MultiplyNum , CachedConstant , NewtonNum , SumTaylorNum , IntPowerNum , BinSplitNum, BinSplitData, BinSplitFinal , MathSetExactBits, MathGetExactBits .

# Arbitrary-precision numerical programming

This chapter contains functions that help programming numerical calculations with arbitrary precision.

MultiplyNum | optimized numerical multiplication
CachedConstant | precompute multiple-precision constants
NewtonNum | low-level optimized Newton's iterations
SumTaylorNum | optimized numerical evaluation of Taylor series
IntPowerNum | optimized computation of integer powers
BinSplitNum, BinSplitData, BinSplitFinal | computations of series by the binary splitting method
MathSetExactBits, MathGetExactBits | manipulate precision of floating-point numbers

###

MultiplyNum -- optimized numerical multiplication

##### Standard library

##### Calling format:

    MultiplyNum(x,y)
    MultiplyNum(x,y,z,...)
    MultiplyNum({x,y,z,...})

##### Parameters:

`x`, `y`, `z` -- integer, rational or floating-point numbers to multiply

##### Description:

The function `MultiplyNum` is used to speed up multiplication of floating-point numbers with rational numbers. Suppose we need to compute p/q*x where p, q are integers and x is a floating-point number. At high precision, it is faster to multiply x by an integer p and divide by an integer q than to compute p/q to high precision and then multiply by x. The function `MultiplyNum` performs this optimization.

The function accepts any number of arguments (not less than two) or a list of numbers. The result is always a floating-point number (even if `Numeric` is not set).

##### See also:

MathMultiply .

###

CachedConstant -- precompute multiple-precision constants

##### Standard library

##### Calling format:

    CachedConstant(cache, Cname, Cfunc)

##### Parameters:

`cache` -- atom, name of the cache

`Cname` -- atom, name of the constant

`Cfunc` -- expression that evaluates the constant

##### Description:

This function is used to create precomputed multiple-precision values of constants. Caching these values will save time if they are frequently used.

The call to `CachedConstant` defines a new function named `Cname()` that returns the value of the constant at given precision. If the precision is increased, the value will be recalculated as necessary, otherwise calling `Cname()` will take very little time.

The parameter `Cfunc` must be an expression that can be evaluated and returns the value of the desired constant at the current precision. (Most arbitrary-precision mathematical functions do this by default.)

The associative list `cache` contains elements of the form `{Cname, prec, value}`, as illustrated in the example. If this list does not exist, it will be created.

This mechanism is currently used by `N()` to precompute the values of Pi and gamma. The name of the cache for `N()` is `CacheOfConstantsN`. The code in the function `N()` assigns unevaluated calls to `Pi()` and `gamma()` to the atoms `Pi` and `gamma` and declares them `LazyGlobal`. The result is that the constants will be recalculated only when they are used in the expression under `N()`. In other words, the code in `N()` does the equivalent of

    Pi := Hold(Pi());
    gamma := Hold(gamma());
    LazyGlobal(Pi);
    LazyGlobal(gamma);

After this, evaluating an expression such as `1/2+gamma` will call the function `gamma()` but not the function `Pi()`.

##### Example:

    In> CachedConstant( my'cache, Ln2, LnNum(2) )
    Out> 0.6931471806;
    In> Ln2
    Out> Ln2;
    In> Ln2()
    Out> 0.6931471806;
    In> [ Precision(20); V( Ln2() ); ]
    CachedConstant: Info: constant Ln2 is being
      recalculated at precision 20
    Out> 0.69314718055994530942;
    In> my'cache
    Out> {{"Ln2",20,0.69314718055994530942}};

##### See also:

N , Pi() , Precision , gamma .

###

NewtonNum -- low-level optimized Newton's iterations

##### Standard library

##### Calling format:

    NewtonNum(func, x0, prec0, order)
    NewtonNum(func, x0, prec0)
    NewtonNum(func, x0)

##### Parameters:

`func` -- a function specifying the iteration sequence

`x0` -- initial value (must be close enough to the root)

`prec0` -- initial precision (at least 4, default 5)

`order` -- convergence order (typically 2 or 3, default 2)

##### Description:

This function is an optimized interface for computing Newton's iteration sequences for numerical solution of equations in arbitrary precision.

`NewtonNum` will iterate the given function starting from the initial value, until the sequence converges within current precision. Initially, up to 5 iterations at the initial precision `prec0` is performed (the low precision is set for speed). The initial value `x0` must be close enough to the root so that the initial iterations converge. If the sequence does not produce even a single correct digit of the root after these initial iterations, an error message is printed. The default value of the initial precision is 5.

