Queen bee shuttle
Queen bee shuttle | |||||||||
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Pattern type | Oscillator | ||||||||
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Oscillator type | Shuttle | ||||||||
Family | Queen bee shuttle | ||||||||
Number of cells | 20 | ||||||||
Bounding box | 22 × 7 | ||||||||
Frequency class | 28.4 | ||||||||
Period | 30 (mod: 15) | ||||||||
Heat | 17.9 | ||||||||
Volatility | 0.96 | 0.96 | ||||||||
Kinetic symmetry | n.e | ||||||||
Discovered by | Bill Gosper Robert W. April Richard P. Howell | ||||||||
Year of discovery | 1970 | ||||||||
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The queen bee shuttle (or basic shuttle[1]) can refer to one of two very closely related period-30 shuttle oscillators in which a queen bee travels back and forth between two blocks (see Isomers). It was found by Bill Gosper in 1970[2] and was the first period-30 oscillator to be found. In terms of its minimum population of 20 cells, it is the smallest known oscillator with period greater than 15.[3]
The queen bee shuttle is the basis of Gosper glider gun, the first known and most compact gun in Game of Life.
Isomers
There are two possible isomers for the queen bee shuttle; the version shown in the infobox to the right being the "trans"-version.
Cis-queen bee shuttle
Cis-queen bee shuttle; blocks are "on the same side" (kinetic symmetry n-e) (click above to open LifeViewer) RLE: here Plaintext: here Catagolue: here |
Trans-queen bee shuttle
Trans-queen bee shuttle; blocks are "on different sides" (kinetic symmetry n.e) (click above to open LifeViewer) RLE: here Plaintext: here Catagolue: here |
Comparison
Image | Name | Info | Kinetic symmetry | apgcode | Cost in gliders |
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Cis-queen bee shuttle | Blocks are "on the same side" | n-e | xp30_w33z8kqrqk8zzzw33 | 5 |
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Trans-queen bee shuttle | Blocks are "on different sides" | n.e | xp30_w33z8kqrqk8zzzx33 | 5 |
Glider synthesis
There are a few 4-glider components that turn any one-sided stabilization of the queen bee, such as a block, into a queen bee shuttle variant, yielding 6-glider syntheses for both common variants. The synthesis of the cis-queen bee shuttle was later reduced to 5 gliders in July 2020,[4] and an alternate 6-glider synthesis of the trans-queen bee shuttle has also been found.[5] An alternate 5-glider synthesis of the cis-queen bee shuttle was found in March 2023.[6][7] The trans-queen bee shuttle was reduced to 5 gliders by Carson Cheng on May 28, 2024.[8]
A collection of nine such 4-glider components mentioned above, turning a block into a queen bee shuttle (click above to open LifeViewer) RLE: here Plaintext: here |
Variations
The shuttles were originally stabilized against one another in a square of eight shuttles, but many other stabilisations of the queen bee are now known, such as buckaroo (which utilises an eater 1), hectic (which relies on gliders) and a thin one (allowing a 20-cell wide footprint with an unnamed still life) and the thinnest known one (allowing an 18-cell-wide (albeit 25-cell-tall) one using other queen bees), the latter two of which are useful in bounding box reductions.
The queen bee loop (or ouroboros bees), another form of the queen bee shuttle that was found in 1970 (also by Bill Gosper), is a closed loop made of four queen bees that clean up each other's beehives. It was forgotten about in many sources and independently rediscovered in 2008 by Nicolay Beluchenko.[9] It is also possible to create a partial loop oscillator consisting of two or three queen bees by removing one or two of the queen bees in the loop and placing two stabilizing blocks appropriately.
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Occurrence
- See also: List of common oscillators
The cis-queen bee shuttle and the trans-queen bee shuttle are the 18th and 19th most common naturally-occurring oscillators in Achim Flammenkamp's census.[10] On Catagolue, it is the most common period 30 oscillator, with all other natural oscillators of that period featuring it in some form.[11]
The trans version is about 2% more common than the cis version on Catagolue.
Catagolue has a dedicated badge which will be given out to anyone who discovers a new variant of this oscillator.
Gallery
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References
- ↑ "Basic shuttle". The Life Lexicon. Stephen Silver. Retrieved on June 11, 2009.
- ↑ Dean Hickerson's oscillator stamp collection. Retrieved on March 14, 2020.
- ↑ "Class 2 Objects Catalog - Oscillators". Retrieved on April 8, 2009.
- ↑ Ian07 (July 18, 2020). Re: Randomly enumerating glider syntheses (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums
- ↑ Carson Cheng (June 15, 2022). Re: Synthesising Oscillators (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums
- ↑ Carson Cheng (March 25, 2023). Re: Synthesising Oscillators (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums
- ↑ shinjuku (#4000837544) (March 25, 2023). Job triggered by Adam P. Goucher at GitLab Catagolue project.
- ↑ Carson Cheng (May 28, 2024). Re: Synthesising Oscillators (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums
- ↑ New Small Period Oscillators at Game of Life News. Posted by Heinrich Koenig on November 23, 2008.
- ↑ Achim Flammenkamp (September 7, 2004). "Most seen natural occurring ash objects in Game of Life". Retrieved on January 15, 2009.
- ↑ Adam P. Goucher. "Statistics". Catagolue. Retrieved on October 27, 2018.
- ↑ James Pascua (February 8, 2021). Re: Oscillator Discussion Thread (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums
External links
- Queen bee shuttle at the Life Lexicon
- Queen bee loop at Adam P. Goucher's Catagolue
- 20P30.1 at Heinrich Koenig's Game of Life Object Catalogs
- 20P30.2 at Heinrich Koenig's Game of Life Object Catalogs
- Patterns
- Patterns with Catagolue frequency class 28
- Natural periodic objects
- Oscillators with 20 cells
- Periodic objects with minimum population 20
- Patterns with 20 cells
- Patterns found by Bill Gosper
- Patterns found by Robert W. April
- Patterns found by Richard P. Howell
- Patterns found in 1970
- Patterns that can be constructed with 5 gliders
- Oscillators
- Queen bee shuttle variants
- Shuttles
- Oscillators with period 30
- Oscillators with mod 15
- Oscillators with heat 17
- Oscillators with volatility 0.96
- Oscillators with strict volatility 0.96
- Oscillators with n.e symmetry
- Sparkers
- Sparkers with period 30
- Dot sparkers
- Strong sparkers