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Box Dimension Fractal Dimensions Fractal Dimension Random Fractals. Box Dimension: Set Boxes Linear Size Cover

The box dimension is a way to define the fractal dimension of a set of points. It involves covering the set with boxes of size ε and calculating the number of boxes N(ε) needed. If N(ε) scales as A/ε^df as ε approaches 0, then df is the box or fractal dimension. For lines, squares and cubes, the box dimension equals the integer dimension as expected. The box dimension is used to calculate the fractal dimension of self-similar sets like the triadic Cantor set. There can be multiple fractal dimensions needed to fully characterize a fractal.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
63 views15 pages

Box Dimension Fractal Dimensions Fractal Dimension Random Fractals. Box Dimension: Set Boxes Linear Size Cover

The box dimension is a way to define the fractal dimension of a set of points. It involves covering the set with boxes of size ε and calculating the number of boxes N(ε) needed. If N(ε) scales as A/ε^df as ε approaches 0, then df is the box or fractal dimension. For lines, squares and cubes, the box dimension equals the integer dimension as expected. The box dimension is used to calculate the fractal dimension of self-similar sets like the triadic Cantor set. There can be multiple fractal dimensions needed to fully characterize a fractal.

Uploaded by

Dharmesh Panchal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Box dimension

Different ways to define fractal dimensions usually lead to the same result.

Important: different ways usually lead to different methods to calculate the fractal
dimension, in particular, in random fractals.

We define the box dimension:

- Given a set of points in d-dimensions.


- Calculate the number of boxes of linear sizeε needed to cover the set.
- If N (ε ) is the number of boxes of sizeε and there exists the relation
A
N (ε ) = d ( for ε → 0)
ε f
log N (ε )
- Then d f = ( for ε → 0)
1
log
ε
is the fractal dimension of the set.
Box dimension
A
For a line section: N (ε ) = ε ⇒ d f =1
ε

A ε
For a square: N (ε ) = ⇒ df = 2
ε2

For a cube: N (ε ) =
A ε ⇒ df =3
ε3
That is for integer dimensions d f = d as expected !

Triadic Cantor set

k
ε = 1/ 3 1
For boxes of size  
ε = (1/ 3)2 ε 
ε = (1/ 3)3 The number is: N (ε ) = 2k
A ln N (ε ) ln 2k ln 2
Solving 2 = d ⇒ d f =
k
= = ≅ 0.6309
ε 1 k
f
ln ln 3 ln 3
ε
More fractal dimensions

- The common fractal dimension d f cannot fully characterize the fractal



- Given fractal fractal dimension

- More fractal dimensions are needed!
- How many dimensions are needed – no answer today

Shortest path (chemical distance) dimension - d min


- The fractal dimension of the shortest path defined by l (bL ) = b
d min
l ( L)
d
1  1 1 f
Example: modified Koch curve d f : M  L  = M ( L) =   M ( L )
4  7 4
log 7
df = ≅ 1.404, M ( L ) = AL f
d

log 4

d
1  1  1  min
d min : l  L  = l ( L ) =   l ( L)
4  5 4
log 5
d min = ≅ 1.161, l = BLdmin
log 4
Shortest path dimension - d min

For Koch curve: the shortest path is the line itself


d
1  1 1 f
l  L  = l ( L) =   l ( L)
3  4  3
log 4
df =
1/3 L log3
Chemical dimension - dl - “how the mass scales with the shortest path”

Defined by: M (bl ) = b l M (l ) , M (l ) = Cl dl


d

For the modified Koch curve


d
1  1 1
l

M  l  = M (l ) =   M (l )
5  7 5
log 7
dl = ≅ 1.209, M (l ) = Cl dl
log 5

Is there a relation between dl , d min and d f ?


M ( L) = AL from l = BLdmin follows L : l1/ dmin
df

= A′l f min
d /d

= Cl dl ⇒ dl = d f / d min
More characteristics of fractals include: backbone, external perimeter, red bonds, etc.
3. Self-affinity
Self-similarity or scale invariance is an isotropic property, the change of scale is the
same in every direction in space.

uuuuuuur
x → 2x
Example: Sierpinski gasket
y → 2y
Self-affinity – include anisotropic symmetry magnifying x in different scale than y.

Example:

n=0 n=1 n=0 n=1

n=2 n=3

- Here we see that to get the same picture we need to magnify the x axis by
4 and y axis by 2, x → 4 x, y → 2 y
1 1  1
M  Lx , L y  = M ( Lx , Ly )
4 2  4
Generalization of self-similar fractals: M (bL) = b M (L)
f d
3.1 Fractal dimension – self-affine structures

Here we need to define two fractal dimensions


d xf
M (aLx , bLy ) = a M ( Lx , Ly )
d fy
= b M ( Lx , Ly )
Example:

d xf
1 1  1 1
M  Lx , Ly  = M ( Lx , L y ) =   M ( Lx , Ly )
4 2  4  4
d fy
1 1  1 1
M  Lx , Ly  = M ( Lx , L y ) =   M ( Lx , Ly )
4 2  4  2
d xf
1 1
  = ⇒ d xf = 1,
4 4
d fy
1 1
  = ⇒ d fy = 2
2 4
Example: self-affine Sierpinski carpet

d xf
1 1  1 1
M  Lx , Ly  = M ( Lx , Ly ) =   M ( Lx , Ly )
3 2  3  3
d fy
1
=   M ( Lx , Ly )
2
log 3
d xf = 1, d fy =
log 2
Self affine fractals

