# coding: utf-8 # # Table of Contents #

1  Solving an equation, numerically or with the Lambert W function
1.1  Loading packages and configuring plot sizes
1.2  Plotting the function first
1.3  Solving numerically?
1.4  How many solutions for a given a ?
1.5  Number of solutions as function of a
1.6  Plot of solution(s) as function of a
1.7  Solving formally with the Lambert W function
1.8  Asymptotic behaviors and approximations
1.9  Conclusion
# # Solving an equation, numerically or with the Lambert W function # # I want to solve the equation $\exp(-ax^2)=x$ and find its solution(s) as a function of $a\in\mathbb{R}$. # ## Loading packages and configuring plot sizes # In[1]: get_ipython().run_line_magic('load_ext', 'watermark') get_ipython().run_line_magic('watermark', '-a "Lilian Besson (Naereen)" -i -v -p numpy,matplotlib,scipy,seaborn') # In[2]: import numpy as np from scipy import optimize as opt import matplotlib as mpl mpl.rcParams['figure.figsize'] = (15, 8) import matplotlib.pyplot as plt import seaborn as sns sns.set(context="notebook", style="darkgrid", palette="hls", font="sans-serif", font_scale=1.8) # ## Plotting the function first # In[3]: def objective(x, a): return np.exp(- a * x**2) - x # First, let's have a look to its plot for some values of $a$: # In[4]: X = np.linspace(-2, 2, 2000) for a in [0, -0.1, 0.1, -1, 1]: plt.plot(X, objective(X, a), 'o-', label=f"$a={a:.3g}$", markevery=50) plt.legend() plt.xlabel("$x$"); plt.ylabel("$y$") plt.title(r"Function $\exp(- a x^2) - x$ for different $a$") plt.show() # We can see that a solution to $\exp(-a x^2) = x$ has to be positive, as $\exp(-a x^2) > 0$ for any $x,a$. # We also check that if $a < 0$, $\exp(-a x^2) - x$ seems to always be positive, but if $a \geq 0$, it seems to have a unique root. # Let's zoom a little bit: # In[5]: X = np.linspace(0, 1.5, 2000) for a in [0, -0.1, 0.1, -1, 1]: plt.plot(X, objective(X, a), 'o-', label=f"$a={a:.3g}$", markevery=50) plt.legend() plt.xlabel("$x$"); plt.ylabel("$y$") plt.title(r"Function $\exp(- a x^2) - x$ for different $a$") plt.show() # The curve for $a=-0.1$ seems to stay negative, but that's not possible as for $a<0$ and $x\to\infty$, $\exp(-a x^2)$ dominates over $-x$. # We can check that it will have a second root: # In[6]: X = np.linspace(0, 5, 2000) for a in [0, -0.1, 0.1, 1]: plt.plot(X, objective(X, a), 'o-', label=f"$a={a:.3g}$", markevery=50) plt.legend() plt.xlabel("$x$"); plt.ylabel("$y$") plt.title(r"Function $\exp(- a x^2) - x$ for different $a$") plt.show() # ## Solving numerically? # # We can start to try to use [`scipy.optimize.root`](https://docs.scipy.org/doc/scipy/reference/generated/scipy.optimize.root.html#scipy.optimize.root) to numerically solve this equation. # In[7]: def one_solution(a, x0=0, verb=False): sol = opt.root(objective, x0, args=(a,)) if verb: print(sol) if sol.success: return sol.x else: raise ValueError(f"No solution was found for a = {a:.3g} (and starting at x0 = {x0:.3g}).") # Let's check that there is no solution for $a < 0$ too small. # In[8]: one_solution(-1, verb=True) # It can find a solution, but only one (depending on the starting point $x_0$) and not both: # In[9]: one_solution(-0.1, x0=0, verb=True) # In[10]: one_solution(-0.1, x0=10, verb=True) # For $a > 0$, the equation seems to have a unique solution: # In[11]: one_solution(1, x0=0) one_solution(1, x0=-100) one_solution(1, x0=100) # We can just hack and try different values for $x_0$, expecting