Unique father problem

Unique father problem
x = 30, y = 24, rule = LifeHistory 5.22F$2.4FA4.2A4.2A4.2A.2F$.2FA2.A.2A2.A.2A2.A.2A2.A.A2F$2F2A.A2.2A.A 2.2A.A2.2A.A2.2AF$F4.2A4.2A4.2A4.2A3.F$F2A.A2.2A.A2.2A.A2.2A.A2.2A.2F $FA.2A2.A.2A2.A.2A2.A.2A2.A.2AF$F4.2A4.2A4.2A4.2A4.F$F.2A2.A.2A2.A.2A 2.A.2A2.A.2A.F$F.2A.A2.2A.A2.2A.A2.2A.A2.2A.F$F4.2A4.2A4.2A4.2A4.F$F 2A.A2.2A.A2.2A.A2.2A.A2.2A.AF$FA.2A2.A.2A2.A.2A2.A.2A2.A.2AF$F4.2A4. 2A4.2A4.2A4.F$F.2A2.A.2A2.A.2A2.A.2A2.A.2A.F$F.2A.A2.2A.A2.2A.A2.2A.A 2.2A.F$F4.2A4.2A4.2A4.2A4.F$F2A.A2.2A.A2.2A.A2.2A.A2.2A.AF$2F.2A2.A. 2A2.A.2A2.A.2A2.A.2AF$.F3.2A4.2A4.2A4.2A4.F$.F2A2.A.2A2.A.2A2.A.2A2.A .2A2F$.2FA.A2.2A.A2.2A.A2.2A.A2.A2F$2.2F.2A4.2A4.2A4.A4F$3.22F! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 ZOOM 16 WIDTH 600 HEIGHT 500 ]]
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Pattern type	Problem
Number of cells	258
Bounding box	28 × 22
Discovered by	Ilkka Törmä Ville Salo
Year of discovery	2022
Glider synthesis Synthesis is not possible.
Pattern files Plaintext uniquefatherproblemsolved.cells RLE uniquefatherproblemsolved.rle

The unique father problem is the following question, posed by John Conway in 1972 in Lifeline Volume 6 with an associated $50 cash prize, along with the grandfather problem:

Is there a stable configuration whose only father is itself (with some fading junk some distance away not being counted)?

The problem was answered positively by Ilkka Törmä and Ville Salo on January 13, 2022, with a 22 × 28 region that must appear in all of its predecessors. This is shown in the infobox to the right, with the gray cells indicating the boundary of this region. This can be stabilized to form a 26 × 32 still life consisting of blocks and snakes with population 374, which cannot be constructed from scratch by any means. Dani reduced this still life by 40 cells within the same bounding box. It was further reduced by Oscar Cunningham to its provably minimum population of 306 but with a larger bounding box. In particular, there is no glider synthesis for any still life that contains this region.

x = 32, y = 26, rule = B3/S23 8b2obo2b2obo2b2obo$8bob2o2bob2o2bob2o3b2o$6b2o4b2o4b2o4b2o2bo$b2obo2b ob2o2bob2o2bob2o2bobo$bob2obo2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo2b2o$6b2o4b2o4b2o4b2o$ 2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo$2bob2o2bob2o2bob2o2bob2o2bob2o$2o4b2o4b 2o4b2o4b2o4b2o$bob2o2bob2o2bob2o2bob2o2bob2o2bo$o2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo2b 2obo2b2obo$2o4b2o4b2o4b2o4b2o4b2o$2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo$2bob 2o2bob2o2bob2o2bob2o2bob2o$2o4b2o4b2o4b2o4b2o4b2o$bob2o2bob2o2bob2o2b ob2o2bob2o2bo$o2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo$2o4b2o4b2o4b2o4b2o4b2o$ 2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo$2bob2o2bob2o2bob2o2bob2o2bob2o$6b2o4b2o 4b2o4b2o$3b2o2bob2o2bob2o2bob2o2bob2obo$4bobo2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo2bob2o $3bo2b2o4b2o4b2o4b2o$3b2o3b2obo2b2obo2b2obo$8bob2o2bob2o2bob2o! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 ZOOM 16 WIDTH 600 HEIGHT 500 ]]

26 × 32 unconstructible still life with population 334 (minimum bounding box) (click above to open LifeViewer) RLE: here Plaintext: here

