Should numpy.sqrt(-1) return 1j rather than nan?

[Greg Willden]

On 10/11/06, Travis Oliphant <oliphant at ee.byu.edu> wrote:
>
> Stefan van der Walt wrote:
> >Further, if I understand correctly, changing sqrt and power to give
> >the right answer by default will slow things down somewhat.  But is it
> >worth sacrificing intuitive usage for speed?
> >
> For NumPy, yes.
>
> This is one reason that NumPy by itself is not a MATLAB replacement.


This is not about being a Matlab replacement.
This is about correctness.
Numpy purports to handle complex numbers.
Mathematically, sqrt(-1) is a complex number.
Therefore Numpy *must* return a complex number.
Speed should not take precedence over correctness.

If Numpy doesn't return a complex number then it shouldn't pretend to
support complex numbers.

Greg

-- 
Linux.  Because rebooting is for adding hardware.
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