Beyond random walks, there are many other systems based on discrete components in which randomness at a microscopic level also leads to continuous behavior on a large scale. The picture below shows as one example what happens in a simple aggregation model.


Behavior of a simple aggregation model, in which a single new black cell is added at each step at a randomly chosen position adjacent to the existing cluster of black cells. The system is a version of the so-called Eden model. The shape obtained is ultimately an almost perfect circle.


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From Stephen Wolfram: A New Kind of Science [citation]