- Hi there. I'm a math prof at the University of Wisconsin - Madison whose
research these days focuses on self-organization of random cellular automata.
For the past ten years or so I have been producing colorful computer
graphics and animations that illustrate the ability of local parallel update rules to generate spatial structure from disordered initial states. My work has
appeared in numerous books and periodicals, including Nonlinear Science
Today and Scientific American. Some of my cellular automaton (CA)
rules have been featured in the simulation packages CA-LAB and James
Gleick's Chaos: The Software. This home page is intended to provide a
gallery of my images and movies, as well as links to software that allows you
to design your own. (For best viewing, there are a few Browser Issues.)
- It's tempting to think of self-organization as evolution from
primordial soup. Machines that orchestrate such dynamics are sometimes called mixmasters. I use both garden-variety PCs and dedicated Cellular
Automaton Machines (CAMs) as mixmasters. Since my other great fixation
in life is gastronomy (witness the important 3-letter word hidden in my
Welsh last name), this site is laid out as a kitchen.
- The current components are as follows:
-
What's Cooking?
A chronicle of the most recent PSK happenings. Look here
for the latest images, animations, recipes, and links. I am currently
adding much more dynamic interaction to the Kitchen -- it's especially
fun for you to be sous chef and taste the results.;
The PSK 2000 Calendar
Some my favorite CA creations from the past 12 years as monthly calendars.
Available in two versions: a smaller one for viewing online (about 100 K per month), and a larger one for ink-jet printing of full-page monthly calendars (about 300 K each).
-
CAffeine: a Java CA page
The place to check out our growing library of cross-platform animations,
with links to other CA-related sites that feature Java applets;
-
The Pepper Mill
Downloadable sample CA wallpaper designs generated by our now defunct experimental
Wall Pepper Java applet
-
Lagniappe: some extra CA morsels
A collection of reports on sundry topics from the theory and
application of cellular automata and interacting particle systems;
-
The Kitchen Shelf
An archive of CA 'soups' and 'recipes,' posted from
November 1994 through October 1996, arranged by season, and featuring
two 'greatest hits' pages:
Specialties I and
Specialties II.
Each soup is a 256-color gif based on recent research.
The corresponding recipe describes a soup's update rule,
and provides additional info about how the image was produced.
Most recipe pages include a small envelope icon at the upper right
corner of their thumbnail graphics. Clicking on a thumbnail loads
the corresponding soup, whereas clicking on the envelope loads our
POSTCARD SERVER which lets you include Kitchen soups
with personal messages to your friends;
-
The Kitchen Sink
A list of Web links to downloadable software, and other pages related to
Cellular Automata, Complex Systems, Random Interaction, Artificial Life,
or just stuff I think is cool;
-
Search
A search engine with Boolean options for finding any topic discussed
in the Kitchen, together with a clickable drop-down list of locations
not accessible from the main menu bar;
-
Guestbook
A place to leave Food for Thought you would like to share with
me, or with other visitors. You can sign in here;
-
Kitchen Kudos
Some of the recognition PSK has received;
-
The Chef's Page
Convenient links to the
chef's email and the
Guestbook. There are also subtle links to a cookbook of my favorite
Real Recipes,
and to a Family Photo Album.
-
The Chef's Vita
A hypertext Curriculum Vitae with my academic profile, publication list, and
links to downloadable versions of several of my papers on cellular automata.
Included are some relatively accessible Survey
Papers as well as more recent Research
Publications.
- Note that you can fetch the full-size graphic for each main PSK
page by clicking on its thumbnail version. These are taken from a set of actual Particle Postcards which I produced about ten years ago.
-
- The occasional soup bowl takes you to a random page in the Kitchen, and the spiral below leads either back home or 'up' a level.
- Thanks for trying my cooking!
 -
David Griffeath, University of Wisconsin Mathematics
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