x = 34, y = 28, rule = B3/S23 12b2o4b2o$12bo5bo$7b2o5bo5bo7b2o$6bobo4b2o4b2o4b2o2bo$2b2obo2bob2o2bob 2o2bob2o2bobo$2bob2obo2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo2b2o$7b2o4b2o4b2o4b2o3bo$3b2ob o2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo2b2o2bo$3bob2o2bob2o2bob2o2bob2o2bob3o$7b2o4b2o4b2o 4b2o$4b2o2bob2o2bob2o2bob2o2bob2o$4b2obo2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo2b2o$7b2o4b 2o4b2o4b2o5b2o$2b3obo2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo2bo$o2bob2o2bob2o2bob2o2b ob2o2bob3o$2o5b2o4b2o4b2o4b2o$4b2o2bob2o2bob2o2bob2o2bob2o$4b2obo2b2ob o2b2obo2b2obo2b2o$7b2o4b2o4b2o4b2o$2b3obo2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo$2bo 2b2o2bob2o2bob2o2bob2o2bob2o$3bo3b2o4b2o4b2o4b2o$4b2o2bob2o2bob2o2bob 2o2bob2obo$5bobo2b2obo2b2obo2b2obo2bob2o$4bo2b2o4b2o4b2o4bobo$4b2o7bo 5bo5b2o$15bo5bo$14b2o4b2o! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 ZOOM 16 WIDTH 600 HEIGHT 500 ]]

34 × 28 unconstructible still life with population 306 (minimum population) (click above to open LifeViewer) RLE: here Plaintext: here

Reduction

On September 4, 2023, 400spartans used Törmä and Salo's "gol-agars" search program to find several more self-forcing agar patches, including one that allowed for the creation of a 278-cell unsynthesizable still life.

x = 23, y = 31, rule = B3/S23 bo2bob2o2bo2bo2bo2bobo$3b2o4b2ob2ob2ob2o$b2o2bob2o2bo2bo2bo2bo$2bo2b2o bo2bo2bo2bo2b2o$3b2o4b2ob2ob2ob2o$bobo2b2obo2bo2bo2bo2bo6$bobo2b2obo2b o2bo2bo2bo$2o2bob2o2bo2bo2bo2bob2o$3b2o4b2ob2ob2ob2o$b2o2bob2o2bo2bo2b o2bobo$obo2b2obo2bo2bo2bo2b2o$3b2o4b2ob2ob2ob2o$2obo2b2obo2bo2bo2bo2b 2o$2o2bob2o2bo2bo2bo2bob2o$3b2o4b2ob2ob2ob2o$b2o2bob2o2bo2bo2bo2bobo$o bo2b2obo2bo2bo2bo2b2o$3b2o4b2ob2ob2ob2o$2obo2b2obo2bo2bo2bo2b2o$2o2bob 2o2bo2bo2bo2bob2o$3b2o4b2ob2ob2ob2o$b2o2bob2o2bo2bo2bo2bobo$obo2b2obo 2bo2bo2bo2b2o$3b2o4b2ob2ob2ob2o$2obo2b2obo2bo2bo2bo2b2o$bo2bob2o2bo2bo 2bo2bobo! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 ZOOM 16 WIDTH 600 HEIGHT 600 ]]

21 × 6 self-forcing agar found by 400spartans, and 23 × 20 self-forcing patch made from the agar (click above to open LifeViewer) RLE: here Plaintext: here

x = 31, y = 28, rule = B3/S23 12b2o$9bo3bo$4b2o3b4o13bo$4bo2b2o4b3o4b2o3bobo$5bobo2b2obo2bo2bo2bo2bo 2bo$4b2o2bob2o2bo2bo2bo2bob3o$3bo3b2o4b2ob2ob2ob2o$2bo2b2o2bob2o2bo2bo 2bo2bob2o$2b3obo2b2obo2bo2bo2bo2b2obo$7b2o4b2ob2ob2ob2o$4b2obo2b2obo2b o2bo2bo2b2o$4b2o2bob2o2bo2bo2bo2bob2o$7b2o4b2ob2ob2ob2o$2obob2o2bob2o 2bo2bo2bo2bob3o$ob3obo2b2obo2bo2bo2bo2b2obo2bo$7b2o4b2ob2ob2ob2o5b2o$ 4b2obo2b2obo2bo2bo2bo2b2o$4b2o2bob2o2bo2bo2bo2bob2o$7b2o4b2ob2ob2ob2o$ 3bob2o2bob2o2bo2bo2bo2bob3o$3b2obo2b2obo2bo2bo2bo2b2o2bo$7b2o4b2ob2ob 2ob2o3bo$2bob2obo2b2obo2bo2bo2bo2b2o$2b2obo2bob2o2bo2bo2bo2bobo$6bobo 4b2ob2ob2ob2obo$7b2o6bo2bo2bo2bo$15bobo2bo2bo$16bo4b2o! #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 THEME 6 GRID GRIDMAJOR 0 SUPPRESS THUMBLAUNCH ]] #C [[ THUMBSIZE 2 ZOOM 16 WIDTH 600 HEIGHT 600 ]]

31 × 28 unconstructible still life, stabilizing the 23 × 20 self-forcing patch (click above to open LifeViewer) RLE: here Plaintext: here

See also

• Grandfather problem

External links

• 374-cell unconstructible still life at Adam P. Goucher's Catagolue (by Ilkka Törmä)
• 306-cell unconstructible still life at Adam P. Goucher's Catagolue (by Oscar Cunningham)
• Adam P. Goucher. 29-year-old Conway conjecture settled. January 14, 2022.