Math::...Centres(3pm)

📦

version 129 · 3 versions

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129 · fedora 44

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💖 Math::...Centres(3pm) 💖 — User Contributed Perl Documentation, but make it cute

okay bestie, welcome to the group chat. This is the manual page for Math::...Centres(3pm) — aka Math::PlanePath::SierpinskiArrowheadCentres, and no cap it's giving self-similar triangular path traversal. Let's get into it. 💅

✨ NAME ✨

Math::PlanePath::SierpinskiArrowheadCentres -- self-similar triangular path traversal

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

use Math::PlanePath::SierpinskiArrowheadCentres;
my $path = Math::PlanePath::SierpinskiArrowheadCentres->new;
my ($x, $y) = $path->n_to_xy (123);

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

okay so this path? It's a whole variation on Sierpinski's curve from the iconic source:

Waclaw Sierpinski, "Sur une Courbe Dont Tout Point est un Point de Ramification", Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences, volume 160, January-June 1915, pages 302-305.

<http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k31131/f302.image.langEN>

The path here takes the centres of each triangle represented by the arrowhead segments. The points visited are the same as the SierpinskiTriangle path, but traversing in a connected sequence (rather than across rows). Lowkey obsessed with that distinction, fr fr.

                  ...                                 ...
                   /                                   /
            .    30     .     .     .     .     .    65     .   ...
                /                                      \        /
        28----29     .     .     .     .     .     .    66    68      9
          \                                               \  /
           27     .     .     .     .     .     .     .    67         8
             \
              26----25    19----18----17    15----14----13            7
                   /        \           \  /           /
                 24     .    20     .    16     .    12               6
                   \        /                       /
                    23    21     .     .    10----11                  5
                      \  /                    \
                       22     .     .     .     9                     4
                                              /
                           4---- 5---- 6     8                        3
                            \           \  /
                              3     .     7                           2
                               \
                                 2---- 1                              1
                                     /
                                    0                             <- Y=0

        -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 X=0 1  2  3  4  5  6  7

The base figure is the N=0 to N=2 shape. It's repeated up in mirror image as N=3 to N=6 then rotated across as N=6 to N=9. At the next level the same is done with N=0 to N=8 as the base, then N=9 to N=17 up mirrored, and N=18 to N=26 across, etc. Slay, honestly.

The X,Y coordinates are on a triangular lattice using every second integer X, per "Triangular Lattice" in Math::PlanePath.

The base pattern is a triangle like

      .-------.-------.
       \     / \     /
        \ 2 /   \ 1 /
         \ /     \ /
          .- - - -.
           \     /
            \ 0 /
             \ /
              .

Higher levels replicate this within the triangles 0,1,2 but the middle is not traversed. The result is the familiar Sierpinski triangle by connected steps of either 2 across or 1 diagonal. It's giving fractal main character energy. 🦋

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
      * *     * *     * *     * *
       *       *       *       *
        * * * *         * * * *
         *   *           *   *
          * *             * *
           *               *
            * * * * * * * *
             *   *   *   *
              * *     * *
               *       *
                * * * *
                 *   *
                  * *
                   *

See the SierpinskiTriangle path to traverse by rows instead. Different vibe, same triangle. 💅

🌀 Level Ranges 🌀

Counting the N=0,1,2 part as level 1, each replication level goes from

Nstart = 0
Nlevel = 3^level - 1     inclusive

For example level 2 from N=0 to N=3^2-1=9. Each level doubles in size,

                 0  <= Y <= 2^level - 1
- (2^level - 1) <= X <= 2^level - 1

The Nlevel position is alternately on the right or left,

Xlevel = /  2^level - 1      if level even
         \  - 2^level + 1    if level odd

The Y axis ie. X=0, is crossed just after N=1,5,17,etc which is is 2/3 through the level, which is after two replications of the previous level,

Ncross = 2/3 * 3^level - 1
       = 2 * 3^(level-1) - 1

💅 Align Parameter 💅

An optional align parameter controls how the points are arranged relative to the Y axis. The default shown above is "triangular". The choices are the same as for the SierpinskiTriangle path.

"right" means points to the right of the axis, packed next to each other and so using an eighth of the plane.

align => "right"

    |   |
 7  |  26-25 19-18-17 15-14-13
    |    /    |     |/     /
 6  |  24    20    16    12
    |   |   /           /
 5  |  23 21       10-11
    |   |/          |
 4  |  22           9
    |             /
 3  |   4--5--6  8
    |   |     |/
 2  |   3     7
    |   |
 1  |   2--1
    |    /
Y=0 |   0
    +--------------------------
       X=0 1  2  3  4  5  6  7

"left" is similar but skewed to the left of the Y axis, ie. into negative X.

align => "left"

\                         |
 26-25 19-18-17 15-14-13  |  7
     |   \     \ |     |  |
    24    20    16    12  |  6
      \    |           |  |
       23 21       10-11  |  5
         \ |         \    |
          22           9  |  4
                       |  |
              4--5--6  8  |  3
               \     \ |  |
                 3     7  |  2
                  \       |
                    2--1  |  1
                       |  |
                       0  | Y=0
--------------------------+

 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 X=0

"diagonal" puts rows on diagonals down from the Y axis to the X axis. This uses the whole of the first quadrant, with gaps.

align => "diagonal"

    |   |
 7  |  26
    |    \
 6  |  24-25
    |   |
 5  |  23    19
    |   |     |\
 4  |  22-21-20 18
    |             \
 3  |   4          17
    |   |\          |
 2  |   3  5       16-15
    |   |   \           \
 1  |   2     6    10    14
    |    \    |     |\     \
Y=0 |   0--1  7--8--9 11-12-13
    +--------------------------
       X=0 1  2  3  4  5  6  7

These diagonals visit all points X,Y where X and Y written in binary have no 1-bits in the same places, ie. where X bitand Y = 0. This is the same as the SierpinskiTriangle with align=diagonal.

