OBJECTIVE

Fractal geometry is a new branch of mathematics and art. Perhaps this is the reason why most people recognize fractals only as pretty pictures useful as backgrounds on the computer screen or original postcard patterns. But what are they really? Most physical systems of nature and many human artifacts are not regular geometric shapes of the standard geometry derived from Euclid. Fractal geometry offers almost unlimited ways of describing, measuring and predicting these natural phenomena. But is it possible to define the whole world using mathematical equations? This project describes how the most famous fractals were created and explains the most important fractal properties, which make fractals useful for different domains of science.

RELEVANCE OF THE STUDY

While the classical Euclidean geometry deals with objects which occur in integer dimensions, fractal geometry deals with objects in non integer dimensions. Euclidean geometry is a description of lines, circles, ellipses etc. Fractal geometry however, is described in algorithms, a set of instructions on how to create a fractal. Real-life relevance: Fractals have and are being used in many different ways. Both artists and scientists are intrigued by the many values of fractals. Fractals are being used in applications ranging from image compression to finance. We are still only beginning to realise the full importance of fractal geometry. One of the largest relationships with real-life is the similarity between fractals and the objects in nature. Mathematical formulas are used to model self similar natural forms.

INTRODUCTION
Many people are fascinated by the beautiful images termed fractals. Extending beyond the typical perception of mathematics as a body of complicated, boring formulas, fractal geometry mixes art with mathematics to demonstrate that equations are more than just a collection of numbers. What makes fractals even more interesting is that they are the best existing mathematical descriptions of many natural forms, such as coastlines, mountains or parts of living organisms. Although fractal geometry is closely connected with computer techniques, some people had worked on fractals long before the invention of computers. Those people were British cartographers, who encountered the problem in measuring the length of Britain coast. The coastline measured on a large scale map was approximately half the length of coastline measured on a detailed map. The closer they looked, the more detailed and longer the coastline became. They did not realize that they had discovered one of the main properties of fractals. Two of the most important properties of fractals are self-similarity and non-integer dimension. Self-similarity: You can magnify them many times and after every step you will see the same shape, which is characteristic of that particular fractal. The non-integer dimension: It is more difficult to explain. Classical geometry deals with objects of integer dimensions: zero dimensional points, one dimensional lines and curves, two dimensional plane figures such as squares and circles, and three dimensional solids such as cubes and spheres. However, many natural phenomena are better described using a dimension between two whole numbers. So while a straight line has a dimension of one, a fractal curve will have a dimension between one and two, depending on how much space it takes up as it twists and curves. We are going to explore these two properties of the fractals and the different types of fractals in this project.

What is fractal geometry

. ..

Philosophy is written in this vast book- I mean the Universe- which stands forever open to our gaze- but cannot be read until we have learnt the language and become familiar with the characters in which it is written. It is written in the language of mathematics, and its characters are triangles, circles and other geometrical figures, without which one wanders in vain through a dark labyrinth Galileo Galilei

The best is to call fractal geometry a new geometric language, which is geared towards the study of diverse aspects of diverse objects, either mathematical or natural, that are not smooth, but rough and fragmented to the same degree at all scales. A fractal is a never-ending pattern. Fractals are infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales. They are created by repeating a simple process over and over in an ongoing feedback loop. Fractal patterns are extremely familiar, since nature is full of fractals. For instance: trees, rivers, coastlines, mountains, clouds, seashells, hurricanes, etc. Below are shown some natural fractals

FRACTALS AND MATHEMATICS

There are simple equations that seem to explain the geometric proportions of matter and life itself. Consider for example

The fern leaf

The fern looks spectacular and a fine example of nature. It was created by Roger Bagula and is the result of 1,00,000 iterations of the mathematical formulas

xn+1 = a xn + b yn + e

yn+1 = c xn + d yn + f
The design is self similar. Each fern leaf is a complete fern in its own right. The beauty of this type of mathematics is that the core equation is relatively simple.

