Addresses in fractals

Addresses of a square

For concreteness in the two-dimensional case, we consider the transformations
T3(x, y) = (x/2, y/2) + (0, 1/2) T4(x, y) = (x/2, y/2) + (1/2, 1/2)
T1(x, y) = (x/2, y/2) T2(x, y) = (x/2, y/2) + (1/2, 0)
These generate the filled-in unit square S. That is,
S = T1(S) ∪ T2(S) ∪ T3(S) ∪ T4(S),
with overlaps only along edges.
To each of the 1/2 × 1/2 squares Ti(S) we associate the length 1 address i.
Each of these squares can be subdivided by iterating this decomposition process. For example,
T1(S) = T1T1(S) ∪ T1T2(S) ∪ T1T3(S) ∪ T1T4(S).
To each of the 1/4 × 1/4 squares TiTj(S) we associate the length 2 address ij,
and so on.
In order of application, addresses are read right to left: the left-most digit is the index of most recent transformation applied.
Because this seems confusing sometimes, we emphasize the order of addresses is consistent with the order of composition of functions: ij is the address of TiTj(S).
Click the picture to animate.
Another way to think of addresses is as relative coordinates. The 1/4 × 1/4 squares with addresses 11, 12, 13, and 14 are the 1, 2, 3, and 4 parts of 1.

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