Cantor Set

Gaps, dust fraction, ternary self-similarity
distributionaldim fractal (~0.631)3 metrics

What It Measures

How gappy the signal's ternary address space is.

Each byte is re-interpreted as a base-3 address into the unit interval, the way the classical Cantor set construction works: each bit selects "left third" or "right third," skipping the middle. The resulting coordinates cluster around Cantor-set-like positions if the data has ternary self-similarity, or spread uniformly if it doesn't. The geometry then measures the gap structure of these coordinates.

Metrics

coverage

Fraction of distinct embedded coordinates relative to total data length. Sprott-B, Projectile, and Damped Pendulum score 0.016 (many repeated coordinates — smooth dynamics map many different byte values to the same Cantor address). Fibonacci word scores 0.0001 (its binary structure creates extreme degeneracy in ternary representation). High coverage means the data explores many distinct positions in the Cantor embedding; low coverage means it collapses to a dust-like subset.

max_gap

The largest gap between adjacent sorted coordinates. L-System Dragon, Morse code, and Rule 110 all hit 1.0 (a gap spanning the full interval — the data avoids an entire region of the ternary address space). Collatz gap lengths scores 0.005 (tiny gaps, nearly uniform coverage). A large max_gap means the data has a forbidden zone in its ternary structure, like the middle third removed in the classical Cantor construction.

mean_gap

Average spacing between consecutive sorted coordinates. Accel walk, Kepler exoplanet, and Zipf distribution cluster at 6.1e-5 (tightly packed — many distinct coordinates with small gaps). Collatz gap lengths scores 7.8e-7 (extremely dense). Mean gap complements max_gap: a signal can have large max_gap but small mean_gap if it has one big hole and is densely packed everywhere else.

Atlas Rankings

coverage
SourceDomainValue
Sprott-Bchaos0.0156
Projectile with Dragmotion0.0156
Damped Pendulummotion0.0156
···
Constant 0xFFnoise0.0000
Constant 0x00noise0.0000
Fibonacci Wordexotic0.0001
max_gap
SourceDomainValue
L-System (Dragon Curve)exotic0.9998
Morse Codewaveform0.9998
Rule 110exotic0.9998
···
Constant 0xFFnoise0.0000
Constant 0x00noise0.0000
Collatz Gap Lengthsnumber_theory0.0051
mean_gap
SourceDomainValue
Accel Walkmotion0.0001
Kepler Exoplanetastro0.0001
Zipf Distributionexotic0.0001
···
Constant 0xFFnoise0.0000
Constant 0x00noise0.0000
Collatz Gap Lengthsnumber_theory0.0000

When It Lights Up

Cantor Set geometry detects structure in the low bits of byte values — the ternary address depends on the full bit pattern, not just the magnitude. Signals with repetitive low-bit patterns (periodic orbits, symbolic dynamics) produce degenerate Cantor embeddings with extreme gaps. In the atlas, the combination of low coverage and high max_gap identifies signals whose byte values avoid specific ternary regions, which is a different kind of regularity than the distributional uniformity measured by Torus or Wasserstein.

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