Application of Cellular Automata Algorithms to the Parallel Simulation of Laser Dynamics

In this chapter we review the use of a biologically inspired heuristic technique— cellular automata (CA)—as a problem solver for one of the most paradigmatic complex systems: the laser. CAs are a class of mathematical system that can be used to model spatiotemporal phenomena, characterized by the discreteness of all of its variables: space, time, and normally state variables. An important property of CAs is their intrinsic parallel character. Therefore, they are specially well suited to be implemented very efficiently on parallel computers.