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0 pointsOskarS4y ago0 comments

Yeah, you call tan() on that number, and suddenly your interval is like most of the number line. Actually, you don't even have to be that fancy: if the number is close to epsilon, the error bars on 1/x would be huge.

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crazygringo4y ago

But isn't that a feature, rather than a bug? It prevents you from getting "false accuracy".

klyrs4y ago

Yes, that's a feature. If you're using interval arithmetic and your result is an unreasonably large interval, then there's a good chance the algorithm in use is numerically unstable.

yarg4y ago

Sure, but what's the use case for mathematics where you don't know what side of an asymptote you're on?

thaumasiotes4y ago

>> if the number is close to epsilon, the error bars on 1/x would be huge.

> Sure, but what's the use case for mathematics where you don't know what side of an asymptote you're on?

Knowing which side of the asymptote you're on does not solve this problem or even ameliorate it.

yarg4y ago

That's not what I'm saying - it seems to me to be programmer error that such a question is being asked (an exception should be thrown regardless, since the result is not of a usable quality).

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crazygringo4y ago

But isn't that a feature, rather than a bug? It prevents you from getting "false accuracy".

klyrs4y ago

Yes, that's a feature. If you're using interval arithmetic and your result is an unreasonably large interval, then there's a good chance the algorithm in use is numerically unstable.

yarg4y ago

Sure, but what's the use case for mathematics where you don't know what side of an asymptote you're on?

thaumasiotes4y ago

>> if the number is close to epsilon, the error bars on 1/x would be huge.

> Sure, but what's the use case for mathematics where you don't know what side of an asymptote you're on?

Knowing which side of the asymptote you're on does not solve this problem or even ameliorate it.

yarg4y ago

That's not what I'm saying - it seems to me to be programmer error that such a question is being asked (an exception should be thrown regardless, since the result is not of a usable quality).

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse