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THIS IS DOCUMENTATION FOR AN OBSOLETE PRODUCT.
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Numerical Evaluation & Precision
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Precision & Accuracy Control
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WorkingPrecision
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BUILT-IN MATHEMATICA SYMBOL
Numerical Integration
Tutorials »
|
PrecisionGoal
AccuracyGoal
Precision
Accuracy
N
Tolerance
See Also »
|
Differential Equations
Precision & Accuracy Control
Time Measurement & Optimization
Wavelet Analysis
More About »
WorkingPrecision
WorkingPrecision
is an option for various numerical operations that specifies how many digits of precision should be maintained in internal computations.
MORE INFORMATION
WorkingPrecision
is an option for such functions as
NIntegrate
and
FindRoot
.
Setting
WorkingPrecision
->
n
causes all internal computations to be done to at most
n
-digit precision.
Setting
WorkingPrecision
->
MachinePrecision
causes all internal computations to be done with machine numbers.
Even if internal computations are done to
n
-digit precision, the final results you get may have much lower precision.
EXAMPLES
CLOSE ALL
Basic Examples
(2)
Find a root using 60-digit precision arithmetic:
Solve a differential equation using 24-digit precision arithmetic:
Find a root using 60-digit precision arithmetic:
In[1]:=
Out[1]=
Solve a differential equation using 24-digit precision arithmetic:
In[1]:=
Out[1]=
In[2]:=
Out[2]=
Scope
(4)
Evaluate the function using 24-digit precision arithmetic:
Without higher precision you see mainly numerical roundoff error:
Approximate an integral using 24-digit precision arithmetic:
The
PrecisionGoal
is automatically increased to be 10 less than the working precision:
Find a minimum of a function, adaptively increasing the precision up to 50 digits:
The
PrecisionGoal
and
AccuracyGoal
are automatically set to be half the final precision:
Solve a differential equation with 32-digit precision arithmetic:
The
PrecisionGoal
and
AccuracyGoal
are set to be half of the working precision:
Using
InterpolationOrder
->
All
will reduce the errors between steps:
Applications
(1)
Check the quality of a solution to Duffing's equation by using a sequence of solution precisions:
Make a sequence of solutions at successively higher working precision:
A plot shows that some of the solutions deviate toward the end:
Plot the solution
as a function of working precision:
Convergence to the solution at the highest precision indicates about 6 digits can be trusted:
Possible Issues
(2)
Low-precision parameters in functions may invalidate the use of higher-precision arithmetic:
The result is a poor approximation to
:
Use of exact parameters allows comparison at different precisions:
Expect solution times to increase exponentially as a function of working precision:
A log plot of the computation time as a function of working precision:
SEE ALSO
PrecisionGoal
AccuracyGoal
Precision
Accuracy
N
Tolerance
TUTORIALS
Numerical Integration
MORE ABOUT
Differential Equations
Precision & Accuracy Control
Time Measurement & Optimization
Wavelet Analysis
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