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Fractal dimension
About: Fractal dimension is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 14764 publications have been published within this topic receiving 329050 citations.
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TL;DR: Fractal dimension D as discussed by the authors is a global measure of surface irregularity, which labels an extremely heterogeneous surface by a value far from two, and it implies that any monolayer on such a surface resembles three-dimensional bulk rather than a two-dimensional film because the number of adsorption sites within distance l from any fixed site, grows as lD.
Abstract: In this, the first of a series of papers, we lay the foundations for appreciation of chemical surfaces as D‐dimensional objects where 2≤D<3. Being a global measure of surface irregularity, this dimension labels an extremely heterogeneous surface by a value far from two. It implies, e.g., that any monolayer on such a surface resembles three‐dimensional bulk rather than a two‐dimensional film because the number of adsorption sites within distance l from any fixed site, grows as lD. Generally, a particular value of D means that any typical piece of the surface unfolds into mD similar pieces upon m‐fold magnification (self‐similarity). The underlying concept of fractal dimension D is reviewed and illustrated in a form adapted to surface‐chemical problems. From this, we derive three major methods to determine D of a given solid surface which establish powerful connections between several surface properties: (1) The surface area A depends on the cross‐section area σ of different molecules used for monolayer cov...
976 citations
TL;DR: In this article, it is shown that the scattering law for a fractal object is given by S(Q), Q−D, where Q is the magnitude of the scattering vector.
Abstract: Fractal structures are characterized by self similarity within some spatial range. The mass distribution in a fractal object varies with a power D of the length R, smaller than the dimension d of the space. When the range of physical interest falls below 1000 A, scattering techniques are the most appropriate way to study fractal structures and determine their fractal dimension D. Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) is particularly useful when advantage can be taken of isotopic substitution. It is easy to show that the scattering law for a fractal object is given by S(Q), ~ Q−D, where Q is the magnitude of the scattering vector. However, in practice some precautions must be taken because, near the limits of the fractal range, there are important deviations from this simple law. Some relations are derived which can be applied in relatively general situations, such as aggregation and gelation. The effects of polydispersity, important, in particular, in situations described by percolation models, are also shown.
921 citations
TL;DR: The purpose of this paper is to survey briefly the kinds of fractals that appear in scientific research, to discuss the application of Fractals to nonlinear dynamical systems, and to review more comprehensively the state of the art in numerical methods for estimating the fractal dimension of a strange attractor.
Abstract: Fractals arise from a variety of sources and have been observed in nature and on computer screens. One of the exceptional characteristics of fractals is that they can be described by a noninteger dimension. The geometry of fractals and the mathematics of fractal dimension have provided useful tools for a variety of scientific disciplines, among which is chaos. Chaotic dynamical systems exhibit trajectories in their phase space that converge to a strange attractor. The fractal dimension of this attractor counts the effective number of degrees of freedom in the dynamical system and thus quantifies its complexity. In recent years, numerical methods have been developed for estimating the dimension directly from the observed behavior of the physical system. The purpose of this paper is to survey briefly the kinds of fractals that appear in scientific research, to discuss the application of fractals to nonlinear dynamical systems, and finally to review more comprehensively the state of the art in numerical methods for estimating the fractal dimension of a strange attractor.
895 citations
TL;DR: In this article, asymptotic expansions of these integral forms are used to constrain a unified equation for small-angle scattering, and this approach is extended to describe structural limits to mass-fractal scaling at the persistence length.
Abstract: The Debye equation for polymer coils describes scattering from a polymer chain that displays Gaussian statistics. Such a chain is a mass fractal of dimension 2 as evidenced by a power-law decay of −2 in the scattering at intermediate q. At low q, near q ≃ 2π/Rg, the Debye equation describes an exponential decay. For polymer chains that are swollen or slightly collapsed, such as is due to good and poor solvent conditions, deviations from a mass-fractal dimension of 2 are expected. A simple description of scattering from such systems is not possible using the approach of Debye. Integral descriptions have been derived. In this paper, asymptotic expansions of these integral forms are used to describe scattering in the power-law regime. These approximations are used to constrain a unified equation for small-angle scattering. A function suitable for data fitting is obtained that describes polymeric mass fractals of arbitrary mass-fractal dimension. Moreover, this approach is extended to describe structural limits to mass-fractal scaling at the persistence length. The unified equation can be substituted for the Debye equation in the RPA (random phase approximation) description of polymer blends when the mass-fractal dimension of a polymer coil deviates from 2. It is also used to gain new insight into materials not conventionally thought of as polymers, such as nanoporous silica aerogels.
884 citations
TL;DR: In this article, it was shown that the global fractal dimension of a self-affine fractal curve can be computed by walking a compass along the fractal path of a scalar Bownian record.
Abstract: Evaluating a fractal curve's approximate length by walking a compass defines a compass exponent. Long ago, I showed that for a self-similar curve (e.g., a model of coastline), the compass exponent coincides with all the other forms of the fractal dimension, e.g., the similarity, box or mass dimensions. Now walk a compass along a self-affine curve, such as a scalar Brownian record B(t). It will be shown that a full description in terms of fractal dimension is complex. Each version of dimension has a local and a global value, separated by a crossover. First finding: the basic methods of evaluating the global fractal dimension yield 1: globally, a self-affine fractal behaves as it if were not fractal. Second finding: the box and mass dimensions are 1.5, but the compass dimension is D = 2. More generally, for a fractional Bownian record BH(t), (e.g., a model of vertical cuts of relief), the global fractal dimensions are 1, several local fractal dimensions are 2-H, and the compass dimension is 1/H. This 1/H is the fractal dimension of a self-similar fractal trail, whose definition was already implicit in the definition of the record of BH(t).
839 citations