[Tutor] Complex roots

[Dick Moores]

Hmm, sounds like something to sink my teeth into for a while. Thanks for 
just enough of a hint as to how to go about it.

But on second thought, how about another hint. How are imaginary roots 
approximated? For each root, do you try to approximate root.real and 
root.imag simultaneously, or what? Sounds mind-boggling. Maybe I should 
start by approximating real roots, if they exist; and cut my teeth on 
quadratic equations where b**2 - 4*a*c >= 0! Or linear equations.

Thank you.

Dick Moores

Alan Gauld wrote at 09:25 12/12/2004:
> > Are these "numerical approximation methods" pythonically possible?
> >
>
>Yes and that's how they are normally found - not necessarily with
>Python,
>but by applying computer simulations of the equations. Generally you
>calculate values in ever decreasing increments until you get enough
>accuracy. eg you discover a zero crossingh between 3 and 4, then
>between 3.3 and 3.4 then between 3.36 and 3.37 and so on...
>
>Caveat:
>You also need to look out for double crossings within a single step
>change, so don't make the steps too big. And check the number of
>roots you expect versus the number you get as an error detection
>scheme.
>
>Alan G.