The `order` parameter should give the convergence order of the scheme. Normally, Newton iteration converges quadratically (so the default value is `order`=2) but some schemes converge faster and you can speed up this function by specifying the correct order. (Caution: if you give `order`=3 but the sequence is actually quadratic, the result will be silently incorrect. It is safe to use `order`=2.)

##### Example:

    In> Precision(20)
    Out> True;
    In> NewtonNum({{x}, x+Sin(x)}, 3, 5, 3)
    Out> 3.14159265358979323846;

##### See also:

Newton .

###

SumTaylorNum -- optimized numerical evaluation of Taylor series

##### Standard library

##### Calling format:

    SumTaylorNum(x, NthTerm, order)
    SumTaylorNum(x, NthTerm, TermFactor, order)
    SumTaylorNum(x, ZerothTerm, TermFactor, order)

##### Parameters:

`NthTerm` -- a function specifying n-th coefficient of the series

`ZerothTerm` -- value of the 0-th coefficient of the series

`x` -- number, value of the expansion variable

`TermFactor` -- a function specifying the ratio of n-th term to the previous one

`order` -- power of x in the last term

##### Description:

`SumTaylorNum` computes a Taylor series Sum(k,0,n,a[k]*x^k) numerically. This function allows very efficient computations of functions given by Taylor series, although some tweaking of the parameters is required for good results.

The coefficients a[k] of the Taylor series are given as functions of one integer variable (k). It is convenient to pass them to `SumTaylorNum` as closures. For example, if a function `a(k)` is defined, then

    SumTaylorNum(x, {{k}, a(k)}, n)

computes the series Sum(k,0,n,a(k)*x^k).

Often a simple relation between successive coefficients a[k-1], a[k] of the series is available; usually they are related by a rational factor. In this case, the second form of `SumTaylorNum` should be used because it will compute the series faster. The function `TermFactor` applied to an integer k>=1 must return the ratio a[k]/a[k-1]. (If possible, the function `TermFactor` should return a rational number and not a floating-point number.) The function `NthTerm` may also be given, but the current implementation only calls `NthTerm(0)` and obtains all other coefficients by using `TermFactor`. Instead of the function `NthTerm`, a number giving the 0-th term can be given.

The algorithm is described elsewhere in the documentation. The number of terms `order`+1 must be specified and a sufficiently high precision must be preset in advance to achieve the desired accuracy. (The function `SumTaylorNum` does not change the current precision.)

##### Examples:

To compute 20 digits of Exp(1) using the Taylor series, one needs 21 digits of working precision and 21 terms of the series.

    In> Precision(21)
    Out> True;
    In> SumTaylorNum(1, {{k},1/k!}, 21)
    Out> 2.718281828459045235351;
    In> SumTaylorNum(1, 1, {{k},1/k}, 21)
    Out> 2.71828182845904523535;
    In> SumTaylorNum(1, {{k},1/k!}, {{k},1/k}, 21)
    Out> 2.71828182845904523535;
    In> RoundTo(N(Ln(%)),20)
    Out> 1;

##### See also:

Taylor .

###

IntPowerNum -- optimized computation of integer powers

##### Standard library

##### Calling format:

    IntPowerNum(x, n, mult, unity)

##### Parameters:

`x` -- a number or an expression

`n` -- a non-negative integer (power to raise `x` to)

`mult` -- a function that performs one multiplication

`unity` -- value of the unity with respect to that multiplication

##### Description:

`IntPowerNum` computes the power x^n using the fast binary algorithm. It can compute integer powers with n>=0 in any ring where multiplication with unity is defined. The multiplication function and the unity element must be specified. The number of multiplications is no more than 2*Ln(n)/Ln(2).

Mathematically, this function is a generalization of `MathPower` to rings other than that of real numbers.

In the current implementation, the `unity` argument is only used when the given power `n` is zero.

##### Examples:

For efficient numerical calculations, the `MathMultiply` function can be passed:

    In> IntPowerNum(3, 3, MathMultiply,1)
    Out> 27;

Otherwise, the usual `*` operator suffices:

    In> IntPowerNum(3+4*I, 3, *,1)
    Out> Complex(-117,44);
    In> IntPowerNum(HilbertMatrix(2), 4, *,
      Identity(2))
    Out> {{289/144,29/27},{29/27,745/1296}};

Compute Mod(3^100,7):

    In> IntPowerNum(3,100,{{x,y},Mod(x*y,7)},1)
    Out> 4;

##### See also:

MultiplyNum , MathPower , MatrixPower .

