The multidimensional unique-active-transition idempotency conjecture

Let dZ+d\in\mathbb{Z}_+, and let τ:AZdAZd\tau:A^{\mathbb{Z}^d}\to A^{\mathbb{Z}^d} be a cellular automaton with a unique active transition pASp\in A^S, where SZdS\subset\mathbb{Z}^d is any finite subset such that 0S0\in S. For tSt\in S, set

U:=S(t+S).U:=S\cap(t+S).

Unique-active-transition idempotency conjecture. The automaton τ\tau is not idempotent if and only if there exists tSt\in S such that

p(t)p(e)andpU{t}=p(t+U){0}.p(t)\neq p(e)\quad\text{and}\quad p\vert_{U\setminus\{t\}}=p_{(-t+U)\setminus\{0\}}.

This conjecture would generalize the paper's characterization from one-dimensional cellular automata with interval neighborhoods to arbitrary finite neighborhoods and to cellular automata in every positive dimension. Its status is unresolved in the supplied source.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Alonso Castillo-Ramirez, Maria G. Magaña-Chavez and Luguis de los Santos Baños, “One-dimensional cellular automata with a unique active transition”, arXiv:2411.03601 (2025).

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