The human body

The human body is a continually evolving explosion of fractal equations. Our DNA, cells, organs all obey basic laws of fractal progression. An obvious example is the human hand

If you look at any finger, you will see that the joints increase in size as they lead towards the palm of your hand. This increase follows fractal proportions in the ratio 1:1.618, the golden ratio in the Fibonacci

0, 1, sequence

1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144

As the numbers grow, you move increasingly closer to the golden ratio 1:1.618 . The mathematical formulation of this sequence is This is the fractal expression of our body. SELF SIMILARITY

Consider this natural structure, a cauliflower. It is not a classical mathematical fractal but here the meaning of self similarity is readily revealed. The cauliflower contains parts which when removed and compared with the whole are very much the same. These clusters again can be decomposed into smaller clusters. This stops after three or four stages. But in a mathematical idealization, the self similarity property must be continued through infinitely many stages.

Self similarity in the decimal system

The decimal system is evolved after a long scientific and cultural struggle and it is very closely related to the material from which fractals are made i.e., self similarity. It is also the prerequisite of the metric (measuring) system. Consider a meter stick, which carries markers for decimeters (10 make a meter), centimeters (10 make a decimeter and 100 make a meter) and millimeters (10 make a centimeter, 1000 make a meter). Finding a position on this meter scale corresponds to a walk on the branches of a tree, the decimal number tree described above. The structure of the tree expresses the self similarity of the decimal system very strongly. For example when we say 357 mm, we mean 3 decimeters, 5 centimeters, and 7 millimeters. So when we have to locate 357 mm on the above meter scale we would go to the 3 decimeter mark, from there to the 5 centimeter mark, and from there to the 7 millimeter mark.

Similarity transformations
Similarity transformations are compositions involving a scaling, a rotation and a translation. A reflection may additionally be included. Consider for example a point P= (x, y) of a figure. We apply scaling, rotation and translation to this point. First a scaling operation, denoted by S, takes place, yielding a new point P=(x, y) where x = sx y = sy and s>0 is the scale factor. A scale reduction occurs if s<1, and an enlargement of the object will be produced when s>1 Second a rotation R is applied to P=(x, y), yielding p=(x, y) where x = cos . x - sin . y , y= sin . x+ cos
. y.

This describes a counter clockwise rotation of P about the origin of the coordinate system by an angle of . Finally, a translation T of P by a displacement (Tx, Ty) is given by x= x + Tx y= y+ Ty which yields the point P = (x, y). Summarising, we may write P = T(P) = T(R(P))= T(R(S(P))) or using the notation W(P)= T(R(S(P)))

CLASSICAL FRACTALS
The term "fractal" was first used by mathematician Benot Mandelbrot in 1975. Mandelbrot based it on the Latin frctus meaning "broken" or "fractured". Mandelbrot is often characterized as the father of fractal geometry. Some people, however, remark that many

of the fractals and their descriptions go back to classical mathematics and mathematicians of the past like George Cantor, Giuseppe Peano, David Hilbert, Helge Von Koch, Waclaw Sierpinski, Gaston Julia, to name just a few. Indeed, it is true that the creations of these mathematicians played a key role in Mandelbrots concept of a new geometry. But at the same time it is true that they did not think of their creations as conceptual steps towards a new geometry of nature. Rather what we know as the Cantor set, the Koch curve, the Sierpinski gasket, were regarded as mathematical monsters. Indeed, many of the early fractals arose in an attempt to fully explore the mathematical content and limits of fundamental notions (eg., continuous or curve). Mandelbrot demonstrated that these early mathematical fractals have many features in common with shapes found in nature. A fractal often has the following features:

It has a fine structure at arbitrarily small scales. It is too irregular to be easily described in traditional Euclidean geometric language. It is self-similar (at least approximately or stochastically). It has a simple and recursive definition. It has a Hausdorff dimension which is greater than its topological dimension (although this requirement is not met by spacefilling curves such as the Hilbert curve).

