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A comment on Imaginary numbers are real. Parent comment

Re:Imaginary numbers are real by LadyCailin on Sunday July 24, 2022 @08:04AM (#32212613)
Haha, ok this blows my mind a little more now. This definitely helps me conceptualize the problem a bit better, even if I’m still not satisfied with it. I still feel like there is a better solution, like giving 0 a sign or something.
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Re:Imaginary numbers are real by kragen on Sunday July 24, 2022 @05:08PM (#32217745)
That is in fact what we do in IEEE 754 floating point! We have +0 and -0; 1/+0 = +∞ and 1/-0 = -∞. However, this means that IEEE 754 floating point violates substitutability, the most basic property of equality, because +0 == -0 but in some cases f(+0) ≠ f(-0).

You may enjoy Tom 7's paper/movie about this: http://tom7.org/nand/

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