Boolean logic by convective obstacle flows.

ABSTRACT: We present a potential new mode of natural computing in which simple, heat-driven fluid flows perform Boolean logic operations. The system comprises a two-dimensional single-phase fluid that is heated from below and cooled from above, with two obstacles placed on the horizontal mid-plane. The obstacles remove all vertical momentum that flows into them. The horizontal momentum extraction of the obstacles is controlled in a binary fashion, and constitutes the 2-bit input. The output of the system is a thresholded measure of the energy extracted by the obstacles. Due to the existence of multiple attractors in the phase space of this system, the input-output relationships are equivalent to those of the OR, XOR or NAND gates, depending on the threshold and obstacle separation. The ability to re

SUBMITTER: Bartlett SJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6735482 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature