Characterises an iterated function system whose attractor is close to a given set
In mathematics, the collage theorem characterises an iterated function system whose attractor is close, relative to the Hausdorff metric, to a given set. The IFS described is composed of contractions whose images, as a collage or union when mapping the given set, are arbitrarily close to the given set. It is typically used in fractal compression.
Let
be a complete metric space.
Suppose
is a nonempty, compact subset of
and let
be given.
Choose an iterated function system (IFS)
with contractivity factor
where
(the contractivity factor
of the IFS is the maximum of the contractivity factors of the maps
). Suppose

where
is the Hausdorff metric. Then

where A is the attractor of the IFS. Equivalently,
, for all nonempty, compact subsets L of
.
Informally, If
is close to being stabilized by the IFS, then
is also close to being the attractor of the IFS.