Diana Dabby, a professor at Olin College of Engineering in Needham who originally trained as a concert pianist, has developed a computer app called CantoVario that uses ideas from chaos theory to generate new musical variations from existing songs. Some variations sound almost unaltered, while others are unrecognizably minced up. In effect, it’s using math to generate inspiration. Dabby’s project is not yet well known, but it touches on a larger theme: Variation is at the heart of all kinds of creation, and she has invented a new way of generating it. Now, the principles of her work are being used to create new dance “chaography,” variations on rock climbing routes, and even a chaotic remix of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”