Cellular automata were introduced in the first half of the last century by John von Neumann who used them as theoretical models for self-reproducing machines. The authors present a self-contained exposition of the theory of cellular automata on groups and explore its deep connections with recent developments in geometric group theory, symbolic dynamics, and other branches of mathematics and theoretical computer science. The topics treated include in particular the Garden of Eden theorem for amenable groups, and the Gromov-Weiss surjunctivity theorem as well as the solution of the Kaplansky conjecture on the stable finiteness of group rings for sofic groups. The volume is entirely self-contained, with 10 appendices and more than 300 exercises, and appeals to a large audience including specialists as well as newcomers in the field. It provides a comprehensive account of recent progress in the theory of cellular automata based on the interplay between amenability, geometric and combinatorial group theory, symbolic dynamics and the algebraic theory of group rings which are treated here for the first time in book form.

first and unique book dedicated to cellular automata and groups 90% of the material presented appears for a first time entirely self-contained with more than 300 exercises appeals to a large audience including specialists as well as newcomers in the field Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext

Tullio Ceccherini-Silberstein graduated from the University of Rome La Sapienza in 1990 and obtained his PhD in mathematics from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1994. Since 1997 he has taught at the University of Sannio, Benevento (Italy). His main interests include harmonic and functional analysis, geometric and combinatorial group theory, ergodic theory and dynamical systems, and theoretical computer science. He is an editor of the journal Groups, Geometry, and Dynamics, published by the European Mathematical Society. He has published more than 90 research papers, 9 monographs, and 4 conference proceedings. Professor Michel Coornaert taught mathematics at the University of Strasbourg from 1992 until 2021. His research interests are in geometry, topology, group theory and dynamical systems. He is the author of many Springer volumes, including Topological Dimension and Dynamical Systems (2015), Cellular Automata and Groups (2010), Symbolic Dynamics and Hyperbolic Groups (1993) and Géométrie et théorie des groupes (1990).

Inhalt
Cellular Automata.- Residually Finite Groups.- Surjunctive Groups.- Amenable Groups.- The Garden of Eden Theorem.- Finitely Generated Amenable Groups.- Local Embeddability and Sofic Groups.- Linear Cellular Automata.- Nets and the Tychonoff Product Theorem.- Uniform Structures.- Symmetric Groups.- Free Groups.- Inductive Limits and Projective Limits of Groups.- The Banach-Alaoglu Theorem.- The Markov-Kakutani Fixed Point Theorem.- The Hall Harem Theorem.- Complements of Functional Analysis.- Ultrafilters.