###

BinSplitNum, BinSplitData, BinSplitFinal -- computations of series by the binary splitting method

##### Standard library

##### Calling format:

    BinSplitNum(n1, n2, a, b, c, d)
    BinSplitData(n1,n2, a, b, c, d)
    BinSplitFinal({P,Q,B,T})

##### Parameters:

`n1`, `n2` -- integers, initial and final indices for summation

`a`, `b`, `c`, `d` -- functions of one argument, coefficients of the series

`P`, `Q`, `B`, `T` -- numbers, intermediate data as returned by `BinSplitData`

##### Description:

The binary splitting method is an efficient way to evaluate many series when fast multiplication is available and when the series contains only rational numbers. The function `BinSplitNum` evaluates a series of the form

S(n[1],n[2])=Sum(k,n[1],n[2],a(k)/b(k)*p(0)/q(0)*...*p(k)/q(k)).
Most series for elementary and special functions at rational points are of this form when the functions a(k), b(k), p(k), q(k) are chosen appropriately.

The last four arguments of `BinSplitNum` are functions of one argument that give the coefficients a(k), b(k), p(k), q(k). In most cases these will be short integers that are simple to determine. The binary splitting method will work also for non-integer coefficients, but the calculation will take much longer in that case.

Note: the binary splitting method outperforms the straightforward summation only if the multiplication of integers is faster than quadratic in the number of digits. See the algorithm documentation for more information.

The two other functions are low-level functions that allow a finer control over the calculation. The use of the low-level routines allows checkpointing or parallelization of a binary splitting calculation.

The binary splitting method recursively reduces the calculation of S(n[1],n[2]) to the same calculation for the two halves of the interval [n[1], n[2]]. The intermediate results of a binary splitting calculation are returned by `BinSplitData` and consist of four integers P, Q, B, T. These four integers are converted into the final answer S by the routine `BinSplitFinal` using the relation

S=T/(B*Q).

##### Examples:

Compute the series for e=Exp(1) using binary splitting. (We start from n=1 to simplify the coefficient functions.)

    In> Precision(21)
    Out> True;
    In>  BinSplitNum(1,21, {{k},1},
      {{k},1},{{k},1},{{k},k})
    Out> 1.718281828459045235359;
    In> N(Exp(1)-1)
    Out> 1.71828182845904523536;
    In>  BinSplitData(1,21, {{k},1},
      {{k},1},{{k},1},{{k},k})
    Out> {1,51090942171709440000,1,
      87788637532500240022};
    In> BinSplitFinal(%)
    Out> 1.718281828459045235359;

##### See also:

SumTaylorNum .

###

MathSetExactBits, MathGetExactBits -- manipulate precision of floating-point numbers

##### Internal function

##### Calling format:

    MathGetExactBits(x)
    MathSetExactBits(x,bits)

##### Parameters:

`x` -- an expression evaluating to a floating-point number

`bits` -- integer, number of bits

##### Description:

Each floating-point number in Yacas has an internal precision counter that stores the number of exact bits in the mantissa. The number of exact bits is automatically updated after each arithmetic operation to reflect the gain or loss of precision due to round-off. The functions `MathGetExactBits`, `MathSetExactBits` allow to query or set the precision flags of individual number objects.

`MathGetExactBits(x)` returns an integer number n such that `x` represents a real number in the interval [ x*(1-2^(-n)), x*(1+2^(-n))] if x!=0 and in the interval [-2^(-n), 2^(-n)] if x=0. The integer n is always nonnegative unless `x` is zero (a "floating zero"). A floating zero can have a negative value of the number n of exact bits.

These functions are only meaningful for floating-point numbers. (All integers are always exact.) For integer `x`, the function `MathGetExactBits` returns the bit count of `x` and the function `MathSetExactBits` returns the unmodified integer `x`.

##### Examples:

The default precision of 10 decimals corresponds to 33 bits:

    In> MathGetExactBits(1000.123)
    Out> 33;
    In> x:=MathSetExactBits(10., 20)
    Out> 10.;
    In> MathGetExactBits(x)
    Out> 20;

Prepare a "floating zero" representing an interval [-4, 4]:

    In> x:=MathSetExactBits(0., -2)
    Out> 0.;
    In> x=0
    Out> True;

##### See also:

Precision , GetPrecision .