Fractal states of the Schwinger model The lattice Schwinger model, the discrete version of QED in 1 + 1 dimensions, is a well-studied test bench for lattice gauge theories. Here, we study the fractal properties of this model. We reveal the self-similarity of the ground state, which allows us to develop a recurrent procedure for finding the ground-state wave functions and predicting ground-state energies. We present the results of recurrently calculating ground-state wave functions using the fractal Ansatz and automized software package for fractal image processing. In certain parameter regimes, just a few terms are enough for our recurrent procedure to predict ground-state energies close to the exact ones for several hundreds of sites. Our findings pave the way to understanding the complexity of calculating many-body wave functions in terms of their fractal properties as well as finding new links between condensed matter and high-energy lattice models. 132 5 American Physical Society 1