Salo–Törmä question on the Game of Life limit set

Let F:{0,1}Z2→{0,1}Z2F:\{0,1\}^{\mathbb{Z}^2}\to\{0,1\}^{\mathbb{Z}^2} be the global map of Conway's Game of Life, and let X={x∈{0,1}Z2:∀n≥0 ∃y∈{0,1}Z2 such that Fn(y)=x}X=\{x\in\{0,1\}^{\mathbb{Z}^2}:\forall n\ge 0\ \exists y\in\{0,1\}^{\mathbb{Z}^2}\text{ such that }F^n(y)=x\} be its limit set. Is the translation action of Z2\mathbb{Z}^2 on XX topologically transitive? Equivalently, for every pair of finite patterns pp and qq that each occur in some configuration of XX, does there exist a configuration x∈Xx\in X and a translation vector v∈Z2v\in\mathbb{Z}^2 such that xx contains pp and also contains qq translated by vv?

Equivalent formulations 1Other wordings

Other statements of this same problem, merged from separate entries. Each is equivalent to the statement above — proving any one settles them all.

  1. Finite-pattern co-occurrence formulation

    For any two finite patterns that each occur in the Game of Life limit set, there should exist a single limit-set configuration in which both patterns occur, at some relative position.

    source: The Ultimate Fate of Life Is Not Shared

References

Primary source

arXiv

Additional references

Progress summary

Refreshed
Claimed solved

A new paper claims that two kinds of repeating behavior can never coexist in any long-term Game of Life pattern, which would settle the question negatively.

The Salo–Törmä question asks whether the Game of Life limit set is topologically transitive.

Claimed non-transitivity result

Ziyue Gan, Ziran Li, and Jiadong Zhu report that two locally recurrent patterns are globally incompatible in every limit-set configuration, proving that the Game of Life limit set is not topologically transitive. The claim appears in The Ultimate Fate of Life Is Not Shared and remains unverified.

Current status (as of September 2026): a negative resolution is claimed in a preprint, but the result has not been independently verified; no other confirmed resolution was found.

Sources

Solutions 0

No solutions have been posted yet.