Fractal Staircases in a Self-Referential Equation
November 1, 2026·9 min read
A blind computer search through eleven million self-referential rules turned up an equation with exact fractal staircase solutions. Their scales form a spectrum: a continuous branch for every scale from 2 up, and below it a discrete ladder through the plastic number that slides down to 1, where the staircases flatten into the golden ratio.