Max is a spacefiller that was found by David Bell in September 1993. It was at one time the smallest known spacefiller, but it has since been surpassed by spacefiller 1. Alternatively, the term Max may be used to describe whatever the smallest-known spacefiller is at the current time, the term representing the fact that the growth rate is the fastest possible of any pattern in Conway's Game of Life.[1][2]
Its population in generation t is [(t+19)2+463]/4 if t = 0 (mod 4), [(t+19)2+487]/4 if t = 2 (mod 4), and [(t+18)2+639]/4 if t is odd. The top and bottom stretchers were created by Hartmut Holzwart, size optimization and the left and right stretchers were created by David Bell, and the original idea, middle part, and left/right stretcher connection were created by Alan Hensel.[3]
