On Nov 1, 2007 12:20 PM, Alan G Isaac <
aisaac@american.edu> wrote:
On Wed, 31 Oct 2007, Timothy Hochberg apparently wrote:
> because M**n results in the matrix power of n. It would be
> confusing if n**M did a broadcast element wise power.
In an attempt to summarize:
scalar to a matrix power
1. may have been overlooked, or may have been omitted as
confusing
2. if overlooked there are two possible answers as to what
it could reasonably be
a. a**m = exp(ln(a)*m) natural definition
For some definition of natural: it makes sense once you see it, but is seem like most people expected something else (in our four person sample, only one person came up with this definition -- not that that's good statistics.).
b. a**m = a**m.A broadcasting
In languages that provide an answer, I have the impression
that the answer is usually (b). (E.g., GAUSS.) However
perhaps in NumPy this is the least interesting way to go?
But it is what I was expecting.
I'd inclined to leave it unimplemented. It seems like it's likely to cause confusion and my impression is that it's not a common enough construction that having to use a function should be a big burden for most if not all people.