Stable

A pattern is said to be stable if it is a still life or consists of still lifes; in other words, it is a parent of itself. For example, a stable reflector is a reflector that is a period-1 pattern.

Period 1 is often abbreviated p1 connoting stable. In the context of logic circuitry, this tends to mean that a mechanism is constructed from Herschel conduits that contain only still lifes as catalysts.

Alternatively, a pattern is stable if all future generations can be predicted without evolving the pattern any further (trivially, a still life fits this definition). This includes patterns which evolve to stationary ash and optional spaceships escaping to infinity on non-interacting paths.

A pattern becomes stable at time T if it conforms to the above definition at time T.

A pattern is unstable if it does not fit the above definition.

Pattern B (the stabilizer) is said to stabilize unstable pattern A if, when A and B are properly positioned, the resulting pattern is stable. This is known as a stabilization of A. For example, a shillelagh (B) stabilizes an unstable house (A), producing the house siamese shillelagh still life, which is a stabilzation of house.

External links

• Dave Greene (August 19, 2022). Re: Thread for basic questions (discussion thread) at the ConwayLife.com forums