Mathematics 225 - Fractal Geometry

This course is a mathematical treatment of fractal geometry, a field of mathematics partly developed by Benoit Mandelbrot (1924–2010) that continues to be actively researched in the present day. Fractal geometry is a mathematical examination of the concepts of self-similarity, fractals, and chaos, and their applications to the modeling of natural phenomena. In particular, we will develop the iterated function system (IFS) method for describing fractals, examine Julia sets, Mandelbrot sets, and study the concept of fractal dimension, among other things. Through the teaching of these concepts, the course will also lend itself to familiarizing students with some of the formalisms and rigor of mathematical proofs.

Requisite: MATH 211 or consent of the instructor. Limited to 35 students.  Professor Folsom.