Applications of Cellular Automata: Attractors and Fractals in Analytical Chemistry
Abstract
A cellular automation is a discrete dynamic system of simple construction, yet capable of exhibiting complex self-organizing behavior. A cellular automaton can be used to model differential systems by assuming that time and space are quantized, and that the dependent variable takes on a finite set of possible values. Cellular-automation behavior falls into four distinct universality classes, analogous to 1) limit points, 2) limit cycles, 3) chaotic attractors (fractals), and 4) universal computers. The behavior of members of each of these four classes is explored in the context of digital spectral filtering. The utility of class 2 behavior in experimental data analysis is demonstrated with a laboratory example. Cellular automata have contributed much to computer graphics, and they have much to contribute to chemistry and other sciences as well. Major changes in parallel processing and the implementation and role of pattern recognition are now underway. The cellular-automation model suggests that more than just the process sensors used in pattern-recognition methods can benefit from simplification: the computers, and even the calculations themselves, can benefit from a union of simplification and parallelism. Future work, particularly in the area of parallel algorithms and the design of instruments optimized for use with such algorithms, will open up a range of applications that have yet to be imagined. Keywords: Fractal mathematics; Chemometrics.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 11, 1988
- Accession Number
- ADA197526
Entities
People
- Gary M. Hieftje
- Mark Selby
- Robert A. Lodder
Organizations
- Indiana University