decimal arithmetic and beyond...
On (Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:03:44 -0600) Baker Kearfott wrote:
> P.S. Although the following comment might be slightly out-of-order,
> bringing up decimal arithmetic, on second thought, is intriguing.
> Since there are two factors (2 and 5) in the base, a larger range
> of numbers can be represented exactly. Because of that, there
> might be less build-up of overestimation in some instances when
> decimal interval arithmetic is used.
Shall we promote Babylonian arithmetic too? (Base 60) ;-)
As for rational arithmetic, Arnold took a first step, with his
ratpow(xx, p, q) function. Perhaps a ratmul(xx, p, q) function
would be useful too. Here, p and q are not intervals, but plain
integers (whether packaged as exact floats or machine integers).
Michel.
Sent: 2008-11-11 20:45:09 UTC