Wolfram's 2-state 3-symbol Turing Machine
In his book A New Kind of Science, Stephen Wolfram described a universal 2-state 5-color Turing machine, and conjectured that a particular 2-state 3-color Turing machine (hereinafter (2,3) Turing machine) might be universal as well.
On May 14, 2007, Wolfram announced a $25,000 prize to be won by the first person to prove or disprove the universality of the (2,3) Turing machine. According to Wolfram, the purpose of the prize was to encourage research to help answer foundational questions associated with the structure of what he calls the "computational universe". On 24 October 2007, it was announced that the prize had been won by Alex Smith, a student in electronics and computing at the University of Birmingham.
Read more about Wolfram's 2-state 3-symbol Turing Machine: Description, Proof of Universality, See Also
Famous quotes containing the word machine:
“... in the fierce competition of modern society the only class left in the country possessing leisure is that of women supported in easy circumstances by husband or father, and it is to this class we must look for the maintenance of cultivated and refined tastes, for that value and pursuit of knowledge and of art for their own sakes which can alone save society from degenerating into a huge machine for making money, and gratifying the love of sensual luxury.”
—Mrs. H. O. Ward (1824–1899)