Abstract. We reformulate the notion of connectedness for compact metric spaces in a manner that may be implemented computationally. In particular, our techniques can distinguish between sets that are connected, have a finite number of connected components, have infinitely many connected components, or are totally disconnected. We hope that this approach will prove useful for studying structures in the phase space of dynamical systems.

Mathematics Subject Classification: 54D05, 58F13, 68U05

Print publication: Issue 4 (July 1998)
Received 7 October 1997