HR: 1330h
AN: C12A-0869    [PDF]
TI: Ice Crystals Inside the Bell
AU: * Puente, C
EM: cepuente@ucdavis.edu
AF: University of California, 223 Veihmeyer Hall, Davis, CA 95616 United States
AU: Puente, M
EM: martajuliao@yahoo.com
AF: University of California, 223 Veihmeyer Hall, Davis, CA 95616 United States
AB: A recent universal construction of bivariate Gaussian distributions, leading to unforeseen kaleidoscopic decompositions of circular bells in terms of a host of elegant patterns having arbitrary n-fold symmetries, is reviewed. It is shown, via a variety of examples, that such patterns, revealed by iterating simple affine mappings yielding space-filling fractal interpolating functions in three dimensions, encompass the common 6-fold geometric structure encountered in natural ice crystals. It is illustrated how both stellar and sectored crystals may be grown in the ``fullness of dimension'' via a variety of iteration schemes, leading to the conclusion that such sets are mathematical designs concealed inside the bell.
DE: 1863 Snow and ice (1827)
SC: Cryosphere [C]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting