The language of fractals
- Univ. of Bremen (West Germany)
The pathological structures conjured up by 19th-century mathematicians have, in recent years, taken the form of fractals, mathematical figures that have fractional dimension rather than the integral dimensions of familiar geometric figures (such as one-dimensional lines or two-dimensional planes). Fractals are much more than a mathematical curiosity. They offer an extremely compact method for describing objects and formations. Many structures have an underlying geometric regularity, known as scale invariance or self-similarity. If one examines these objects at different size scales, one repeatedly encounters the same fundamental elements. The repetitive pattern defines the fractional, or fractal, dimension of the structure. Fractal geometry seems to describe natural shapes and forms more gracefully and succinctly than does Euclidean geometry. Scale invariance has a noteworthy parallel in contemporary chaos theory, which reveals that many phenomena, even 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 different spatial scales. The correspondence between fractals and chaos is no accident. Rather it is a symptom of a deep-rooted relation: fractal geometry is the geometry of chaos.
- OSTI ID:
- 6223926
- Journal Information:
- Scientific American; (USA), Vol. 263:2; ISSN 0036-8733
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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