Mainzer K., Chua L. The Universe as Automaton. From Simplicity and Symmetry to Complexity

Springer 2012. — 108 p. — (Springer Briefs in Complexity 1). — ISBN: 978-3-642-23477-4, 978-3-642-23476-7.This Brief is an essay at the interface of philosophy and complexity research, trying to inspire the reader with new ideas and new conceptual developments of cellular automata. Going beyond the numerical experiments of Steven Wolfram, it is argued that cellular automata must be considered complex dynamical systems in their own right, requiring appropriate analytical models in order to find precise answers and predictions in the universe of cellular automata.
Indeed, eventually we have to ask whether cellular automata can be considered models of the real world and, conversely, whether there are limits to our modern approach of attributing the world, and the universe for that matter, essentially a digital reality.Introduction: Leibniz, Turing, Zuse, and Beyond
Simplicity in the Universe of Cellular Automata
Complexity in the Universe of Cellular Automata
Symmetry in the Universe of Cellular Automata
Attractors in the Universe of Cellular Automata
Time in the Universe of Cellular Automata
Matter in the Universe of Cellular Automata
Life and Brain in the Universe of Cellular Automata
Outlook: Is the Universe a Computer?