Very strange Bug !?
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg13037] Very strange Bug !?
- From: M Blle Ramquet <MN.Ramquet at ulg.ac.be>
- Date: Sat, 4 Jul 1998 16:44:44 -0400
- Organization: Universite de Liege
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
Hi !
I just discovered something that amazed me. If you type
N[(-1)^{1/3}], it gives an imaginary answer !!! I've tried it out with
an old local release but it is still the same. Of course the problem is
the same for all cubic root of any negative number... I know that
purely, the root of a negative real is not well defined ... but anyway
it is commonly accepted that (-1)^{1/3} is -1 !!!
Can any guru of mathematica help me to sort out this mess ?
Cheers,
Marie N Blle