## Archive for August, 2022

### Space-Filling Curves, Part II: Computing the Limit Function

The Approximating Functions

It is simple to define a mapping from the unit interval ${I := [0,1]}$ into the unit square ${Q:=[0,1]\times[0,1]}$. Georg Cantor found a one-to-one map from ${I}$ onto ${Q}$, showing that the one-dimensional interval and the two-dimensional square have the same cardinality. Cantor’s map was not continuous, but Giuseppe Peano found a continuous surjection from ${I}$ onto ${Q}$, that is, a curve that fills the entire unit square. Shortly afterwards, David Hilbert found an even simpler space-filling curve, which we discussed in Part I of this post.

### Space-Filling Curves, Part I: “I see it, but I don’t believe it”

We are all familiar with the concept of dimension: a point is zero-dimensional, a line is one-dimensional, a plane is two-dimensional and the space around us is three-dimensional. A position on a line can be specified by a single number, such as the distance from a fixed origin. In the plane, a point can be located by giving its Cartesian coordinates ${(x,y)}$, or its polar coordinates ${(\rho,\theta)}$. In space, we may specify the location by giving three numbers ${(x,y,z)}$.