pattern theory

[Chris Landauer]

catherine, kerry -

i have been interested in Grenander's pattern theory since i first heard of it,
though always a little worried about the tradeoff between operation and theory,
and wondering how the group theory would help
in situations that had most patterns asymmetric,
but the general notion and the framework it provides is _very_ interesting
to a reductionist mind:
patterns are made of parts and the parts have certain relationships,
and the group of symmetries of a relationship defines the changes
that do not make the pattern different

i am very interested in hearing more about the styles of formalism 
that pattern theory provides,
and in the kinds of descriptions that are allowed -
a formalism that only provides description is still useful,
because the units of description become better understood
and reasoning with them becomes easier,
but a formalism that allows analysis is better,
in my opinion
(this turns out to be the same argument i made about ODEs and PDEs
compared to ABMs a week or so ago)

i, too, would like to see a mumford reference,
since the mumford quotation seemed to be just right

more later,
cal

Dr. Christopher Landauer
National Systems Group, The Aerospace Corporation
The Hallmark Building, Suite 187
13873 Park Center Road, Herndon, Virginia 20171
e-mail: address@hidden
Phone: (703) 318-1666, FAX: (703) 318-5409


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