Puffers
Puffer Orbits
Puffers
Jason Summers has investigated puffer train variants and found some new ones. The strategy was to take a known puffer and add random bits behind it. He calls them "orbits", a term from Chaos Theory where oscillating systems stabilize into a predictable state. The puffers here are referred to by their period and the number of bits added per cycle.
| Switch Engine | ||
|---|---|---|
| P288+32 | 8 Block | 71% |
| P384+59 | Forward Glider | 29% |
He also investigated a number of other puffers. For a single Switch Engine, only the two known variants appeared. Several other puffers, including the Schick Engine, the P16 Coe Ship, and others, produced no new variations.
In the following tables, the percentages are approximate, intended to illustrate how common or rare a particular puffer might be. The bit patterns are not the actual puffer, but a simpler pattern which will eventually evolve into the puffer.
The first puffer presented here is a single B Heptomino supported by a pair of
Lightweight Spaceships. This was the first variety of puffer
train discovered by William Gosper in 1971 (P140+440). It was only during this survey that Summers discovered a
simple spaceship version, featured in a previous posting, was found.
| P140+440 | 83.6% |
| P100+210 | 16.2% |
| P20+359 | 0.16% |
| P100+56 | 0.05% |
| 32P20H10V0 | 0.015% |
| P200+195 | 0.015% |
| P100+98 | trace |
The next set of puffers are based on the Twin-B Heptomino puffers. The most common one
produces the 14 bit Bookends stable object, and was also
discovered by William Gosper.
| P128+26 | 99.77% |
| P256+545 | 0.105% |
| P256+743 | 0.055% |
| P32+34 | 0.042% |
| P256+525 | 0.022% |
| P256+386 | 0.004% |
| P128+240 | trace |
Another set of puffers are based on the 59P4H2V0 Spaceship discovered by Hartmut Holzwart.
| P64+20 | 97.2% |
| P128+92 | 2.3% |
| 59P4H2V0.1 | 0.40% |
| P144+123 | 0.05% |
| P624+633 | 0.003% |
| P96+113 | 0.001% |