Automatic Controlled Precision Calculations

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Automatic Controlled Precision Calculations

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Journal of the ACM (JACM) archive
Volume 13 , Issue 3 (July 1966) table of contents

Pages: 386 - 403

Year of Publication: 1966

ISSN:0004-5411

Author

Bruce A. Chartres

Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, University, of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va and Division of Applied Mathematics, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island

Publisher

ACM New York, NY, USA

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Downloads (6 Weeks): 2, Downloads (12 Months): 26, Citation Count: 3

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ABSTRACT

Recent developments in computer design and error analysis have made feasible the use of variable precision arithmetic and the preparation of programs that automatically determine their own precision requirements. Such programs enable the user to specify the accuracy he wants, and yield answers guaranteed to lie within the bounds prescribed. A class of such programs, called “contracting error programs,” is defined in which the precision is determined by prescribing error bounds on the data. A variant of interval arithmetic is defined which enables a limited class of algorithms to be programmed as contracting error programs. A contracting error program for the solution of simultaneous linear equations is described, demonstrating the application of the idea to a wider class of problems.

REFERENCES

Note: OCR errors may be found in this Reference List extracted from the full text article. ACM has opted to expose the complete List rather than only correct and linked references.

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CITED BY 3

	Oliver Aberth, A precise numerical analysis program, Communications of the ACM, v.17 n.9, p.509-513, Sept. 1974
	Paul L. Richman, Computing a Subinterval of the Image, Journal of the ACM (JACM), v.21 n.3, p.454-458, July 1974
	Herbert Fischer , Alvin J. Surkan, Implementation of interval arithmetic using APL, ACM SIGAPL APL Quote Quad, v.6 n.1, Spring 1975