Margolus neighborhood

noun

A block cellular automaton neighborhood consisting of a two-by-two square of cells which shifts one cell diagonally each generation.

Meanings

nounMargolus neighborhood (plural Margolus neighborhoods)

plural Margolus neighborhoods · alternative Margolus neighbourhood

  1. cellular automataA block cellular automaton neighborhood consisting of a two-by-two square of cells which shifts one cell diagonally each generation.

    Another thing which seems to work very well is embodied in the Margolus neighborhood, for which different rules are operative at different points in the lattice, and even at different times.

    1992 March 30, Harold V. McIntosh, “1) What kind of tilings? 2) CAM family.”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet)
    2 more examples

    In addition to Moore, Von Neuman and Margolus neighborhoods, the spatial, temporal (phase) and user connector extensions of CAM-PC provide for a large number of different neighborhoods. In this sense, a simple neighborhood is actually a selection of up to 16 of the 50 to 100 signals (depending on what you count) that are available.

    1992 March 16, CAM-PC Support Staff, “CAM, CAM-6, CAM\PC boards.”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet)

    For any one interested in CA's in general or in simulations that require the conservatin laws of the Margolus neighborhood in particular I've managed to devise a method for duplicating all the properties of the Margolus neighborhood without the paritioning and without the block rules.

    2003 March 15, fiziwig, “New formulation of the Margolus neighborhood”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet)

Origin

For Norman Margolus, Canadian-American cellular automatist

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Margolus neighborhood. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Margolus%20neighborhood

MLA

“Margolus neighborhood.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Margolus%20neighborhood. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Margolus neighborhood,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Margolus%20neighborhood.

Source: Margolus neighborhood on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.