Results

The only major difference observed with these parameter settings was that the population size during Class 2 dynamics oscillated about the maximum of 2500, defined by the parameter max_cells_per_process, rather than in the lower region of 600-1000 individuals as seen in most other experiments. This was expected, as the higher energy levels allowed more programs to coexist. Runs 3, 4, 7 and 8 displayed Class 2 dynamics for their whole durations, whereas the other 5 runs switched to Class 1 dynamics at some point. The typical length of programs in these 5 runs during Class 1 dynamics was longer than observed in other experiments (ranging from approximately 1850 bits in Run 7 to 3800 bits in Run 2), which was again due to the increased energy levels.