Jump to content

Network automaton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Pleasantville (talk | contribs) at 23:03, 23 January 2007. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

A network automaton (plural network automata) is a mathematical system consisting of a network of nodes that evolves over time according to predetermined rules. It is similar in concept to a cellular automaton, but much less studied.

Stephen Wolfram's book A New Kind of Science, which is primarily concerned with cellular automata, briefly discusses network automata, and suggests (without positive evidence) that the universe might at the very lowest level be a network automaton.