Uploaded September 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A little mathematical curiosity for you today, a fractal made with a non-integer component. (z=z^τ + c). Tau (τ) is a mathematical constant equal to 2π. Tau is the ratio of a circle’s circumference and its radius, approximately 6.28. Actually, tau is not in popular in mathematics, the use of π is far more common. (π is the ratio of the diameter to the circumference). Here we use tau as the exponent (instead of 2) in the common Mandelbrot formula. Such use has no significant meaning other than general curiosity, but it does give us good excuse to inspect a fractal with a fractional exponent. These fractals are full of branch cuts. Please hit subscribe!
I'm slowly building a website, I'm going to try and publish more detailed information about each video. About this video: https://www.maths.town/videos/the-power-of-tau-video
Thank-you to my supporters on Patreon.
/********************************************************************************
Patreon: patreon.com/mathstown (Support, Downloads & Usage Rights)
Website: https://www.maths.town
Twitter: twitter.com/MathsTown
********************************************************************************/
Music: SoloAcoustic5 by audionautix.com (Creative Commons)
A little mathematical curiosity for you today, a fractal made with a non-integer component. (z=z^τ + c). Tau (τ) is a mathematical constant equal to 2π. Tau is the ratio of a circle’s circumference and its radius, approximately 6.28. Actually, tau is not in popular in mathematics, the use of π is far more common. (π is the ratio of the diameter to the circumference). Here we use tau as the exponent (instead of 2) in the common Mandelbrot formula. Such use has no significant meaning other than general curiosity, but it does give us good excuse to inspect a fractal with a fractional exponent. These fractals are full of branch cuts. Please hit subscribe!
I'm slowly building a website, I'm going to try and publish more detailed information about each video. About this video: https://www.maths.town/videos/the-power-of-tau-video
Thank-you to my supporters on Patreon.
/********************************************************************************
Patreon: patreon.com/mathstown (Support, Downloads & Usage Rights)
Website: https://www.maths.town
Twitter: twitter.com/MathsTown
********************************************************************************/
Music: SoloAcoustic5 by audionautix.com (Creative Commons)



![Line Trap - Mandelbrot Fractal Zoom [NFT]
This video is generated using the Line Trap method, which is an orbit trap based on a line. Orbit Traps tend to create interesting patterns in the otherwise featureless areas of zooms, and get very dense near the set itself.
This is an NFT from the Maths Collection. With the owners agreement it is published here with music added for everyone to enjoy (without ads). The music was chosen by the owner. https://opensea.io/collection/maths-town
This video will not be uploaded to Patreon.
/********************************************************************************
OpenSea: https://opensea.io/collection/maths-town
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MathsTown
Discord: http://discord.gg/wqayQhAT7W
Website: https://www.maths.town
********************************************************************************
The music is added from Epidemic Sound and it does not form part of the NFT. Line Trap - Mandelbrot Fractal Zoom [NFT]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yTxxEyOy1wQ/mqdefault.jpg)






