Fractal Dimension
Introduction
A fractal dimension is a statistical quantity that describes how a fractal appears to fill space. A fractal is an object that displays a property known as self-similarity, i.e. a geometric shape that can be reduced to smaller parts, with each smaller part being a reduced copy of the whole. There are several specific definitions of fractal dimensions, but the most important ones include Renyi dimensions and Haussdorf dimensions.
Examples of fractals
Figure 1. Koch snowflake
There are many examples of fractals in nature. A koch snowflake is an idealization (and a good one) of an actual snowflake. Figure 1 shows the first four iterations of a Koch snowflake. If we continue with the iterations infinitely, we will have a Koch snowflake and the length of curve between any two points is infinite. The fractal dimension of a fractal line can be understood intuitively to describe an object that is too big to be a one-dimensional object, but too thin to be a two-dimensional object.
A non-exhaustive list of fractals and their fractal dimension can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fractals_by_Hausdorff_dimension
