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Entropy 2009, 11, 295-325; doi:10.3390/ OPEN ACCESS entropy ISSN 1099-4300 /journal/entropy Article A Universal Framework for Analysis of Self-Replication Phenomena Bryant Adams and Hod Lipson Department of Mathematics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA Department of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Wells College, Aurora, NY, USA Departments of Mechanical Aerospace Engineering, and Computing Information Science Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA; E-mail: hod.lipson@ Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-mail: badams@ Received: 24 March 2009 / Accepted: 19 June 2009 / Published: 22 June 2009 Abstract: In this paper, we propose definitions for a general, domain-independent concept of replicability and specifically focus on the notion of self-replication. We argue that self- replication should not be viewed as a binary property of a system, but rather as a continuously valued property of the interaction between a system and its environment. This property, self- replicability, represents the effect of the presence of a system upon the future presence of sim- ilar systems. We demonstrate both analytical and computational analysis of self-replicability for four distinct systems involving both discrete and continuous, formal and physical behav- iors. Keywords: self-replication; self-reproduction; automata 1. Overview and History Self-replication is a fundamental property of many interesting physical and formal systems, such as crystals, waves, automata, and life [ 1]. Despite its importance to