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Fractal of the Day
by Jim Muth
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Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: For the past two days I have said that the "Hanging Garden" image of July 12 contains midgets. Today's image proves it. Today's "Electron Clouds" scene exists in the "Hanging Garden" image of two days ago, where it was hiding itself among the garland of flowers spanning the sky. Today's image consists mostly of inside stuff. To make this stuff visible I have rendered the image with the inside set to 'zmag', one of the slower inside options, which I rarely use, but which, in today's fractal, works better than any other inside option. The name "Electron Clouds" is a reference to my wonder years, when I was just discovering science and the nature of the world in which we live. (That sense of wonder is now shared by the world of fractals.) Back then, I visualized an atom as a kind of miniature solar system, with a central nucleus like a boiling raspberry and tiny material electrons circling the nucleus like shiny silver planets. When I asked my high school physics teacher what those electrons are made of, and what they actually look like, he replied that I was a philosopher, and told me that I would be a good physicist. At the time, this puzzled me. I thought that physics was about as far from philosophy as it is possible to get. I have since learned that he was not as wrong as I had supposed. Electrons, as well as all the other atomic and sub-atomic things, are too small to reflect light, and therefore do not possess the attribute we call appearance. Asking how they look is meaningless. An atom that resembles a miniature solar system is only a mental model, a philosophical idea which makes it easier for us to think about atoms. The real question is what, if anything, is really down there, serving as the building blocks of physical matter. (Or could it all be an illusion, and if so, what is having the illusion?) Well, I see myself drifting from the topic of fractals, into the field of philosophy, about which I will have much to say in the near future. But for now, it's time to get back to the fractal basics. In my opinion, today's image is worth the 7 I have given it, even though I had to hurry a bit when coloring it. The render time of 35 minutes is slow, but the medicine for impatience is available on the FOTD web site at: The air was sopping wet with humidity here at Fractal Central on Wednesday, while the temperature reached a high of 88F 31C even with the heavy clouds. But luckily for the duo, no rain fell, permitting them a full afternoon and evening in the holly patch. At nightfall they came inside without coaxing to enjoy their evening treat of tuna. Today is starting in a similar manner, so, unless it rains, I expect similar things from the cats. The next fractal will appear by near-magic 24 hours from now. Until then, take care, and what is an electron cloud made of? Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com |
START PARAMETER FILE=======================================
Electron_Clouds { ; time=0:35:49.12--SF5 on a P200
reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm
formulaname=MandelbrotMix4 function=ident passes=1
center-mag=-18.52288803632655000/-1.37150093362403\
200/73.30452/1/-102.5/1.14376633164603447e-011
params=-0.99/1.01/0.99/-1/0/3600 float=y
maxiter=1000 inside=zmag periodicity=10
colors=000H8kJ9lKBnMCoNEqPGrQHtSJvSJwSJyQLwQLwQMwQ\
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zUwzUwzVwzXwzXxzYyzYyz_yz_zzazzazzbzzdzzbzzbzzbyzb\
yzayzawzawzavzavz_vz_tz_tz_rz_rzYrzYqzYqzYozYozXoz\
XnzXnzXnzXlzVlzVkzVkzVkzVizUizUgzUgzUgzUfzSfzSdzSd\
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59l59o59t59w59z59z59z59z58z58z58z58z58z58w58v68r67\
q77n77l97k97iA7gC7fE7gF7i }
frm:MandelbrotMix4 {; Jim Muth
a=real(p1), b=imag(p1), d=real(p2), f=imag(p2),
g=1/f, h=1/d, j=1/(f-b), z=(-a*b*g*h)^j,
k=real(p3)+1, l=imag(p3)+100, c=fn1(pixel):
z=k*((a*(z^b))+(d*(z^f)))+c,
|z| < l }
END PARAMETER FILE=========================================
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