FRACTAL LIGHT FROM LASERS

Abstract Fractals are irregular shapes having self-similarity and scale invariance and have non-integral dimension. A concept of fractal theory and fractal geometry was put forward by Benoit B. Mandelbrot in early 1980’s, for the study of irregular shapes or non-Euclidean shapes. In nature we observe many irregular patterns. Snowflakes, clouds, mountains, coastlines, trees, lightning etc. which are examples of natural fractals.The standard mathematical fractal shapes can be described by: Koch Curve, Sierpinski Triangle famous Fractal Mandlebrot set,Julia set etc. Fractal dimension of an object can be non-integral number in contrast to Euclidian geometry. A non-integral dimension such as D = 1.2 or 1.4 indicates that the object is having dimensions between 1 and 2. It is the characteristic of a fractal object in which complete structure is comprised of its smallest part. Hence when each piece of a shape is like the whole, it is said to be self-similar. The perfect fractal which possess symmetry over all orders of magnitude are called regular fractals or perfect fractals. Geometrical figures ore examples of these. But Fractals found in nature obliviously exhibit scaling over a limited range. There are various methods to calculate the fractal dimensions. Recently the fractalsare also observed in laser beams.