Re: Division by zero

Hi Christopher,

Indeed, defining x^0 = 1 for any x makes most sense. The pow() function
from standard C even returns 1 when x is NaN. This definition can also
be used with Q, so 0^0 is equal to Q^0. Quite elegant.

Thanks,

Nicolas


Proginoskes wrote:
Nicolas.Capens@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
Hi all,

I have a theory to work with division by zero, and it might have some
use in computer science.

I got inspired by Dr. Anderson's 'nullity' number:
http://www.bookofparagon.com/News/News_00012.htm. But as far as I know
it doesn't solve any real problem. At the best he proves that by
allowing a nullity number off the real number line, 0^0 = 0 / 0,
[...]
Any thoughts about this?

0^0 is defined to be 1, at least everywhere I've seen it. This is
mainly so that polynomial and power series manipulations give the
answers that you would expect them to.

Of course, 0^0 is an indeterminate form, but in that case you're
looking at functions which are approaching 0 (and not a "static" 0).

--- Christopher Heckman

.

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