Coulomb Calligraphy

Abstract

The equilibrium configurations of N Coulomb charges confined by a harmonic potential in two dimensions are found to exhibit a wide variety of patterns that are pleasing to the eye, when adjacent points are joined up. We present a selection of these for N = 50. The patterns are reminiscent of early examples of algorithmic or computer-generated art, and might be of use for psycho-physical studies of the perception of structure and randomness. They could also find applications in the generation of recognisable symbols in an alphabet of infinite extent, easily generated and varied using the software that is provided here.