View source for Lori Anne Gardi

{{Infobox scientist
| name = Lori Anne Gardi
| image = Lori Anne Gardi 2603.jpg
| alt = Lori Anne Gardi
| birth_date = {{birth date|1961|10|20|mf=y}}
| residence = London, Ontario, Canada
| nationality = Canadian
| fields = [[Software development]], [[medical imaging]], [[fractal cosmology]]
| workplaces = [[Robarts Research Institute]], [[Western University]]
| alma_mater = University of Western Ontario
| known_for = [[Fractal cosmology]], the [[Mandelbrot set]] as a model of the universe, the [[Buddhabrot]], [[3D ultrasound]] imaging software
}}

'''Lori Anne Gardi''' (born October 20, 1961), also known online as ''FractalWoman'', is a Canadian software developer and independent researcher based in London, Ontario. She works as a senior software developer in medical imaging at the [[Robarts Research Institute]] and [[Western University]], and is known outside the mainstream for her independent work on [[fractal cosmology]], in which she argues that the structure of the universe can be understood through the [[Mandelbrot set]].

== Biography ==

Gardi received a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Western Ontario (now Western University) in 1985. After graduating she worked full time in the Astronomy Department at Western, continuing a project she had begun as a summer student. There she designed and built a polarimeter controller used to investigate the magnetic fields of stars, developing the control software in assembly language on a Motorola HC11 single-chip microprocessor. She has described this period as her apprenticeship in how computers work.

When the Astronomy Department began downsizing and merging with Physics, Gardi changed careers and moved into the field of medical imaging. In 1993 she joined the team at the [[Robarts Research Institute]], one of the first groups to develop [[3D ultrasound]] technologies and their applications. Her main area of expertise being control software, she developed acquisition and calibration systems for 3D ultrasound guided biopsy and surgical procedures. She is named on several patents arising from this work and is a co-author of more than thirty peer-reviewed papers in the field of medical imaging, continuing this work at Robarts and Western.

== Work ==

=== Medical imaging ===

As a senior software developer at Robarts Research Institute and Western University, Gardi has worked on image-guided and robot-assisted medical imaging systems, contributing software for 3D ultrasound guided biopsy, prostate interventions, breast brachytherapy planning, and related surgical procedures. Her published medical-imaging research spans acquisition, calibration, and mechatronic systems for image-guided interventions.

== Fractal cosmology ==

Gardi's independent research into [[fractal cosmology]] began in the mid-1980s, after the [[Mandelbrot set]] algorithm was popularized by A. K. Dewdney's "Computer Recreations" column in ''Scientific American''. She first implemented the algorithm in BASIC on a Commodore 64 and has explored the set in increasing detail as computing power has grown, developing software able to render and zoom into the Mandelbrot set in near real time.

From this study Gardi developed the view that the Mandelbrot set is more than a mathematical curiosity, proposing that the universe is itself fractal in nature at all knowable scales. Her approach models the universe as an [[iterated function system]] analogous to the Mandelbrot iteration ''z'' = ''z''² + ''c'', where ''z'' and ''c'' are complex numbers. She has described the Mandelbrot set as a "quasi-black hole," suggesting that black-hole-like structures recur self-similarly across many scales, including the atomic and quantum scales. Rather than seeking to unify the forces of physics, she argues for "unifying scales" by calibrating physical relationships at one scale and applying them across all scales. Gardi coined the term "Bubblebrot" for a variant of the [[Buddhabrot]] rendering, which she treats as central to this body of work.

These ideas fall outside mainstream physics and cosmology. Gardi has presented her work at conferences of the Chappell Natural Philosophy Society (CNPS) and published articles through independent, non-mainstream outlets.

== Mathematical art ==

Gardi is also a digital and mathematical artist working under the name ''FractalWoman''. Her fractal renderings, including the works ''Bubblebrot-Buddhabrot'' and ''Singularity'' (both 2017), were exhibited in the Mathematical Art Galleries at the 2017 Bridges Conference on mathematics, art, and culture.

== Selected works ==

* "The Mandelbrot Set as a Quasi-Black Hole" (2017)
* "The Mandelbrot set and the fractal nature of light, the Universe, and everything"

== External links ==

* [https://fractalwoman.com/ FractalWoman.com] — personal website
* [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lori-Anne-Gardi ResearchGate profile]

[[Category:Scientist|Gardi Lori]]