arXiv:2409.20341cs.FL
Conway's cosmological theorem and automata theory
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Abstract
John Conway proved that every audioactive sequence (a.k.a. look-and-say) decays into a compound of 94~elements, a statement he termed the cosmological theorem. The underlying audioactive process can be modeled by a finite-state machine, mapping one sequence of integers to another. Leveraging automata theory, we propose a new proof of Conway's theorem based on a few simple machines, using a computer to compose and minimize them.
Oh hey, I tried to drum up some interest in a recent submission too. A 2024 connection to automata theory here: https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.20341 And there's code too: https://github.com/AleksandrStorozhenko/ConwayTransducer
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