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Re: 0^0 = 1?

• To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
• Subject: [mg95602] Re: [mg95555] 0^0 = 1?
• From: Murray Eisenberg <murray at math.umass.edu>
• Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2009 07:03:05 -0500 (EST)
• Organization: Mathematics & Statistics, Univ. of Mass./Amherst
• References: <200901211148.GAA12585@smc.vnet.net>
• Reply-to: murray at math.umass.edu

Yet another, defensible, possibility would be that 0^0 is 0.

This is a very old issue -- and I don't mean with Mathematica.  Many 
years ago I wrote a short note about this in the context of the APL 
programming language. My conclusion was that there is no really good 
answer, and what the value of 0^0 is should be a user-settable (global) 
option.

Of course such an option is available in Mathematica:

   Unprotect[Power]
   Power[0,0] = 1

ivflam at gmail.com wrote:
> Mathematica says 0^0 = Indeterminate
> Derive says 0^0 = 1
> 
> May I have any opinions?
> 
> Bruno
> 

-- 
Murray Eisenberg                     murray at math.umass.edu
Mathematics & Statistics Dept.
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University of Massachusetts                413 545-2859 (W)
710 North Pleasant Street            fax   413 545-1801
Amherst, MA 01003-9305