Erika Hamden

Columbia University, PhD Candidate

Strange Shapes: Spirals, Polygons, and Fractals in the Universe

Nature is full of strange regularities. Things which at first glance seem chaotic and random can turn out to have surprising order and symmetry. Certain patterns tend to recur in vastly different contexts for reasons that scientists do not yet entirely understand. I will highlight some of the forms and structures that are repeated throughout the universe, from the smallest to the largest scales.