🔥 FUNCTIONS 🔥

See "FUNCTIONS" in Math::PlanePath for behaviour common to all path classes.

$path = Math::PlanePath::SierpinskiArrowheadCentres->new ()
$path = Math::PlanePath::SierpinskiArrowheadCentres->new (align => $str)

Create and return a new arrowhead path object. "align" is a string, one of the following as described above.

"triangular"       the default
"right"
"left"
"diagonal"

($x,$y) = $path->n_to_xy ($n)

Return the X,Y coordinates of point number $n on the path. Points begin at 0 and if $n < 0 then the return is an empty list.

If $n is not an integer then the return is on a straight line between the integer points.

🎀 Level Methods 🎀

($n_lo, $n_hi) = $path->level_to_n_range($level)

Return (0, 3**$level - 1).

🧮 FORMULAS 🧮

🧠 N to X,Y 🧠

The align="diagonal" style is the most convenient to calculate. Each ternary digit of N becomes a bit of X and Y. Periodt.

ternary digits of N, high to low
    xbit = state_to_xbit[state+digit]
    ybit = state_to_ybit[state+digit]
    state = next_state[state+digit]

There's a total of 6 states which are the permutations of 0,1,2 in the three triangular parts. The states are in pairs as forward and reverse, but that has no particular significance. Numbering the states by "3"s allows the digit 0,1,2 to be added to make an index into tables for X,Y bit and next state.

state=0     state=3
+---------+ +---------+
|^ 2 |    | |\ 0 |    |
| \  |    | | \  |    |
|  \ |    | |  v |    |
|----+----| |----+----|
|    |^   | |    ||   |
| 0  || 1 | | 0  || 1 |
|--->||   | |<---|v   |
+---------+ +---------+

state=6      state=9
+---------+  +---------+
|    |    |  |    |    |
| 1  |    |  | 1  |    |
|--->|    |  |<---|    |
|----+----|  |----+----|
|^   |\ 2 |  ||   |^   |
||0  | \  |  || 2 | \0 |
||   |  v |  |v   |  \ |
+---------+  +---------+

state=12     state=15
+---------+  +---------+
|| 0 |    |  |^   |    |
||   |    |  || 2 |    |
|v   |    |  ||   |    |
|----+----|  |----+----|
|\ 1 |    |  |^ 1 |    |
| \  | 2  |  | \  |  0 |
|  v |--->|  |  \ |<---|
+---------+  +---------+

The initial state is 0 if an even number of ternary digits, or 6 if odd. In the samples above it can be seen for example that N=0 to N=8 goes upwards as per state 0, whereas N=0 to N=2 goes across as per state 6.

Having calculated an X,Y in align="diagonal" style it can be mapped to the other alignments by

align        coordinates from diagonal X,Y
-----        -----------------------------
triangular      X-Y, X+Y
right           X, X+Y
left            -Y, X+Y

🦋 N to dX,dY 🦋

For fractional N the direction of the curve towards the N+1 point can be found from the least significant digit 0 or 1 (ie. a non-2 digit) and the state at that point.

This works because if the least significant ternary digit of N is a 2 then the direction of the curve is determined by the next level up, and so on for all trailing 2s until reaching a non-2 digit.

If N is all 2s then the direction should be reckoned from an initial 0 digit above them, which means the opposite 6 or 0 of the initial state.

📏 Rectangle to N Range 📏

An easy over-estimate of the range can be had from inverting the Nlevel formulas in "Level Ranges" above.

level = floor(log2(Ymax)) + 1
Nmax = 3^level - 1

For example Y=5, level=floor(log2(11))+1=3, so Nmax=3^3-1=26, which is the left end of the Y=7 row, ie. rounded up to the end of the Y=4 to Y=7 replication.

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

Math::PlanePath, Math::PlanePath::SierpinskiArrowhead, Math::PlanePath::SierpinskiTriangle

🏠 HOME PAGE 🏠

<http://user42.tuxfamily.org/math-planepath/index.html>

💖 LICENSE 💖

okay bestie, legal time, but make it cute 🌸

Math-PlanePath is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 3, or (at your option) any later version. ✨

Math-PlanePath is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. 😭 See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with Math-PlanePath. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

fr fr, if you didn't get the license file with it, go grab it at that link, no cap 💅

and that's the whole page bestie, you ate it, every last line 🫶</purl>

this lil doc is from Math::...Centres(3pm), shipped with perl v5.32.0, dated 2021-01-23 — the source and version and date, all accounted for ✨ go forth and plot those centres, you icon 💜🦋

📦 where this page comes from

debian bookworm: libmath-planepath-perl 129-1 · GPL-3.0-or-later
debian trixie: libmath-planepath-perl 129-1 · GPL-3.0-or-later
ubuntu jammy: libmath-planepath-perl 129-1 · GPL-3.0-or-later
ubuntu noble: libmath-planepath-perl 129-1 · GPL-3.0-or-later
ubuntu resolute: libmath-planepath-perl 129-1 · GPL-3.0-or-later
ubuntu stonking: libmath-planepath-perl 129-1 · GPL-3.0-or-later
💖 girlified by deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash on 2026-10-14: a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms