Stanislaw Ulam: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As	Stanislaw Marcin Ulam
Born	April 13, 1909 • Ukraine
Died	May 13, 1984 (aged 75) • Santa Fe • New Mexico
Subjects Of Study	Monte Carlo method • Ulam spiral • set theory • thermonuclear reaction • Teller-Ulam configuration • atomic bomb

Photos

Diagram showing the Teller-Ulam two-stage thermonuclear bomb design, with four labeled stages: a chemical explosion in the primary fission core, X-ray transfer and compression, ignition of a secondary fusion stage, and fusion fuel detonation. Key components such as the fission fuel, uranium tamper, and polystyrene foam are illustrated and labeled.

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$Mandelbrot setDuring the late 20th century, Polish mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot helped popularize the fractal that bears his name. The fundamental set contains all complex numbers C such that the iterative equation Zn + 1 = Zn2 + C stays finite for all n starting with Z0 = 0. As shown here, the set of points that remain finite through all iterations is white, with darker colours showing how quickly other values diverge to infinity. The fractal edge between points that remain finite and those that diverge to infinity is extremely complicated, with self-repeating features that can be seen at all scales.$