Video Image

Video URL

http://youtu.be/qJfh8hy6NZ8

Video Description

For more than 25 years, I have been exploring the Mandelbrot Set as a source of insight into Cosmology. My research into the possible connections of this mathematical object with natural law has brought me into fascinating areas of Mathematics and Physics, and this video is my introduction of that work to the rest of the world.

Video Creator Bio

Jonathan Dickau is a multi-faceted individual, with skills that span academic, artistic, and technical endeavors. He has had an inquisitive mind, since an early age, and he has never quite grown up. Since winning a Grammy award for recording Pete Seeger's album "At 89," Jonathan has explored ways he can help the human race to better harmonize with Mother Earth and heal humanity's insults to the planetary biosphere. He lives in upstate New York and works in Audio and Video production, while devoting increasing amounts of time to both writing and academic studies - especially Physics and Mathematics.

I'd like to welcome folks to my comments page for this video. While I intended to make my entry longer, and more informative, I'll now be putting the remaining content into the next installment(s). But feel free to ask any questions here that you like. I'll be posting links to additional content on this subject, and to my formula sets, for those who wish to explore the Mandelbrot Butterfly and related figures further on their own.

All the Best,

Jonathan

    Hi folks,

    I wanted to post this link:

    Additional documents about the Mandelbrot Set and Cosmology

    The link is to a folder filled with documents. It contains the poster, text sidebars, and proceedings paper for the 2nd Crisis in Cosmology conference, slides for a talk I was supposed to give at the 12th Frontiers in Fundamental Physics conference, and a paper in progress intended for Prespacetime Journal.

    More may be added, from time to time, to this folder.

    All the Best,

    Jonathan

      Oh and also included..

      There is a PDF where one can see the butterfly's wings and the discs stripped away - one layer at a time - and then put back in place. In addition, I included an HTML file MisiuMath, which is my first foray into putting typeset Math on web pages using MathJax.

      Enjoy,

      Jonathan

      Hi everybody,

      While I'm working on the 2nd part of my contest video; I thought you might like to see some images of the Mandelbrot Butterfly set to Music. So I created a Fractal Music Video, to accompany my FQXi contest entry - featuring the butterfly figure. For people who like to watch colorful fractal zooms, this video is for you. Please choose HD720 in settings, if your connection supports it.

      Mandelbrot Butterfly Safari

      The theme is a piece I wrote and performed "Spacy Racy Music," which has a strong and persistent beat provided by my friend Mr. Zoom, that should make it more appealing to younger folks. But people can get exposure to the Mandelbrot Butterfly this way, without having to put up with a boring lecture.

      All the Best,

      Jonathan

      I want folks to know that my video was rendered in HD720, to assure the highest possible quality of delivery on the web. The little icon that looks like a gear, on the YouTube player, is your settings tab. If you want to see my FQXi contest entry in the full quality it was uploaded with please choose that setting.

      All the Best,

      Jonathan

      Thanks Gino!

      I appreciate the interest in my work. I'll be sure to take in your video and comment on that blog page.

      All the Best,

      Jonathan

      To Joe and others,

      I take a rather different view of Physics from Max Tegmark, but I'm in complete agreement or consonance with several elements of his Mathematical Universe model. On some level; my views are closer to Phil Gibbs' "Theory of Theories" concept, where all of the applicable Maths relevant to a particular Physics topic all coexist somewhere in theoretical space - and contribute to a sort of Path Integral that describes the actual Physics we observe.

      In my formulation; the reason why objects like E8 have relevance to Physics is that they are extraordinary or exceptional - in reflecting an extremum of some natural organizing principle. In this way; E8 may be the maximal example of preserved internal symmetries while the Mandelbrot Set is the extremum of symmetry breaking and the ultimate example thereof. If it can help us to catalog the ways in which symmetry is broken; it is arguably of great value to Physics. This is true regardless of whether one happens to be a Platonist.

      All the Best,

      Jonathan

        I should add..

