The Topological Structures of Membrane Computing

Issue title: Membrane Computing (WMC-CdeA2001)

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Giavitto, Jean-Louis | Michel, Olivier

Affiliations: LaMI, umr 8042 CNRS – University of Evry, Tour Evry 2, 523 Place des terasses de l'Agora, 91000 Evry, FRANCE

Abstract: In its initial presentation, the P system formalism describes the topology of the membranes as a set of nested regions. In this paper, we present an algebraic structure developped in combinatorial topology that can be used to describe finer adjacency relationships between membranes. Using an appropriate abstract setting, this technical device enables us to reformulate also the computation within a membrane and proposes a unified view on several computational mechanisms initially inspired by biological processes. These theoretical tools are instantiated in MGS, an experimental programming language handling various types of membrane structures in a homogeneous and uniform syntax.

Keywords: membrane computing, Gamma, CHAM, P system, L system, cellular automata, group based fields, rewriting, topological collection, declarative programming language

Journal: Fundamenta Informaticae, vol. 49, no. 1-3, pp. 123-145, 2002