The Potential Function and The Real Iteration Number
The Julia set for is the unit circle, and on the outer Fatou domain, the potential function is defined by . The equipotential lines for this function are concentric circles. As we have, where is the sequence of iteration generated by z. For the more general iteration, it has been proved that if the Julia set is connected (that is, if c belongs to the (usual) Mandelbrot set), then there exist a biholomorphic map between the outer Fatou domain and the outer of the unit circle such that . This means that the potential function on the outer Fatou domain defined by this correspondence is given by:
This formula has meaning also if the Julia set is not connected, so that we for all c can define the potential function on the Fatou domain containing ∞ by this formula. For a general rational function such that ∞ is a critical point and a fixed point, that is, such that the degree m of the numerator is at least two larger than the degree n of the denominator, we define the potential function on the Fatou domain containing ∞ by:
where d = m - n is the degree of the rational function.
If N is a very large number (e.g. 10100), and if k is the first iteration number such that, we have that, for some real number, which should be regarded as the real iteration number, and we have that:
where the last number is in the interval [0, 1).
For iteration towards a finite attracting cycle of order r, we have that if z* is a point of the cycle, then (the r-fold composition), and the number (> 1) is the attraction of the cycle. If w is a point very near z* and w' is w iterated r times, we have that . Therefore the number is almost independent of k. We define the potential function on the Fatou domain by:
If is a very small number and k is the first iteration number such that, we have that for some real number, which should be regarded as the real iteration number, and we have that:
If the attraction is ∞, meaning that the cycle is super-attracting, meaning again that one of the points of the cycle is a critical point, we must replace by (where w' is w iterated r times) and the formula for by:
And now the real iteration number is given by:
For the colouring we must have a cyclic scale of colours (constructed mathematically, for instance) and containing H colours numbered from 0 to H-1 (H = 500, for instance). We multiply the real number by a fixed real number determining the density of the colours in the picture, and take the integral part of this number modulo H.
The definition of the potential function and our way of colouring presuppose that the cycle is attracting, that is, not neutral. If the cycle is neutral, we cannot colour the Fatou domain in a natural way. As the terminus of the iteration is a revolving movement, we can, for instance, colour by the minimum distance from the cycle left fixed by the iteration.
Read more about this topic: Julia Set
Famous quotes containing the words potential, function, real and/or number:
“The planet on which we live is poorly organized, many areas are overpopulated, others are reserved for a few, technology’s potential is only in part realized, and most people are starving.”
—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)
“... the function of art is to do more than tell it like it is—it’s to imagine what is possible.”
—bell hooks (b. c. 1955)
“If it is asserted that civilization is a real advance in the condition of man,—and I think that it is, though only the wise improve their advantages,—it must be shown that it has produced better dwellings without making them more costly; and the cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In the U.S. for instance, the value of a homemaker’s productive work has been imputed mostly when she was maimed or killed and insurance companies and/or the courts had to calculate the amount to pay her family in damages. Even at that, the rates were mostly pink collar and the big number was attributed to the husband’s pain and suffering.”
—Gloria Steinem (20th century)