THE MANDELBROT SET

The Mandelbrot set is a particular mathematical set of points whose boundary is a distinctive and easily recognizable twodimensionalfractal shape and is named after the mathematician Benot Mandelbrot, who studied and popularized it. More precisely, the Mandelbrot set is the set of values of c in the complex plane for which the iteration of the complex quadratic polynomial zn+1 = zn2 + c remains bounded. That is, a complex number c is part of the Mandelbrot set if, when starting with z0= 0 and applying the iteration repeatedly, the absolute value of zn remains bounded however large n gets. For example, letting c = 1 gives the sequence 0, 1, 2, 5, 26,, which tends to infinity. As this sequence is unbounded, 1 is not an element of the Mandelbrot set. On the other hand, c = i (where i is defined as i2 = 1) gives the sequence 0, i, (1 + i), i, (1 + i), i, ..., which is bounded, and so i belongs to the Mandelbrot set.. Images of the Mandelbrot set display an elaborate boundary that reveals progressively ever-finer recursive detail at increasing magnifications. The set's boundary also incorporates smaller versions of the main shape, so the fractal property of selfsimilarity applies to the entire set, and not just to its parts.

The Mandelbrot set has become popular outside mathematics both for its aesthetic appeal and as an example of a complex structure arising from the application of simple rules, and is one of the best-known examples of mathematical visualization.

THE CANTOR SET

Cantor was a German mathematician at the University of Halle where he carried out his fundamental work in the foundations of mathematics, which we call Set theory. The Cantor set emerged as an example of certain exceptional sets. Among the early classical fractals, Cantor set was by far the most important. The basic Cantor set is an infinite set of points in the unit interval [0,1].

Construction
Start with the interval [0,1]. Now take away the open interval (1/3,2/3), i.e., remove the middle third from [0,1]. This leaves two intervals [0,1/3] and [2/3,1]. Now we repeat by removing the middle thirds of these two intervals and so on. This is a feedback process in which a sequence of closed intervals is generated- 2 of lengh 1/3 after the first step, 4 of length 1/32 the second step, 8 of length 1/33 after the third step, etc. Generalising, 2n intervals of length 1/3n after the nth step. Thus Cantor set is the set of points which remain if we carry out the removal steps infinitely often.

THE SIERPINSKI GASKET

This fractal was introduced by the great Polish mathematician Waclaw Sierpinski in 1916.

Construction

We begin with a triangle and then apply a repetitive scheme of operations to it by removing the white parts of the triangles continuously as in the above figure. So after the first step we have three congruent triangles whose sides have exactly half the size of the original triangle. Then we produce 9, 27, 81, 243. Triangles, each of which is a scaled down the triangles in the preceding step. i.e., we produce 3n triangles after the nth step. The Sierpinski gasket is the set of points that remain if we carry out the process infinitely often.

THE SIERPINSKI CARPET

Sierpinski has added another object to the gallery of classical fractals, the Sierpinski carpet. Construction

Begin with a square in the plane. Subdivide it into nine congruent squares of which we drop the center one, and so on. The resulting object which remains if one carries out this process infinitely often is called the Sierpinski carpet. By considering the line that goes through the centre and parallel to the base of the original square, throughout the construction process, we observe precisely the construction of the cantor set.

THE PASCAL TRIANGLE

Blaise Pascal was a great French mathematician and scientist. What is known as the arithmetic triangle or Pascals triangle, was not, however, his discovery. The first printed form of the arithmetic triangle in Europe dates back to 1527. Pascal however used the arithmetic triangle to solve some problems related to chances in gambling. The arithmetic triangle is a triangular array of numbers composed of the coefficients of the expansion of the polynomial (1+x)n. Here n denotes the row starting from n=0. Row n has n+1 entries. For example, for n=3, the polynomial is (1+x)3=1+3x+3x2+x3 Thus row number 3 reads 1, 3, 3, 1. The following figure in (1) is obtained when the odd numbers in the Pascals triangle are painted black and even numbers are painted white. With more number of rows added, we obtain the figure in (2)

(1) THE KOCH CURVE

(2)

Helge von Koch was a Swedish mathematician who in 1904 introduced what is now called the Koch curve. The self similarity property is very evident here. But this curve is actually a very complex one. First of all, it is a curve, but this is not clear from the construction in which there are only line segments.

