FRACTALS

FRACTALS
WHAT ARE FRACTALS?

A fractal is a mathematical object that is both self-
similar and chaotic.
self-similar: As you magnify, you see the object
over and over again in its parts.
chaotic: Fractals are infinitely complex.

A fractal is a never-ending pattern. They are
created by repeating a simple process over and
over in an ongoing feedback loop.
The first fractals were discovered by a french
Mathematician named Gaston Julia who discovered
them decades before the advent of computer graphics.
Julias work was rediscovered by Benoit Mandelbrot.
The most famous of all fractals is the Julias work was
rediscovered by Benoit Mandelbrot. The most famous of
all fractals is the Mandelbrot set.


Mandelbrot set
EXAMPLE
EXAMPLE
A tree is fractal. It has a few large branches, some
medium-sized branches, and very many small
branches.
A tree is self-similar: The little branches are smaller
copies of the larger branches. There is a scaling:
The length and thickness of each branch depends
on which branch we measure.
There is no average size of a branch: The greater
the number of smaller branches we include, the
smaller is the average length and thickness.
EXAMPLE
Lightning is fractal
Cloud is fractal


FRACTAL OBJECTS: PROPERTIES


(a) self-similarity
Exactly the same structures
repeat all over the fractal
zoom in
and rescale

zoom in
and rescale

(b) scale invariance:
there is no typical
size of objects
length scale
Sierpinsky:
contains triangles of
all possible sizes
apart from practical limitations:
- size of the entire object
- finite number of iterations (resolution)

Scale invariance
1m
SELF-SIMILAR
Self-similarity is patterns, within patterns, within
patterns, so that you see complex detail at all
scales of observation, all generated by an iterative
process.
The closer we zoom in the more the detail we see
and we see similar patterns repeated again and
again. This is Self Similarity.
Similarities at all scales of observation
Patterns, within patterns, within patterns



SELF-SIMILARITY IN NATURE


Identical/similar
structures repeat
over a wide range
of length scales

SELF-SIMILARITY IN ART


Mosaic from the cathedral of Anagni / Italy
SELF-SIMILARITY IN COMPUTER GRAPHICS

An artificial, fractal landscape
SELF-SIMILARITY IN PHYSICS


Clusters of Pt atoms Diffusion limited aggregation
SELF-SIMILAR TIME SERIES


heart beat intervals
medicine:
FRACTAL OBJECTS: ITERATIVE CONSTRUCTION


Initialization: one filled triangle
The Sierpinsky construction
Remove an upside-down
triangle from the centre of
every filled triangle
Iteration step:
Repeat the step .
( 3 )
The fractal is defined in the mathematical limit of
infinitely many iterations.

FRACTAL VS. INTEGER DIMENSION


Embedding dimension d

in a d-dimensional space:
d numbers specify a point
x
y
Dimension (of an object) D
in a d-dimensional space,
all objects have a dimension D d
Fractal dimensions are never whole numbers.

Example: d=2
D=1
D=2
D=0

intuitive: length, area, volume
rescale by
a factor b
length s
b s
b
2
A
area A

intuitive: length, area, volume
rescale by
a factor b
length s
b
2
A
area A
b
1
s
D

working definition of dimension D:
- object Q, embedded in a d-dimensional space
- measure aspect A(Q), e.g. perimeter, area, volume,
A(Q) = A
1
in the original space
A(Q) = A
b
after rescaling all d directions by b

- compare results
D
1 b
b A / A
dimension D of aspect A(Q)
Self-similarity dimension = log( number of pieces )
log( magnification factor )
(or)
) b log(
) A / A log(
D
1 b

b=2
aspect: black area
D
1 b
2 3 A / A
585 . 1
) 2 log(
) 3 log(
D
more than a line less than an area

initialization: 3 lines forming a triangle
another (famous) example: Koch islands
iteration: replace every straight line
by a, e.g. a spike
first iteration:

Koch island:
WHAT IS THE FRACTAL DIMENSION OF THE
KOCH SNOWFLAKE ?


Koch island:
scale by
factor b=3
length s
length 4 s
D
1 b
3 4 A / A
2619 . 1
) 3 log(
) 4 log(
D
WHAT WOULD THE "SELF-SIMILARITY DIMENSION" BE
FOR THE KOCH ISLAND FRACTAL ?




Self-similarity dimension = log ( number of pieces )
log ( magnification factor )
Self-similarity dimension = log (8) = log(2)
3
= 3 log(2) = 1.5
log(4) log(2)
2
= 2 log(2)