; Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2006 00:47:12 -0400 ; From: Jim Muth ; Subject: [Fractint] FOTD 24-08-06 (Atomic Nucleus [6]) ; Id: <1.5.4.16.20060824004800.29b7f064@pop.mindspring.com> ; --------- ; ; FOTD -- August 24, 2006 (Rating 6) ; ; Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: ; ; Back in my naive teen-age years, when I was just becoming ; familiar with the scientific world of astronomy, weather, and ; atoms in particular, I often wondered what an atom looks like. ; I soon formed a picture of the atom as a miniature solar system, ; with electrons orbiting the nucleus like planets orbit their ; stars. The nucleus seemed to me to be a boiling mass of protons ; and neutrons somewhat resembling a pot of boiling liquid. ; ; It all made a kind of sense. When a radioactive atom decayed, ; it was because a proton had escaped the surface of the boiling ; nuclear liquid. I felt that if I could shrink myself small ; enough, I could actually observe these atomic things taking ; place. I wondered whether atoms actually might be miniature ; solar systems with galaxies, stars and planets, like in the ; story about a shrinking man which I read about that time. ; ; Then I started reading more serious books about the sub-atomic ; world and the quantum. I came to realize that whatever is ; actually down there is so far removed from our everyday experi- ; ence that it can be best described only approximately by math- ; ematical expressions. To attempt to picture a physical reality ; corresponding to the quantum math is a futile endeavor. ; ; I now know that protons and electrons are not 'things' in the ; sense that tables and chairs are things. They are ideas, mental ; models that happen to work reasonably well. In a sense, we ; create them along with their attributes when we describe them. ; ; This is well illustrated in the case of an electron, which is ; said to be both a potential wave and a potential particle with a ; spin of 1/2. Such a spin means it would need to undergo two ; complete 360-degree rotations before it would present the same ; face to a hypothetical observer. Unless an electron is some ; kind of single-sided Mobius object, which must be turned 720 ; degrees before it returns to its original position, the elec- ; tron's attributes would appear to be impossible. ; ; Electrons may appear impossible, but it would be interesting to ; see what a person would observe if an electron were enlarged to ; the size of a basketball. Of course, if electrons are mere ; points, enlargement is meaningless. ; ; By contrast, fractals most certainly are not only possible, but ; have actually been observed in full graphic representation. ; Unfortunately, so far at least, fractals such as the Mandelbrot ; set have been seen only as computer-generated photographs. ; ; Today's photographic image of a fractal has been named "Atomic ; Nucleus". The central midget reminds me of a nucleus, while the ; surrounding elements could be seen as electrons. The image is a ; scene in the parent fractal that results when Z^(-1.75) is ; subtracted from Z^(1.75) and (1/C) is added. ; ; In this case the parent fractal could more accurately be called ; the parent debris field. It is little more than a scattering of ; fractal debris. But that debris is filled with countless ; midgets, one of which lies peacefully at the center of today's ; frame. ; ; The rating of a 6 seems appropriate. Rendered as it is with the ; outside set to 'iter', the image does look a bit under-detailed, ; but in this case the under-detailed version is the best. The ; other outside options give so much detail that the result is ; more chaos than fractal semi-order. ; ; The image is a fast one, which renders in 2-1/2 minutes on my ; P200 machine. Equally brief if not briefer is the time spent ; downloading the finished image from the FOTD web site at: ; ; ; ; What a waste! We had another absolutely perfect day here at New ; Fractal Central on Wednesday and the new fractal cats didn't ; even care. They spent the day chasing each other up and down ; the hall and getting into other various and sundry trouble. My ; day was spent doing various odd jobs between the times I was ; doing fractals. ; ; If all goes well, and why should it not, the next FOTD will ; appear in 24 hours. Until then, take care, and don't be ; nucular, be nuclear. ; ; ; Jim Muth ; jamth@mindspring.com ; jimmuth@aol.com ; ; ; START PARAMETER FILE======================================= Atomic_Nucleus { ; time=0:02:30.66--SF5 on a P200 reset=2004 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotMix4 function=recip passes=1 center-mag=+0.39532679744866780/+0.594877164365430\ 40/3.945085e+007/1/40/-1.05442878494538261e-006 params=1/1.75/-1/-1.75/0/0 float=y maxiter=500 inside=0 periodicity=10 colors=000sh2th2th2rg3qf3pe3od3mc3lb3ka3j`3h_3gZ3f\ Y3eY3eY3dX3bW3aV3`U3_T3YS3XR3WQ3VP3TO3SN3RN3QM3PL3\ NK3MJ3LI3KH3IG3HF3GE3FD3djKbhJagI`eH_dHZbGYaFX`FWZ\ EUYDPAmPAjPAgPAdKAaHAZDAWBAQAAMBAICBEDCAED5FE3k7tf\ 8mb9fZA_VAUQBNMCGID9GzzFxxFvvFutFsrFqpFpnFnlFljFkh\ FifFgdFfbFd`FbZFaXE_VEYTEXREVPETNESLEQJEOHENFELDEJ\ BEI9EG7EE5q`jmZfjXcgV_dTXaRUZPQWONTMJQKGNIDKG9HE6s\ rVrqUqpTpoTonSnmRmlRlkQkjQjiPihOhgOhgNgfNfeMedLdcL\ cbKbaKa`J`_I_ZIZYHZYHYXGXWFWVFVUEUTDTSDSRCRQCQPBPO\ AONAON9NM9ML8LK7KJ7JI6IH6HG5GF4FE4ED3zjYvgVrdTnbQj\ _OgXMcVJ_SHWQETNCPKALI7HF5s`7r_6q_6pZ6oZ6oY6nY6mX6\ lX6lX6kW6jW6iV6iV6hU5gU5fU5fT5eT5dS5cS5bR5bR5aQ5`Q\ 5_Q5_P5ZP5YO4XO4XN4WN4VN4UM4UM4TL4SL4RK4QK4QJ4PJ4O\ J4NI3NI3MH3LH3KG3KG3JG3IF3HF3HE3GE3FD3ED3YK7XJ6XJ6\ WJ6WJ6VJ6VJ6UI6UI6TI6TI6SI5SI5RH5RH5RH5QH5QH5PH5PG\ 5OG5OG5NG4NG4MG4MF4LF4LF4 } 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========================================= ; ;