Generator

inverse-sides

One function in the inverse library, called 2 times across 2 essays. Below: what it draws at its defaults, what it draws at every value an essay asks for, the 5 claims it put to the test while drawing them, and where it stands against the rule this site is named for.

At its defaults it draws ‖ax̂ − i‖ and ‖x̂a − i‖ for a computed hilbert inverse, to n = 12. Two residuals of the same computed inverse, each divided by ‖A‖‖X̂‖ so both are dimensionless. The exact inverse satisfies both to zero. The computed one satisfies ‖AX̂ − I‖ at 3.5·10⁻¹⁸ — the side its columns were solved along — and ‖X̂A − I‖ at 6.8·10⁻¹⁶, 195 times larger, at n = 12. Each column of X̂ is the exact solution of a slightly perturbed system, but a different perturbation for each column, so there is no single nearby matrix whose inverse X̂ is.

inverse-sides is one function in lib/figures/inverse.js — the inverse — an object almost nobody needs, and the backward error of forming it. Everything below came out of it during this build, at arguments taken from the essays rather than invented for this page. A figure here is the figure a reader meets in an essay, and if the generator changes, this page changes with it.

At its defaults

Drawn even though every essay passes arguments — which on this site is every essay, at 100% of placements since the standard pass. A default nothing exercises is a trap for the next essay to call this with none, and this is the page where a default that has drifted from the figures around it becomes visible.

‖AX̂ − I‖ and ‖X̂A − I‖ for a computed Hilbert inverse, to n = 12Two residuals of the same computed inverse, each divided by ‖A‖‖X̂‖ so both are dimensionless. The exact inverse satisfies both to zero. The computed one satisfies ‖AX̂ − I‖ at 3.5·10⁻¹⁸ — the side its columns were solved along — and ‖X̂A − I‖ at 6.8·10⁻¹⁶, 195 times larger, at n = 12. Each column of X̂ is the exact solution of a slightly perturbed system, but a different perturbation for each column, so there is no single nearby matrix whose inverse X̂ is.468101210⁻²⁰10⁻¹⁹10⁻¹⁸10⁻¹⁷10⁻¹⁶10⁻¹⁵10⁻¹⁴10⁻¹³nresidual / (‖A‖ ‖X̂‖)‖X̂A − I‖‖AX̂ − I‖the two sides, comparedn = 6, ratio6.4n = 8, ratio8.3n = 10, ratio82n = 12, ratio195the exact inverse satisfies bothand the computed one satisfies the side it was computed along

Two residuals of the same computed inverse, each divided by ‖A‖‖X̂‖ so both are dimensionless. The exact inverse satisfies both to zero. The computed one satisfies ‖AX̂ − I‖ at 3.5·10⁻¹⁸ — the side its columns were solved along — and ‖X̂A − I‖ at 6.8·10⁻¹⁶, 195 times larger, at n = 12. Each column of X̂ is the exact solution of a slightly perturbed system, but a different perturbation for each column, so there is no single nearby matrix whose inverse X̂ is.

nMax: 12

The arguments are the ones A condition number scaling cannot move passes. A value drawn at the generator's defaults instead would be a picture no essay asked for and no assertion has been run against.

‖AX̂ − I‖ and ‖X̂A − I‖ for a computed Hilbert inverse, to n = 12Two residuals of the same computed inverse, each divided by ‖A‖‖X̂‖ so both are dimensionless. The exact inverse satisfies both to zero. The computed one satisfies ‖AX̂ − I‖ at 3.5·10⁻¹⁸ — the side its columns were solved along — and ‖X̂A − I‖ at 6.8·10⁻¹⁶, 195 times larger, at n = 12. Each column of X̂ is the exact solution of a slightly perturbed system, but a different perturbation for each column, so there is no single nearby matrix whose inverse X̂ is.468101210⁻²⁰10⁻¹⁹10⁻¹⁸10⁻¹⁷10⁻¹⁶10⁻¹⁵10⁻¹⁴10⁻¹³nresidual / (‖A‖ ‖X̂‖)‖X̂A − I‖‖AX̂ − I‖the two sides, comparedn = 6, ratio6.4n = 8, ratio8.3n = 10, ratio82n = 12, ratio195the exact inverse satisfies bothand the computed one satisfies the side it was computed along

Two residuals of the same computed inverse, each divided by ‖A‖‖X̂‖ so both are dimensionless. The exact inverse satisfies both to zero. The computed one satisfies ‖AX̂ − I‖ at 3.5·10⁻¹⁸ — the side its columns were solved along — and ‖X̂A − I‖ at 6.8·10⁻¹⁶, 195 times larger, at n = 12. Each column of X̂ is the exact solution of a slightly perturbed system, but a different perturbation for each column, so there is no single nearby matrix whose inverse X̂ is.

What it checked while drawing

Every figure above asserted its own claims on the way to being drawn, and a claim that failed would have failed the build rather than drawn a wrong picture. Those assertions used to leave no trace at all: a passing one returned true and the only evidence the figure had checked anything was that nothing crashed. The list below is what they actually said, collected by running this generator with an observer installed — not a description of what it is believed to check.

5 distinct claims across 2 sets of arguments, grouped below by shape — because most of them are one sentence with a different number in it, and how many separate times that sentence was put to the test is the informative part.

a size where the Hilbert inverse is still computable

and the other side is not

LU is for square matrices

matmul shapes agree

the side the columns were solved along is at the unit roundoff at every size

Against the rule

The rule does not apply to it. It factorises nothing, so there is no residual it could be withholding. That is worth stating rather than leaving blank: a site that reported the rule as satisfied by every generator would be counting mostly generators the rule never reached.

Across the library: the rule bites on 92 of 198 generators — 77 print a residual and 15 are exempt with a published reason; 106 factorise nothing. Read from lib/residual-rule.js, which is the same body the gate enforces from, and the gate's last check fails the build if this page and it disagree about any generator.

Where it is called

Changing this generator changes every figure on this list. That is what makes the list worth publishing rather than keeping in a check script.

The whole library · All essays · What must fail