fractal
/ˈfrakt(ə)l
/Mathematics
noun
A curve or geometrical figure, each part of which has the same statistical character as the whole. They are useful in modelling structures (such as snowflakes) in which similar patterns recur at progressively smaller scales, and in describing partly random or chaotic phenomena such as crystal growth and galaxy formation.Many natural chaotic systems form fractals in the patterns that record the process....
- Mathematicians can use similar algorithms to generate fractals and other forms.
- The researchers discovered that Pollock's patterns could be characterized as fractals - shapes that repeat themselves on different scales within the same object.
adjective
Relating to or of the nature of a fractal or fractals: fractal geometry...
- His research focuses on the interplay between fractal geometry and stochastic processes.
- Each level of expression contributed to the next, and over the course of millennia we created mathematical theory, from basic arithmetic to algebra, from calculus to fractal geometry.
- While classical geometry assumes that objects exist in integer dimensions, fractal geometry deals with objects that have non-integer dimensions.
Origin
1970s: from French, from Latin fract- 'broken', from the verb frangere.