CNCS Center for Nonlinear and Complex Systems
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Publications [#246567] of Henry Greenside

Papers Published

  1. Epureanu, BI; Greenside, HS, Fractal basins of attraction associated with a damped Newton's method, SIAM Review, vol. 40 no. 1 (January, 1998), pp. 102-109, Society for Industrial & Applied Mathematics (SIAM) [doi]
    (last updated on 2024/04/19)

    Abstract:
    An intriguing and unexpected result for students learning numerical analysis is that Newton's method, applied to the simple polynomial z3 - 1 = 0 in the complex plane, leads to intricately interwoven basins of attraction of the roots. As an example of an interesting open question that may help to stimulate student interest in numerical analysis, we investigate the question of whether a damping method, which is designed to increase the likelihood of convergence for Newton's method, modifies the fractal structure of the basin boundaries. The overlap of the frontiers of numerical analysis and nonlinear dynamics provides many other problems that can help to make numerical analysis courses interesting.