Stator
The stator on an oscillator refers to its cells that are alive during all of its phases. Sometimes the stator is taken to include also some of the cells that are always off.
Bushing, casing and frame
The bushing of an oscillator is the part of the stator that is adjacent to the rotor. The rest of the stator is known as the casing; alternatively, cells within the zone of influence of the rotor may be referred to as the casing, with the rest of the oscillator called the frame.[1] This article uses the former convention.
An arbitrary number of more or less trivial variations of an oscillator can usually be constructed by modifying the casing (e.g. bipole → bipole on ship, or block on griddle vs. beehive on griddle), while the bushing will not necessarily allow for any tampering (e.g. the bushing of a caterer consists of three isolated cells inside the stator).
Independence of rotor and stator
In some cases a rotor that requires a stator can be stabilized with several different stators. Simple examples include the pair of clock and quad, or the triple of blinker, bipole and snake pit. Two large families are orthogonal on-offs (exemplified by oscillators such as spark coil and test tube baby; these have identical bushing however), and diagonal on-offs (exemplified by oscillators such as beacon, 1 beacon and eater plug).
Similarly, a stator can in some cases support more than one rotor: an example is the 3-by-4 billiard table in Hertz oscillator and negentropy.
Image gallery
![]() A blinker's stator consists of its central cell. |
![]() Billiard table configuration oscillators frequently require induction coils, such as the covers surrounding this scrubber, as a part of their casing. |
References
- "Game of Life Dictionary". Pentadecathlon.com. Retrieved on 2016-10-02.