CSCI 495 In-class Exercise 1

Question 1.

𝑓1(𝑥) = 1 if 𝑥1 = 1; 𝑓1(𝑥) = 0 otherwise.

𝑓2(𝑥) = 1 if 𝑥1 = 1 and 𝑥3 = 1; 𝑓2(𝑥) = 0 otherwise.
𝑓3(𝑥) = 1 if 𝑥3 = 0; 𝑓3(𝑥) = 0 otherwise.
𝑓4(𝑥) = 1 if 𝑥2 = 1; 𝑓4(𝑥) = 0 otherwise.
𝑓5(𝑥) = 1 if 𝑥3 = 1; 𝑓5(𝑥) = 0 otherwise.

Question 2.

𝑁
The maximum possible number of arcs in the state transition graph (𝑆 , 𝑅) for an sequential
dynamical system with 𝑁 = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and 𝑆 = {0, 1} is 16.
𝑓1(𝑥) = 1 if 𝑥1 = 1 and (𝑥2 ≠ 1 and 𝑥3 ≠ 1); 𝑓1(𝑥) = 0 otherwise.
𝑓2(𝑥) = 1 if 𝑥2 = 1 and (𝑥1 ≠ 1 and 𝑥3 ≠ 1); 𝑓2(𝑥) = 0 otherwise.
𝑓3(𝑥) = 1 if 𝑥3 = 1 and (𝑥1 ≠ 1 and 𝑥2 ≠ 1); 𝑓3(𝑥) = 0 otherwise.

Question 3.

𝑁
Attractor is defined as a non-empty set of configurations 𝑋 ⊆ 𝑆 for any sequential dynamical
𝑁
system 𝐷 = (𝑁, 𝑆, 𝑓). This set can be an attractor if, for all nodes 𝑣 ∈ 𝑋 and nodes 𝑤 ∈ 𝑆 ,
node 𝑤 is reachable from the node 𝑣 if and only if 𝑤 ∈ 𝑋. In other words, we have all 𝑣 ∈ 𝑋
𝑁 𝑁
and all 𝑤 ∈ 𝑆 . So, we know that 𝑋 ⊆ 𝑆 . Thus, 𝑤 ∈ 𝑋. And this will be an attractor. This
applies to all nodes in an arbitrary SDS. This means that if all nodes are reachable to each other,
they will belong to only one attractor. Hence, only one attractor is possible in a random SDS.
QED.

Question 4.

Figure 1. Interaction network (𝑁, 𝐴) of a sequential system 𝐷 with node set 𝑁 = {1, 2, 3}, where
𝐴 = {(1, 2), (2, 3)}
The node 2 is reachable to node 1, and the node 3 is reachable to node 2. Suppose that the node 1
belongs to the set of configurations 𝑋. According to the definition of the term “attractor”, if two
nodes are reachable to each other, and one of them is a part of a sequential dynamical system,
and another one belongs to the configuration set, then the first node will be inside of this set.
This applies to the node 2, and thus, it will be true for the node 3, as it is reachable to the
previous one. Consequently, there is exactly one attractor in the sequential system 𝐷. QED.