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Mandelbrot set

Mandelbrot set

1 9.9
A set of complex numbers that makes a very detailed, repeating shape when drawn on a graph
  • noun
  • /ˈmændəlbrɒt sɛt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : conjunto de Mandelbrot
  • Researchers often illustrate chaos theory using the unique characteristics of the Mandelbrot set.

And then you have smaller Mandelbrot sets recursively in this set.

Examples

  • Irrational numbers opened the door to the baroque world of the Mandelbrot set.

    Academic text (2004)
  • As Roger Penrose pointed out: "The Mandelbrot set is not an invention of the human mind; it was a discovery."

    Academic text (2004)
  • And then you have smaller Mandelbrot sets recursively in this set.

  • And so these pieces inside the Mandelbrot set, they come from these hyperbolic values of C.

  • And then you have smaller Mandelbrot sets recursively in this set.

  • Like Mount Everest, the Mandelbrot set is just there!

    Academic text (2004)
  • Further, a Mandelbrot set calculator is available at (32;34032;TOOLONG).

    Academic text (2012)
  • PHOTO (COLOR): The Mandelbrot set, generated from mathematical operations as simple as addition and multiplication, has mystified humans since its discovery.

    Academic text (2004)
  • A well-known example is the Mandelbrot set, which is a fractal that appears in computer representations much like a black bug, with an infinity of similar "bugs" embedded at innumerable smaller scales.

    Academic text (1993)
  • The Mandelbrot set demonstrates the concept of fractals with its infinitely repeating patterns.

Synonyms

fractal
vsMandelbrot set
  • Specialized
7 8.8

A shape that looks similar at different sizes, like a snowflake or fern

is a specific mathematical example with intricate boundary patterns in the complex plane
fractal pattern
vsMandelbrot set
  • Specialized
1 7.5

A repeating shape that looks the same at different sizes, like fern leaves or coastlines

is a precise mathematical object studied for its intricate boundary and chaos connections

Surface Forms

Morphology

Mandelbrot + set

This is a technical eponym: 'Mandelbrot' is a proper name (a mathematician) and does not convey the concept of a fractal or complex-number boundary, while 'set' only signals a mathematical collection. A B1 learner who knows the words would not be able to infer the specialised mathematical meaning (a fractal in the complex plane) without prior subject knowledge, so the expression is not compositional for learners.

Etymology

Mandelbrot set is named after the mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot, who discovered that repeating a very simple rule for complex numbers makes a very detailed, almost 'never-ending' picture when you draw the results. So today Mandelbrot set means the special group of numbers that create that strange, detailed pattern.