        While I am not a particular fan of String Theory; I agree with one of its main assumptions - that we must consider what happens in higher dimensions, in order to fully understand the Physics we observe in a 3-d universe. Accordingly; my work with the Mandelbrot Set also projects beyond the 2-d realm, into higher dimensions.

        I want it to be known that part of the relevance of the Mandelbrot Set to Physics extends from the fact it exists in the hyper-complex domain, as well as ordinary complex numbers. There is a Quaternion and an Octonion Mandelbrot Set, for which the version we see is a 2-d projection. So by studying the progression of forms along the periphery of the 2-d version, we can evaluate time evolutive properties of natural systems without having to consider all the complexities.

        Regards,

        Jonathan

        5 days later

        Jonathan,

        Thank you for commenting and rating part 2 of my "This Is Physics" trilogy... but you've started by the middle! Luckily, part 2 is fairly self-contained, but parts 1 and 3 are the best in my opinion... I hope you have the time to see the rest, and leave ratings (especially for part 3 which is trailing in numbers of ratings).

        I had watched your video weeks ago, but didn't rate it then... because I didn't know what rating to give to it! It is very well produced, with very nice images of mathematical structures, and your voice is very pleasing and well recorded... and there's your intriguing proposal of a relationship between the Mandelbrot set and fundamental physics, which, if it pans out, would be quite revolutionary! On the other hand, as an entry to this video contest, your video suffers by being only a "teaser" of things that are to come or are to be found elsewhere... so it is a little bit of a let down...

        The rating I will leave now to your video reflects these mixed feelings about your entry, but as 10 is the magical number of votes to be even considered for the finals, it is a small boost nevertheless.

        Good luck in the contest, and better luck still in your ambitious research program!

        Marc

          Dear Jonathan!

          Okay, I'm hooked. Tell me more.

          I guess I remain, in general, a skeptic with regard to deducing physics from mathematics (but not vice versa)... but your video makes a good case for starting with the sophisticated simplicity of Mandelbrot.

          Well done!

          Norman

            Hi Jonathan,

            Nice introduction and preview of your work in progress. I am looking forward to see the rest. Good luck with the contest. You watched one of my videos already, but if you have time, I would appreciate if you will watch and rate my other one, The puzzle of quantum reality.

            Best regards,

            Cristi

              Dear Jonathan,

              Thank you ever so much for rating my video and for your amusing comment about its musical quality. All of my previous comments about your video seem to have disappeared from this site and perhaps that was for the best.

              Joe Fisher

                An interesting video, Jonathan. I'd love to hear in more detail exactly what conclusions you can draw from the the Mandelbrot set with regards to the structure of the universe. A self-similar structure on small scales? Keep me posted!

                Also, it would be really great if you could take the time to watch our video "What is Supersymmetry?" and rate it. Thanks so much.

                Will+Katie

                  I borrowed an evil Window's computer so I could look at the video list and rate things!

                  Your video was definitely more fun and friendly than many of the others, and was very intriguing to me personally, though I'm not sure it really fits the goals of this particular contest.

                  Thanks for sharing it, though!

                    Jonathan,

                    Congratulations on getting your 10th community vote! The last part of my trilogy "This Is Physics" has been stuck at 9 votes for a few days, and since you left a comment (and presumably a vote) on part 2, I am trying my luck with you! The last part of my video deals with the incompatibility of General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics, and lists some of the open questions (but by no means all) that Physics will have to tackle in the future. I hope you enjoy it! Here's the direct link:

                    Physics Into Darkness

                    Thank you, and good luck in the contest!

                    Marc

                      11 days later

                      You have done a great job!!!

                      Please go through my video also and rate it and give me your valuable suggestions... The topic of my video is - PHYSICS THE ODYSSEY...

                      Regards

                        Thanks Marc,

                        I greatly appreciate the thoughtful comments. I also know that my video is unfinished, or just a teaser, so I hope the more to come works out well.

                        Jonathan