SUBAPICAL L-SYSTEMS
Date
1995-03-01
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Abstract
This paper characterizes the development of modular branching
structures that satisfy three assumptions: (a) subapical
branching, meaning that new branches can be created only near the
apices of the existing branches, (b) finite number of module
types and states, and (c) absence of interactions between
coexisting components of the growing structure. These assumptions
are captured in the notion of subapical bracketed deterministic
L-systems without interactions (sBDOL-systems). We present the
biological rationale for sBDOL-systems and prove that it is
decidable whether a given BDOL-system is subapical or not. In
addition, using the assumption that modules, once created, continue
to exist, we show that (propagating) sBDOL-sytems are too weak to
generate acrotonic and mesotonic branching structures which are
often observed in nature. Their development must therefore be
controlled by more involved mechanisms, overriding at least one of
the assumptions (a-c) above.
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Computer Science