Evolutionary Discovery of Arbitrary Self-replicating Structures

Abstract

Abstract. In this paper we describe our recent use of genetic programming methods to automatically discover CA rule sets that produce self-replication of arbitrary given structures. Our initial results have produced larger, more rapidly replicating structures than past evolutionary models while requiring only a small fraction of the computational time needed in past similar studies. We conclude that genetic programming provides a very powerful tool for discovering novel CA models of self-replicating systems and possibly other complex systems.