Construction

Begin with a straight line. Partition it into three equal parts. Then replace the middle third by an equilateral triangle and remove its base. Now we repeat the process taking each of the resulting line segments and partitioning it and so on.. When this is done infinitely, we get the Koch curve. The length of the Koch curve In each stage we obtain a curve. After the first, we are left with a curve that is made up of 4 line segments of the same length, after the second step we have 4*4, and then 4*4*4, and so on. If the original line had length L, then after the first step a line segment has length L*1/3, after the second step we have L*1/32, and so on. Generalising this, the length of the curve after the nth step the length of the Koch curve is 4n * L * 1/3n. This curve is nowhere differentiable because a tangent cannot be admitted at any of its points as it is not a smooth curve but one that is made out of corners everywhere. Fitting together three suitably rotated copies of the Koch curve produces a figure which is called the Koch snowflake. (Below)

PYTHAGOREAN TREES

The Pythagorean tree is a plane fractal constructed from squares. Invented by the Dutch mathematics teacher Albert E. Bosman in 1942,] it is named after the ancient Greek mathematician Pythagoras because each triple of touching squares encloses a right triangle, in a configuration traditionally used to depict the Pythagorean theorem.

Construction

Draw a square. Attach a right triangle to one of its sides along its hypotenuse. Attach two squares along the free sides of the triangle. Attach two right triangles Attach four squares. Attach four right triangles and so on

FRACTAL DIMENSION
Fractals are objects that are most often characterized by their fractal dimensions. The original concepts regarding the dimensions reside in the early development of topology.

Topology
Topology is a branch of mathematics which deals with questions of form and shape from a qualitative point of view. Two of its basic notions are dimension and homeomorphism. Topology deals with the way shapes can be pulled and distorted in a space that behaves like rubber. For example consider the figure given below.

Here a circle can be continuously deformed into a triangle. A triangle can be deformed into a Koch island. Topologically, they are all equivalent. In topology, straight lines can be bent into curves and circles can be pinched into triangles or pulled out as squares. For example from the point of view of topology, a straight line and the Koch curve cannot be distinguished. However, not everything is topologically changeable. For example, intersection of lines remain intersection s. The transformations that are allowed area called homeomorphisms. We have seen that a straight line and a Koch curve are topologically the same. Moreover, we know that the dimension of a straight line is 1. So if the concept of dimension is a topological notion, we would expect that the Koch curve also has to dimension 1. This however, is not true. We have seen that a structure is said to be self similar if it can be broken down into small ieces, each of which is a small replica of the entire structure. Now, there is a power law relation between the number of pieces a and the reduction factor s.

a=1/s

Solving this equation for D, we get D = 2 for a square and D = 3 for a cube which are of course familiar to us. Now, if we look at the Koch curve, a = 4, s = 1/3. So we get 4 = 3 D. Taking logarithms on both sides, log 4 = D. log 3 Or, D = log 4/ log 3 = 1.2619 The power law relation gives the same number D, regardless of the scale we use for the evaluation. For example, taking a = 16 and s = 1/9 would give the same value for D.

CONCLUSION Many scientists have found that fractal geometry is a powerful tool for uncovering secrets from a wide variety of systems and solving important problems in applied science. The list of known physical fractal systems is long and growing rapidly. Fractals improved our precision in describing and classifying "random" or organic objects, but maybe they are not perfect. Maybe they are just closer to our natural world, not the same as it. Some scientists still believe that true randomness does exist, and no mathematical equation will ever describe it perfectly. So far, there is no way to say who is right and who is wrong. Perhaps for many people, fractals will never represent anything more than beautiful pictures.