Re: Why Indeterminate?
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg118525] Re: Why Indeterminate?
- From: Andrzej Kozlowski <akoz at mimuw.edu.pl>
- Date: Sun, 1 May 2011 06:21:30 -0400 (EDT)
On 30 Apr 2011, at 11:53, Themis Matsoukas wrote: > Consider this expression: > > A[a_List, x_] := x (1 - x) \!\( > \*UnderoverscriptBox[\(\[Sum]\), \(j = 1\), \(2\)] > \*FractionBox[\(a[[j]] > \*SuperscriptBox[\((1 - 2\ x)\), \(j - 1\)]\), \(1 - > a[[3]] \((1 - 2 x)\)\)]\) > a = Range[3]; > > Evaluation at x=0.5 gives > > A[a, 0.5] > > Indeterminate > > ..but I can get the right answer if I use > > A[a, x] /. x -> 0.5 > > 0.25 > > What puzzles me is that there is no obvious indeterminacy in the original expression at x=0.5. > > Thanks > > Themis > Actually, there is. Note that, in Mathematica, x^0 is 1 but 0^0 is Indeterminate. Andrzej Kozlowski