Random walk through the forest
Each layer in this image was generated by the same method.
A graph (to a computer scientist) is a set of nodes and arcs connecting them. A tree is one kind of graph- a network with no loops in it. A "rooted tree" makes one node special- it's the "root"; for any node, the nodes connected to it that are farther from the root are called the "children" of that node.
Each layer in this image was generated with a tree. Each node in these trees had four children, except the nodes (because the computer only has a limited amount of memory) that have no children at all. Every node was reachable from the root node with at most eight jumps from node to node (a CS person would say the tree has a "depth" of eight).
Each node's four children had positions that were based off of the parent node. The generation of the picture starts out by plotting a point at the position of each node. Then the nodes get jostled a small amount (taking their children with them), and they are plotted again. Repeat this about 4000 times, and you get one of the layers used in this image. The process of taking a point and jostling it about by tiny random increments many times is called a "random walk".
And now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be off to take an actual walk with my Love.
A graph (to a computer scientist) is a set of nodes and arcs connecting them. A tree is one kind of graph- a network with no loops in it. A "rooted tree" makes one node special- it's the "root"; for any node, the nodes connected to it that are farther from the root are called the "children" of that node.
Each layer in this image was generated with a tree. Each node in these trees had four children, except the nodes (because the computer only has a limited amount of memory) that have no children at all. Every node was reachable from the root node with at most eight jumps from node to node (a CS person would say the tree has a "depth" of eight).
Each node's four children had positions that were based off of the parent node. The generation of the picture starts out by plotting a point at the position of each node. Then the nodes get jostled a small amount (taking their children with them), and they are plotted again. Repeat this about 4000 times, and you get one of the layers used in this image. The process of taking a point and jostling it about by tiny random increments many times is called a "random walk".
And now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be off to take an actual walk with my Love.