Difference between revisions of "Self-similarity"

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* [[Chaos theory]]
 
* [[Chaos theory]]
 
* [[Fractal]]
 
* [[Fractal]]
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* [[Mathematical object]]
 
* [[Mathematics]]
 
* [[Mathematics]]
* [[Object (mathematics)]]
 
 
* [[Scale invariance]]
 
* [[Scale invariance]]
 
* [[Similarity (geometry)]]
 
* [[Similarity (geometry)]]

Revision as of 07:12, 6 September 2015

In mathematics, a self-similar object is exactly or approximately similar to a part of itself (i.e. the whole has the same shape as one or more of the parts).

Description

Many objects in the real world, such as coastlines, are statistically self-similar: parts of them show the same statistical properties at many scales.

Fractals

Self-similarity is a typical property of fractals.

Scale invariance

Scale invariance is an exact form of self-similarity where at any magnification there is a smaller piece of the object that is similar to the whole.

For instance, a side of the Koch snowflake is both symmetrical and scale-invariant; it can be continually magnified 3x without changing shape.

Characteristics

The non-trivial similarity evident in fractals is distinguished by their fine structure, or detail on arbitrarily small scales.

Counterexample

As a counterexample, whereas any portion of a straight line may resemble the whole, further detail is not revealed.

See also

External links