SHES 2402 ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS

TUTORIAL 4

1. A fractal known as the Cantor dust can be constructed as follows. Start-

ing (n = 0) with a solid unit square, we divide it into 9 equal parts, and then
dig out the cells in the middle row and column so that only four solid cells
remain at the four corners. We then repeat the preceding operation for the
remaining solid cells infinitely many times.

a) Find the Hausdorff dimension of the Cantor dust.

b) The “dust particles” produced from this procedure have a weird property.
Show that in the limit n → ∞, the sum of all dust particles has zero area,
but an infinite perimeter!

2. The Sierpinski carpet is a fractal generated using the following rule. Start-
ing (n = 0) with a solid unit square, we divide it into 9 equal parts, and then
dig out the middle cell. We then repeat this procedure for the remaining
solid cells ad infinitum. Find the Hausdorff dimension of the Sierpinski car-
pet. Show that in the limit n → ∞, this carpet has zero area.

Remarks: The vain emperor in Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Emperor

and His New Clothes” may in fact be wearing cloth with Sierpinski carpet
patterns, if such cloth can be made physically!

KTF 2009/2010(2)