscillators that produce sparks similar to other spaceships, but "volcano" is more commonly used specifically for period 5, or the generic "sparker" for other periods. The long boat spin reaction can be used to create middleweight emulators for periods 25[1], 28[2], 29, 35, 56, and 64.
| Period | Lightweight | Middleweight | Heavyweight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Lightweight emulator | Middleweight emulator | Heavyweight emulator |
| 5 | Toaster | Middleweight volcano | |
| 6 | 148P6, 262P6 | 98P6, 84P6[n 2] | 64P6, 92P6, 103P6 |
| 7 | Meatball , 34P7 | 120P7[n 3] | 754P7 |
| 8 | Kok's galaxy[n 4] | 209P8 | 180P8 |
| 9 | Worker bee[n 5] | none known | 104P9 |
| 10 | none known | 55P10[n 6] | none known |
| 24 | two honey farm hasslers | none known | Wainwright's p24[3] |
Half-emulator
A half-emulator has one side spark but not the other.
| Period | Middleweight | Heavyweight |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Ellison p4 MW emulator | Ellison p4 HW emulator |
| 5 | 63P5 | p5 used in p55 gun[n 7] |
| 6 | 71P6 (Extrementhusiast's p6), 78P6 | 104P6[4][n 8] |
| 7 | 121P7, 168P7 | none known |
Notes
- ↑ JP21 (November 4, 2021). Re: Oscillator Discussion Thread (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums
- ↑ Found by JP21
- ↑ While 120P7 does produce three cells connected by knights' moves in a certain way, all three of which die by the next generation, one of the cells not in the domino spark has one neighbor instead of zero, that neighbor cells does not die right away, and it contributes to another cell being born in the same general location as the spark by the next generation, so 120P7 can only function as a middleweight emulator in certain contexts.
- ↑ While Kok's galaxy does produce two cells that are three cells apart orthogonally that die during the next generation from underpopulation, one of those cells has one neighbor instead of zero, and that neighbor cell does not die right away, so Kok's galaxy can only function as a lightweight emulator in certain contexts.
- ↑ While a worker bee does produce two cells that are three cells apart orthogonally that die during the next generation from underpopulation, each of those cells has one neighbor instead of zero, those neighbor cells do not die right away, and they contribute to other cells being born in the same general location as the spark by the next generation, so a worker bee can only function as a lightweight emulator in certain contexts.
- ↑ Is in dual form as a dimer, not known to be monomerisable without reduced clearance.
- ↑ There is a lower-clearance variant with a 1-cell-thinner bounding box, shown in p5 quinti-Snark
- ↑ Could be described as Extrementhusiast's other p6, to disambiguate between it and the 71P6
External links
- Emulator at the Life Lexicon
References
- ↑ xp25_x8kkmis53zy2101y433z4a4wmgi8k2i16y02244a53woozy032y0gggy0o8a6 at Adam P. Goucher's Catagolue
- ↑ xp28_xiu0ep3w64kow32aczog5u0f9y48o8x69iow33zx32gx131zy03g12gwsy1660g0fmzy211y6cqb0t53zyf6fx66 at Adam P. Goucher's Catagolue
- ↑ hotdogPi (November 4, 2021). Re: Oscillator Discussion Thread (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums
- ↑ Extrementhusiast (April 24, 2023). Re: Oscillator Discussion Thread (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums