Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • The Language of Fractals

    Uploaded by

    Héctor Peña
    123 views8 pages
    Fractals are mathematical figures that have fractional dimension rather than the integral dimensions of familiar geometric figures. Peitgen, jurgens, and Saupe have created a laboratory for experuntal mathematics within the institute for DI'namlcal systems at the university of Bremen.

    Original Description:

    Copyright

    © Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)

    Available Formats

    PDF or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document
    Fractals are mathematical figures that have fractional dimension rather than the integral dimensions of familiar geometric figures. Peitgen, jurgens, and Saupe have created a laboratory for experuntal mathematics within the institute for DI'namlcal systems at the university of Bremen.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf
    123 views8 pages

    The Language of Fractals

    Uploaded by

    Héctor Peña
    Fractals are mathematical figures that have fractional dimension rather than the integral dimensions of familiar geometric figures. Peitgen, jurgens, and Saupe have created a laboratory for experuntal mathematics within the institute for DI'namlcal systems at the university of Bremen.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf
    of 8
    The Language of Fractals These unimaginably detailed structures are more than mathematical curiosities. Fractal geometry succinctly de: ‘cribes complex natural objects and process ‘by Hartmut Jiirgens, Heinz-Otto Peitgen and Dietmar Saupe “Nature has played a joke om math: ematicians. The 19th-century mathe. ‘maticians may have been lacking in Imagination, but nature was not. The same pathological structures that the ‘mathematicians invented to break loose from 19th-century naturalism turned ‘out to be inherent in faraiiar objects ail around us.” FREEMAN DYSON “Charaeterizing teregularity,” Science, May 12, 1978 T he “pathological structures” con: jured up by 19th-century mathe- maticians have, in recent years, taken the form of fractals, mathemat ical figures that have fractional di- mension rather than the integral di- mensions of familiar geometric figures {such as one-dimensional lines or two- dimensional planes). The current fasci nation with fractals is largely a resalt ‘af the work of Benoit B. Mandelbrot of the IBM Thomas }. Watson Research, Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. Man: delbrot coined the term fractal in 1975; he derived the word from the Latin | HARTMUT JORGENS, MEINZ-OTTO PEITGEN and DIETMAR SAUPE collab: orate on the mathematics of complex dynamical systems, fractals and com Duter graphics at the Institute for Dy namical systems at the University of Bremen, They have created 3 laboratory for experimental mathematics. within the insltute. Peitgen received a Ph.D. {in mathematics from the University of Bonn in 1973. He is professor of mathe matics at the University of Bremen and also visiting professor at the University Of California, Santa Cruz. His work has focused on nonlinear analysis and di. ferential equations, numerical methods, ‘dynamical systems and fractals. Saupe and Jurgens earned their Ph.D.'s in ‘mathematics at the University of Bre ‘men in 1982 and 1983, respectively Saupe is assistant professor of mathe ‘mates, Jurgens director of the group's laboratory. fractus, the adjectival form of fran- gere, or “to break." The concept of fractals exploded into the conscious- ness of mathematicians, scientists and ‘he lay public in 1983, when Mandel- bror’s ground-breaking book, The Frac- tal Geometry of Nature, was published. Fractals are much more than a math: ematical curiosity, They offer an ex- tremely compact method for describ ing objects and formations. Many struc- tures have an underlying geometric regularity, known as scale invariance of self-similarity. If one examines these objects at different size scales, one re- peatedly encounters the same funda- ‘mental elements. The repetitive pattern defines the fractional, or fractal, di- ‘mension of the structure, Fractal geom- etry seems to describe natural shapes and forms more gracefully and suc cinctly than does Euclidean geometry. Scale invariance has a noteworthy parallel in contemporary chaos theo- 15, ‘which reveals that many phenom- ena, ever though they follow strict deterministic rules, are in principle unpredictable. Chaotic events, such as turbulence in the atmosphere or the beating of a human heart, show similar patterns of variation on different time scales, much as scale invariant objects show similar structural patterns on dif ferent spatial scales. The correspon dence between fractals and chaos is no accident, Rather itis @ symptom of a deep-rooted relation: fractal geometry is the geometry of chaos, ‘THREE-DIMENSIONAL renderings of the ‘Mandelbrot set have been used to study ‘this fascinating, complex fractal struc- ture. The map shows the electric poten- tial surrounding ax electrically charged Mandelbrot set. The eerie similarity be- ‘tween the Mandelbrot set and features in the real world points to the preva: lence of fractallike structures through: ‘out nature. The image is taken from a ‘computer-animated videotape produced by the authors and their colleagues. 60 SCHENTINC AMERICAN August 1990 Another parallel between fractal ge ‘ometry and chaos theory lies in the fact that recent discoveries in both fields have been made possible by pow: erful modern computers. This devel ‘opment challenges the traditional con- ception of mathematics. Many math: ematicians have greeted computers with a sense of rejuvenation and libera- tion, but others view them as a rejec tion of pure mathematics, ractals are first and foremost a Tanguage of geometry. Yet their most basic elements cannot be viewed directly. In this aspect they dif- fer fundamentally from the familiar el ements of Euclidean geometry, such a the line and circle, Fractals are ex: pressed not in primary shapes but in algorithms, sets of mathematical pro cedures. These algorithms are translat ced into geometric forms with the aid of ‘a computer. The supply of algorithmic elements is inexhaustibly large. Once fone has a command of the fractal lan guage, one can describe the shape of a cloud as precisely and simply as an ae PRIDE slid 4 wane. architect might describe a house with blueprints that use the language of tra: ditional geometry. Language is an apt metaphor for the ideas that underlie fractal geometry Indo-European languages are based on a finite alphabet (the 26 letters from which English words are construct ed, for instance). Letters do not carry meaning unless they are strung togeth cr into words, Euclidean geometry’ like: wise consists of only a few elements (ine, circle and so on) from which complex objects can be constructed. These objects, ina sense, only then have geometric meaning. Asian languages such as Manda- rin Chinese are made up of symbols that themselves embody meaning. The number of possible symbols or ele- ‘ments in these languages Is arbitrarily large and can be considered infinite wae sient oe Fractal geometry is constructed in much the same way. It is made up of {infinitely many elements, each. com plete and unique. The geometric ele ‘ments are defined by algorithms, which function as units of “meaning” in the fractal language. here are two main fractal Jan: guage groups: linear and nonlin- ar. Both are spoken using an in- tinite number of algorithms and there fore encompass an infinite number of possible fractal images. The language of nonlinear fractals Is far richer and more varied, however. Most dialects fol low a deterministic set of rules (anal ogous to spelling and grammar). One family of fractals, called random frac tals, differs in that it is assembled by Incorporating controlled randomness. Linear fractal geometry is the most PLE-REDUCTION COPYING MACHINE performs a feedback loop that creates a fractal form. Several lenses transform an arbitrary initial image (input) into ‘a new image (output) that is a collage of reduced copies of the input. The output image basic dialect of the fractal language. These fractals are described as bnear because their algorithms have the same form as those that define lines in a plane (in mathematical jargon, they in- corporate only first-order terms). The linear algorithms can be ex plored with the ald of an imaginary im- age duplicator—the multiple reduction copying machine [see illustration above), This is a metaphor for the beautiful work of John E. Hutchinson, a mathe COPYING MACHINE: SIERPINSK! COPYING MACHINE: LEAF —>| 0 | Ot &) pre AO eee >

    You might also like