FOTD -- October 26, 2002 (Rating 8) Fractal visionaries and enthusiasts: The theory of supersymmetry is the latest fad in physics. It is supposed to show the way to the ultimate theory of (almost) everything (TOE). Included in the theory are a multitude of new 'sparticles', and mathematical abstractions known as super- strings, with perhaps 7 or more extra dimensions for the super- strings to twist, turn and vibrate in. The intersection of vibrating, multi-dimensional superstrings with our three-dimen- sional space is supposed to appear as the familiar 'particles' of traditional physics. None of this string-business has been directly observed, nor is it ever likely to be. The theory is so popular because the numbers can be made to add up. When I see stuff like this happening, I wonder whether we have really discovered a new part of outer reality, or are merely playing games with numbers and devising clever experiments until, purely by chance, we finally find a test that appears to confirm our expectations. Then I sit back and wonder whether the whole vision of the atomic world is nothing but a model of our own creation, and finally I look metaphysically through the Fractal Central window, out at the universe, and wonder the same. Of course, the TOE is not truly a theory of absolutely every- thing. Unless I have missed it, the theory does not suppose to tell what the superstrings are made of, (If it is energy, what is energy made of?), or why the strings exist in the first place. The theory also ignores the subjective world of thought and awareness. I suppose these inner things are shuffled aside because they are supposed to arise at a level above the quantum world. (Give metaphysicians the problem, then ignore and mock them because there is no way to test their theories.) Yes, I realize that you have been waiting for the connection to fractals, and here it is: I named today's image "Super Symme- try" because the filaments swirling around the central midget match my vision of what a superstring might look like . . . if it had an actual appearance, that is. I rated the image at an 8, because, with its rings of golden filaments on a blue back- ground, it is rather striking, and also because blue and gold are my old high-school colors. The parent fractal has the same nature as the most recent parents, with a central Mandeloid surrounded by a vast, sprawling suburban region of filaments and rings. Today's image is located on a filament inside a ring near the tip of a filament extending from a crooked bud on the east shoreline of the northern bay of the Mandeloid. I rendered the image in the default outside=iter manner. I used the passes=b option because it is very fast and works perfectly with this image. With the images' render time of one minute, finding the fastest rendering method is not very significant, however. But for the convenience of the non-renderers among us, the completed GIF image may be found on the internet at: <http://home.att.net/~Paul.N.Lee/FotD/FotD.html> and at: <http://sdboyd.dyndns.org/~sdboyd/fotd/index.html> The weather continued cloudy and chilly here at F.C. on Friday, but at least the morning was dry, which gave the dynamic duo the opportunity for a romp in the yard. Unfortunately, the temperature of 46F 8C was a bit too chilly for their sensitive ears, and they were back indoors within 20 minutes. In my world, it's once again Saturday morning, and all is well here at the fractal depot. If I'm lucky, I'll get through the day without doing any significant work. If I'm not lucky, anything could happen. So check again tomorrow to see what does happen. Until that stupendous moment, take care, and if a fractal crosses you, cross it right back. Jim Muth jamth@mindspring.com jimmuth@aol.com START 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE================================ Super_Symmetry { ; time=0:01:10.01--SF5 on a p200 reset=2002 type=formula formulafile=allinone.frm formulaname=MandelbrotMix4 function=recip passes=b center-mag=+1.39952239614267500/+0.861810516777948\ 40/1.685204e+008/1/-32.5/5.65059953147595273e-007 params=-2.5/-1.618034/-1.25/-3.236068/0/-67 float=y maxiter=350 inside=255 logmap=40 periodicity=10 colors=00000Q00Q00S00S01U02U03W04W05Y06Y07_08_09b0\ Ab0Je0Le0Mk0Nk0Pz0UzzzzzzzzsKzpIzlFziDmfBm9opGioMc\ oSYi`QchJYpCOhPF`aQbTDON0AH29F39D49B589687785BA8EC\ AIEDLGFOIISKKVMNYOPULSPIWKFZGCaW8CWGDWNDWVEWaEV`JU\ `NU_ST_WSZ`SZdbYelXfiUgfRhdOiaLi_IjXFkVDkWGeWJ_XMU\ XPPYSJYVDYY8UXBQXEMWHIWKEWNAVQ6VT3VW6TT8RQAQOCOLFM\ IHLGJJDLIBNHEOGHPFKQEMRDPSCSTBUPKNMSGJ`9Gh3Je7McAO\ aER_HUYKWWOZUR`SUbOZcKbdGffCjg8nh4ri1vfNfdURWVOOWL\ GXJCYK9ZL5_M2`M7aPBbRFcTKdVOeXSfZQgXPhVJiYEj_8ka3l\ cBmaJn_RoYZpWfqVarYXs`StcOufJviEwlAxnFynJznNznRznV\ znWzlWzjXziXzgYzfYzdYzcWzXUzRTzLRzFQz91zxDzfPzP`z7\ Vz7Pz7Jz7Dz7EzFEzMEzTEz_EzfEzmEztBzh8zY5zN3zCYz9_z\ C`zFazHczKdzNfzPgzShzUez_czd`ziZznWzsUzxWzwUzuTzsS\ zqRzoQzmPzkOzjNzeMz`LzWKzRTzdRz`PzYEzSGzTHzUJzVKzW\ MzXNzXVziazvKze2zPIzXXzdkzlzzttzrozqzzLpzOgzQYzSPz\ UGzWEzYCz_CziIzeBzPEzR000 } 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 20.0 PAR-FORMULA FILE==================================