Re:What does 0^0 equal? Why do mathematicians and high schoo...
by lotharbot on Thursday August 25, 2011 @12:49AM
(#2923799)
> "people either do it like this, or do not define 0^0 at all, which I'm fighting against."
I think it's silly to fight against it. There are circumstances in which leaving it undefined is good, and in which trying to define it as 1 would lead to either misunderstandings (in the case of beginners doing limits, a case you are too quick to dismiss) or actually incorrect (an equivalent problem in the hyperreals could violate the transfer principle).
It's a broad convention, but it is not universal, and it shouldn't be.
I think it's silly to fight against it. There are circumstances in which leaving it undefined is good, and in which trying to define it as 1 would lead to either misunderstandings (in the case of beginners doing limits, a case you are too quick to dismiss) or actually incorrect (an equivalent problem in the hyperreals could violate the transfer principle).
It's a broad convention, but it is not universal, and it shouldn't be.