 When we apply this generalization of dimensionality to the geometric structure of strange attractors, we often find noninteger dimensionality. Roughly this means that if we try to apply the same procedure of “filling” the structure formed by the strange attractor with small squares or cubes, in the limit as \(\varepsilon\) approaches zero the result is noninteger. Whether one is examining a set of nonlinear mathematical equations or analyzing the time series data from an experiment, the presence of self-similarity or noninteger dimension are indications that the chaotic behavior of the system under study is dissipative (nonconservative, doesn’t conserve energy) rather than Hamiltonian (does conservative energy). 