MathGroup Archive 2002

[Date Index] [Thread Index] [Author Index]

Search the Archive

FindRoot on complex 'interval'

  • To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
  • Subject: [mg36943] FindRoot on complex 'interval'
  • From: David J Strozzi <dstrrozzi at MIT.EDU>
  • Date: Wed, 2 Oct 2002 03:33:44 -0400 (EDT)
  • Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com

Hello,

I am trying to use FindRoot in mathematica 4.0 to find the zeros of a 
complex-valued function of one complex variable.  In particular, I am 
looking for the one root with a positive imaginary part.  I have a rough 
approximation for where the root should be, and this is good enough to 
give a reasonable guess.

However, there are always two other roots near the one I want - one with 
0 imaginary part and another with negative imag part.  (For those who 
are interested, the zeros are the roots of the dispersion relation for a 
plasma interacting with a laser).  Sometimes FindRoot picks up one of 
these instead of the one I want.

So, I'd like to tell mathematica to look for a root only in a certain 
rectangular region of the complex plane.  Well, if I could tell it, 
'look for roots with imag. part > something', I'd be happy too.

I tried specifying complex values for the start and stop points of an 
interval, hoping mathematica would interpret these as the corners of a 
rectangle.  No such luck.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I'd also like to point out that this and other issues about complex 
roots are not clearly addressed in the built-in help files.

Thanks much.



  • Prev by Date: Re: Replacement problem
  • Next by Date: Return["expr"] in functions and nested loops
  • Previous by thread: Re: Text Rotation Problem
  • Next by thread: Re: FindRoot on complex 'interval'