Traditional blockchains achieve consensus using centralized mechanisms.

Cellular automata and related systems make possible distributed mechanisms providing a new level of efficiency and robustness.

This conference explored the science and algorithms of distributed consensus with cellular automata and related systems.

Will consensus always be reached? How long will it take? How much effect will random errors have? Can errors be arranged to corrupt the result? What effect does connectivity pattern have? What if nodes or connections have weights? What about dynamic connectivity? What about asynchronous updating? What can be rigorously proved?

This conference was of interest to those interested in the leading edge of blockchain algorithms and their connection to areas such as physics, complex systems, discrete mathematics and computation theory.

Topics & approaches involved:

  • Graph Cellular Automata
  • Probabilistic Cellular Automata
  • Fault-Tolerant Cellular Automata
  • Voter Models
  • Directed Percolation
  • Spin Systems
  • Phase Transitions
  • Byzantine Attacks
  • Statistical Physics
  • Discrete Mathematics
  • Computational Experiments
  • Computation Theory
  • Dynamical Systems Theory
  • Distributed Algorithms
  • Randomized Algorithm
  • Adaptive Algorithms
  • Automated Theorem Proving
  • Error Correction ....

Invited Speakers

Stephen Wolfram
Stephen Wolfram (Keynote) Founder & CEO, Wolfram Research Applying Discoveries from the Computational Universe to Distributed Consensus
Pedro Paulo Balbi
Pedro Paulo Balbi Professor at the School of Computing and Informatics, Mackenzie University (Brazil) On Two Benchmark Decision Problems in Cellular Automata Related to Achieving Consensus
Veronica Estrada-Galinanes
Vero Estrada-Galiñanes Associate Professor of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger (Norway/Switzerland) Towards Dependability in Decentralized Storage Systems
Eric Goles
Eric Goles Professor of Theoretical Computer Science, Adolfo Ibañez University (Chile) Dynamic and Complexity of Majority Networks
William Sanders
William Sanders Director of Research, IOTA Foundation Binary Voting Protocols in Distributed Ledger Technologies
Aaron Schutza
Aaron Schutza Director of Research, Topl (USA) Taktikos: A Regularized Proof-of-Stake Protocol
Emin Gun Sirer
Emin Gün Sirer Founder & CEO, AVA LabsAssociate Professor of Computer Science, Cornell University (USA) Open and Programmable Finance with Avalanche