A Conversation for The Mandelbrot Set

The aerial in your mobile phone

Post 1

Vestboy

There was a programme on TV (here in Sydney) this week about Benoit Mandelbrot and the arguments that went on in mathematical circles when he announced his work to the world.

One mathematically inclined engineer, sorry I didn't note his name, was living in an apartment where the landlord would not allow large aerials or antennae to be attached to his property. The ingenious young man decided to bend some wire into a Mandelbrot shape and see if it would work better, without being any bigger. Magic! He had great reception. He took his discovery to the work bench and started looking at what Mandelbrot shapes worked best.

If you have a mobile phone the antenna/aerial inside it is a Mandelbrot shape and it serves several functions for picking up blue tooth, phone signals etc. which are in totally different parts of the spectrum.

I'm not a mathematician but I love how maths can be applied to everyday life when it is essentially a pure maths discovery in the first place.


The aerial in your mobile phone

Post 2

frleon

I suppose the trick is the increased length. There are also space-filling curves (I'm working on them right now) which may probably be suited as antennas.


The aerial in your mobile phone

Post 3

Vestboy

I got the impression that it was the shape rather than the overall length of the antenna that was the clever bit, but you could be right.


The aerial in your mobile phone

Post 4

ITIWBS

Ditto, and I think there may be some potential AI applications as well.


The aerial in your mobile phone

Post 5

dhardwick

Nathan Cohen made the improved antenna for his ham radio in his Boston apartment. See this link for more info:
http://www.ece.iit.edu/~pfelber/fractalantennas.pdf


The aerial in your mobile phone

Post 6

Vestboy

Thanks for filling that gap in my knowledge! smiley - ok


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