MAKE THE MATHEMATICS YOURSELF
Finite orbit constellations in C
A complete program. Standard C, a compiler, and the rule behind the shape.

FROM SOURCE TO SHAPE
Run it in three steps.
- Save the source.
Download quadratic-orbit-basin.c into a folder on your computer.
- Compile it.
In that folder, run this with GCC or Clang:
cc -std=c11 -O2 quadratic-orbit-basin.c -lm -o quadratic-orbit-basin - Make the image.
./quadratic-orbit-basinOpen
quadratic-orbit-basin.svgin a browser to see the result.
On Windows with GCC, name the executable quadratic-orbit-basin.exe and run it from the same folder.
THE RULE IN THE PROGRAM
How the picture is built
Follow every state under x*x+constant modulo modulus until it repeats. Radius records the tail length; color records the smallest state in its eventual cycle.
Make it your own
modulus=97, constant=1
Exact finite-state cycles are shown. Connecting segments have no arrowheads; geometry is a chosen encoding and overlapping lines are not new states. Each run produces one image; use Graphic mode for the interactive animation.
/* Arithmos: quadratic-orbit-basin
* Compile: cc -std=c11 -O2 quadratic-orbit-basin.c -lm -o quadratic-orbit-basin
* Run: ./quadratic-orbit-basin
* Output: quadratic-orbit-basin.svg (open this file in a browser)
* Optional output path: ./quadratic-orbit-basin my-image.svg
* Edit the constants in draw() to explore another case.
*/
#include <math.h>
#include <stdint.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
static FILE *nt_out;
#define NT_PI 3.14159265358979323846
/* The small SVG writer keeps this program free of graphics dependencies.
* Coordinates are pixels on a 1000 x 700 drawing surface.
* t runs from 0 to 1 through mint, blue, rose, and gold.
*/
static inline void nt_color(double t, char hex[8]) {
const double stops[4][3] = {
{91,227,201}, {128,146,240}, {218,138,220}, {244,200,127}
};
t = fmax(0.0, fmin(1.0,t)) * 3.0;
int band = (int)fmin(2.0,floor(t));
double blend = t - band;
int r[3];
for (int k=0;k<3;k++) r[k]=(int)lround(stops[band][k]*(1.0-blend)+stops[band+1][k]*blend);
snprintf(hex,8,"#%02x%02x%02x",r[0],r[1],r[2]);
}
static inline void nt_line(double x,double y,double X,double Y,double t,double alpha,double width) {
char color[8];nt_color(t,color);
fprintf(nt_out,"<path d=\"M%.3f %.3f L%.3f %.3f\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"%s\" stroke-opacity=\"%.3f\" stroke-width=\"%.3f\"/>\n",x,y,X,Y,color,alpha,width);
}
static inline void nt_dot(double x,double y,double r,double t,double alpha) {
char color[8];nt_color(t,color);
fprintf(nt_out,"<circle cx=\"%.3f\" cy=\"%.3f\" r=\"%.3f\" fill=\"%s\" fill-opacity=\"%.3f\"/>\n",x,y,r,color,alpha);
}
static inline void nt_circle(double x,double y,double r,double t,double alpha,double width) {
char color[8];nt_color(t,color);
fprintf(nt_out,"<circle cx=\"%.3f\" cy=\"%.3f\" r=\"%.3f\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"%s\" stroke-opacity=\"%.3f\" stroke-width=\"%.3f\"/>\n",x,y,r,color,alpha,width);
}
static inline void nt_rect(double x,double y,double w,double h,double t,double alpha) {
char color[8];nt_color(t,color);
fprintf(nt_out,"<rect x=\"%.3f\" y=\"%.3f\" width=\"%.3f\" height=\"%.3f\" fill=\"%s\" fill-opacity=\"%.3f\"/>\n",x,y,w,h,color,alpha);
}
static inline void nt_text(double x,double y,const char *text) {
fprintf(nt_out,"<text x=\"%.3f\" y=\"%.3f\" fill=\"#ededf3\" font-family=\"monospace\" font-size=\"16\">",x,y);
for (;*text;text++) {
if (*text=='&') fputs("&",nt_out);
else if (*text=='<') fputs("<",nt_out);
else if (*text=='>') fputs(">",nt_out);
else fputc(*text,nt_out);
}
fputs("</text>\n",nt_out);
}
static inline int nt_gcd(int a,int b) {a=abs(a);b=abs(b);while(b){int r=a%b;a=b;b=r;}return a;}
static inline int nt_prime(int n) {if(n<2)return 0;for(int d=2;d<=n/d;d++)if(n%d==0)return 0;return 1;}
/* Finite functional graph; radius records steps before entering a cycle. */
static void draw(void) {
const int modulus=97,constant=1; /* Editable positive modulus, constant. */
int *seen=malloc((size_t)modulus*sizeof *seen);
int *path=malloc((size_t)modulus*sizeof *path);
int *depth=calloc((size_t)modulus,sizeof *depth);
int *cycle=calloc((size_t)modulus,sizeof *cycle);
if(!seen||!path||!depth||!cycle){free(seen);free(path);free(depth);free(cycle);return;}
int maxdepth=0;
for(int k=0;k<modulus;++k){
for(int j=0;j<modulus;++j)seen[j]=-1;
int x=k,length=0;
while(seen[x]<0){
seen[x]=length;path[length++]=x;
x=(x*x+constant)%modulus;if(x<0)x+=modulus;
}
depth[k]=seen[x];cycle[k]=path[seen[x]];
for(int j=seen[x];j<length;++j)if(path[j]<cycle[k])cycle[k]=path[j];
if(depth[k]>maxdepth)maxdepth=depth[k];
}
double unit=282/(1+.16*maxdepth);
for(int k=0;k<modulus;++k){
int j=(k*k+constant)%modulus;if(j<0)j+=modulus;
double a=2*NT_PI*k/modulus-NT_PI/2,b=2*NT_PI*j/modulus-NT_PI/2;
double r=unit*(1+.16*depth[k]),s=unit*(1+.16*depth[j]);
nt_line(500+r*cos(a),345-r*sin(a),500+s*cos(b),345-s*sin(b),
(double)cycle[k]/modulus,.6,1.15);
}
for(int k=0;k<modulus;++k){
double a=2*NT_PI*k/modulus-NT_PI/2,r=unit*(1+.16*depth[k]);
nt_dot(500+r*cos(a),345-r*sin(a),2.6,(double)cycle[k]/modulus,1);
}
nt_text(45,675,"Quadratic modular map. Radius: tail length. Color: eventual cycle identity.");
free(seen);free(path);free(depth);free(cycle);
}
int main(int argc, char **argv) {
if (argc > 2) {
fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s [OUTPUT.svg]\n", argv[0]);
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
const char *filename = argc == 2 ? argv[1] : "quadratic-orbit-basin.svg";
nt_out = fopen(filename, "wb");
if (!nt_out) { perror(filename); return EXIT_FAILURE; }
fputs("<svg xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\" width=\"1000\" height=\"700\" viewBox=\"0 0 1000 700\">\n"
"<rect width=\"1000\" height=\"700\" fill=\"#171721\"/>\n", nt_out);
draw();
fputs("</svg>\n", nt_out);
int failed = ferror(nt_out);
if (fclose(nt_out) != 0) failed = 1;
if (failed) { fputs("Could not finish writing the image.\n", stderr); return EXIT_FAILURE; }
printf("Wrote %s\n", filename);
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
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