Here also
d xf
1 1  1 1
M  Lx , Ly  = M ( Lx , Ly ) =   M ( Lx , Ly )
3 2  3  3
dy
1 f log 3
=   M ( Lx , Ly ), d fx = 1, d fy =
2 log 2
Generalization:
Start with a square of unit size:
Divide x axis to b1 and y axis to b2

(a)

We get rectangulars of size (1/ b1 ) × (1/ b2 )


b2 =3
(b)
(c) Number of rectangulars b1 × b2

Keep n rectangulars and remove b1 × b2 − n of them (above: n=3,b2 


{
(d) =2, b1 =3)

(e) To each rectangular left full, apply the same rule.


The fractal dimension: b1 =5
d xf
1 1  1 1
M  Lx , L y  = M ( Lx , L y ) =   M ( Lx , L y )
 b1 b2  n  b1 
d fy
1 log b1 log b2
=   M ( Lx , Ly ), d xf = , d fy =
 b2  log n log n
3.2 Local dimension – box dimension
Alternative definition of dimension is self-affine using box dimension
Example:
1 1 1
- Chose a square box of linear size , 2 ,K n
3 3 3
- How many boxes are needed to cover the fractal?

1 1 1
For size we need 3⋅ ⋅
3 3 2 = rectangular area × number of rectangulars
2
1 box area
 
3
1 1
3k ⋅ ⋅ k
1 k
3 2 boxes. More general: if we divide to
In general for k we need N (ε ) = 2
3  1
 k
3 
b1 × b2 rectangulars and leave n of them full, we obtain a box of size ε = b1− k and the
−k −k
k b1 ⋅ b2
number of boxes N (ε ) = n
( )
b1−k 2

nb1 nb
ln 1
k ln
−dl ln N (ε ) b2 b1
The local box dimension: N (ε ) = ε f , d lf = = =
1 k ln b1 ln b1
ln
ε
Self affine curves – single valued
Example:

Alternative definition of dimension:


W
Denote L – linear scale in x-direction
Denote W – linear scale in y-direction

α
Dimension α defined by W (bL) = b W ( L) L

The dimension α is also called roughness exponent


For the above fractal
α
1  1 1
W  L  = W ( L) =   W ( L)
4  2 4
log 2 1
⇒α = =
log 4 2

For the fractal


α
1  1 1
W  L  = W ( L) =   W ( L)
5  3 5
log 3
α= ≅ 0.683
log 5
Random Fractals

- Fractals do not have to be deterministic


- One can generate random fractals
- Instead of always removing the central square, we remove randomly one of
the 9 squares

Random Sierpinski carpet Deterministic Sierpinski carpet

- The fractal dimension of the random Sierpinski carpet is the same as the
d
1  1 1 f log8
deterministic: M  L  = M ( L) =   M ( L), d f = ≅ 1.893
 3  8  
3 log 3
- The self-similarity is not exact – valid statistically
Random Fractals – Fractal Dimension

Methods: (a) sand box; (b) box counting; (c) correlations.

4.1 Sand Box method


- Choose a site on the fractal – origin
- plot circles of several radiuses r = Rmax
- Rmax : radius of the fractal
- count the number of sites inside r
- repeat the measurements for several origins
- average over all results for each r - M (r )
- plot M (r ) vs r on log-log plot
- the slope is d f of the fractal

M ( r ) = Ar f , log M ( r ) = log A + d f log r


d

This method is analogous to the determination of d f in deterministic fractals.

How the mass M scales with the linear metric r .


4.2 Box counting method

- Draw a lattice of squares of different sizesε


- For each ε count the number of boxes N (ε )
needed to cover the fractal
- N (ε ) increases with decreasing ε

The fractal dimension is obtained from

−d f
N (ε ) = Aε
log N (ε ) = log A − d f log ε

- Plotting N (ε ) vs ε on log-log graph –


the slope is −d f
4.3 Correlation method

Measurements of the density-density autocorrelation function


1
C (r ) = ρ (r ′ ) ρ (r ′ + r ) r ′ = ∑ ρ (r ′ ) ρ (r ′ + r )
V r′
1 if at r′ there is a site of the fractal

ρ (r ) = 
 0 if at r′ there is no site

The volume V = ∑ ρ (r′) .


r′
C (r ) is the average density at distancer from a site on a fractal.

−α
For isotropic fractals we expect C (r ) = C (r ) = Ar .
The mass within a radius R is:
R
M ( R) = ∫ C (r )d d r = R −α + d ≡ R
df

⇒ α =d −df

Thus, from measuring α one can determine d f .


4.4 Experimental method

- Scattering experiments like x-rays, neutron scattering etc. with different


wave vectors is proportional to the structure factor.
- The structure factor is the Fourier transform of the density-density
correlation function.
For fractals – the structure factor is
−d
S (q ) = S ( q ) = q f

q= sin ϑ is the wave vector.
λ

Since physical fractals have lower and upper bounds length scales
( λ− and λ+ )

4π 4π
It follows that only for sin α < q < sin ϑ , we obtain d f
λ+ λ−
- Measurements of S (q ) yields d f
Example: polymers.

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