to find all the roots. # In[12]: def solutions(a, x0s=None, tol=1e-10, verb=False): nbdigits = int(np.log10(1. / tol)) sols = set() if x0s is None: x0s = [-10, -5, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 5, 10] for x0 in x0s: sol = opt.root(objective, x0, args=(a,)) if sol.success: approx = np.round(float(sol.x), nbdigits) sols.add(approx) if verb and len(sols) == 0: print(f"No solution was found for a = {a:.3g} (and starting at x0 = {x0:.3g}).") return sols # In[13]: solutions(-10) # In[14]: solutions(-0.1) # In[15]: solutions(0) # In[16]: solutions(1) # In[17]: solutions(2) # ## How many solutions for a given a ? # We can use this to try to find the threshold value for $a$ from $0$ to $2$ and from $2$ to $1$ solution: # In[18]: def thresholds(amin=-10, amax=10, delta=0.01): gap_points = dict() prev_a = amin prev_nb_sol = len(solutions(prev_a)) for a in np.arange(amin, amax, delta): nb_sol = len(solutions(a)) if nb_sol != prev_nb_sol: gap_points[(prev_nb_sol, nb_sol)] = (prev_a, a) prev_nb_sol = nb_sol prev_a = a return gap_points # In[21]: thresholds(amin=-10, amax=10, delta=0.01) # In[22]: thresholds(amin=-8, amax=1, delta=0.01) # I think having $3$ (or more) solutions is a numerical error. # In[23]: amin = -100 amax = 100 gap_points = thresholds(amin=amin, amax=amax, delta=0.1) gap_points # As we will see below, even having two solutions is nothing but a numerical error. # ## Number of solutions as function of a # We can plot the (estimated) number of solution as a function of $a$, to start wit, thanks to the [`matplotlib.pyplot.hlines`](https://matplotlib.org/api/pyplot_api.html#matplotlib.pyplot.hlines) function: # In[24]: def plot_gap_points(gap_points, amin, amax): ys = set() for ym, yM in gap_points.keys(): ys.add(ym) ys.add(yM) print(ys) xleft = dict() xright = dict() for (ym, yM), (xm, xM) in gap_points.items(): xleft[ym] = xleft.get(ym, []) + [xm] xright[yM] = xright.get(yM, []) + [xM] for ym, yM in gap_points.keys(): xleft[ym].sort() xright[yM].sort() print(xleft) print(xright) min_xleft = min(sum(list(xleft.values()), [])) max_xright = min(sum(list(xright.values()), [])) plt.figure() for y in ys: if y not in xleft and y in xright: for x in xright[y]: plt.hlines(y, x, amax) if y in xleft and min_xleft in xleft[y]: plt.hlines(y, amin, min_xleft) del xleft[y][0] #if y in xright and max_xright in xright[y]: # plt.hlines(y, max_xright, amax) # del xright[y][-1] if y in xleft and y in xright: for xmin, xmax in zip(xleft[y], xright[y]): plt.hlines(y, xmin, xmax) plt.xlabel("Value of $a$") plt.ylabel("Number of solution") plt.title(r"Number of solutions to $\exp(- a x^2) = x$, as function of $a$") return ys, xleft, min_xleft, xright, max_xright ys, xleft, min_xleft, xright, max_xright = plot_gap_points(gap_points, amin, amax) # ## Plot of solution(s) as function of a # Now we can try to use this to plot the solution(s) as function of $a$. # In[25]: def plot_multivalued_function(X, f, maxnboutput=1, **kwargs): Y = np.zeros((maxnboutput, len(X))) Y.fill(np.nan) for i, x in enumerate(X): ys = sorted(list(f(x))) for j, y in enumerate(ys): Y[j, i] = y for j in range(maxnboutput): plt.plot(X, Y[j], 'o-', **kwargs) # In[26]: A = np.linspace(-100, 100, 1000) plot_multivalued_function(A, solutions, maxnboutput=2, markevery=10) plt.legend() plt.xlabel("Parameter $a$"); plt.ylabel("Solution(s)") plt.title(r"Solution(s) to $\exp(- a x^2) = x$, as function of $a$") plt.show() # In[27]: A = np.linspace(0, 20, 2000) plot_multivalued_function(A, solutions, maxnboutput=2, markevery=20) plt.legend() plt.xlabel("Parameter $a$"); plt.ylabel("Solution(s)") plt.title(r"Solution(s) to $\exp(- a x^2) = x$, as function of $a$") plt.show() # This shows the numerical solution to the equation, and we will check below that the formal solution coincides. # ## Solving formally with the Lambert W function # # Luckily, we can transform this equation to solve it with the Lambert $W$ function, defined as $W(x) = z \Leftrightarrow x = z \mathrm{e}^{z}$. # For more details, [please see this page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambert_W_function), or [this article](https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/research/tr/1993/03/W.pdf). # # As for (almost) all the special function, we don't need to write it ourself: it is in scipy! [`scipy.special.lambertw`](https://docs.scipy.org/doc/scipy/reference/generated/scipy.special.lambertw.html#scipy.special.lambertw) # In[28]: from scipy.special import lambertw # As the only possible solution are $x>0$ # $$ # \exp(-a x^2) = x \Leftrightarrow # \left(\exp(-a x^2)\right)^2= \exp(-2 a x^2) = x^2 \Leftrightarrow # 2 a y \exp(2 a x) = 2 a \;\;(\text{with}\;\; y := x^2) \Leftrightarrow \\ # u \exp(u) = 2 a \;\;(\text{with}\;\; u := 2 a y) \Leftrightarrow # u = W(2a) \Leftrightarrow # y = \frac{W(2a)}{2a} \Leftrightarrow # x(a) := \sqrt{\frac{W(2a)}{2a}}. # $$ # # And so it is quite easy to compute, for $a > 0$ (the behavior at $0$ is undefined without a more careful study): # In[30]: def formal_solution(a): return np.sqrt(lambertw(2 * a) / (2 * a)) # We can check some values: # In[35]: for a in [0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4]: xa = formal_solution(a) assert np.isclose(exp(-a * xa**2), xa) print(f"a = {a:.3g} gives x(a) = {float(xa):.3g}") # ## Asymptotic behaviors and approximations # # We can try to approximate the solution for small $a$ or large $a$: # # - For small $a$, $W(2a) \simeq 2a - 4a^2$ so $x(a) \simeq 1 - a$. # # - For large $a$, we have [this bound](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambert_W_function#Asymptotic_expansions): # $$ \forall x \geq \mathrm{e},{\displaystyle \ln(x)-\ln {\bigl (}\ln(x){\bigr )}+{\frac {\ln {\bigl (}\ln(x){\bigr )}}{2\ln(x)}}\leq W(x)\leq \ln(x)-\ln {\bigl (}\ln(x){\bigr )}+{\frac {e}{e-1}}{\frac {\ln {\bigl (}\ln(x){\bigr )}}{\ln(x)}}} $$ # In[36]: e = np.exp(1) def upper_bound(a): up_b = np.log(2*a) - np.log(np.log(2*a)) + (e / (e - 1)) * (np.log(np.log(2*a)) / np.log(2*a)) return np.sqrt(up_b / (2*a)) def lower_bound(a): lo_b = np.log(2*a) - np.log(np.log(2*a)) + np.log(np.log(2*a)) / (2 * np.log(2*a)) return np.sqrt(lo_b / (2*a)) # We can plot all this. # In[39]: A = np.linspace(0, 20, 4000) A1 = A[A <= 0.5] A2 = A[A >= 1] Ae = A[A >= e] plt.plot(A, formal_solution(A), label="Solution", markevery=20) plt.plot(A1, 1 - A1, 'b--', label=r"Tangent at $0$: $x(a) \simeq 1 - a$", markevery=20) #plt.plot(A2, np.sqrt((np.log(2*A2) - np.log(np.log(2*A2)))/(2*A2)), 'g--', label=r"Asymptote at $+\infty$", markevery=20) plt.plot(Ae, lower_bound(Ae), 'g--', label=r"Lower-bound for $a \geq e$", markevery=20) plt.plot(Ae, upper_bound(Ae), 'c--', label=r"Upper-bound for $a \geq e$", markevery=20) plt.legend() plt.xlabel("Parameter $a$"); plt.ylabel(r"Solution $x(a) = \sqrt{\frac{W(2a)}{2a}}$") plt.title(r"Solution to $\exp(- a x^2) = x$, as function of $a$") plt.show() # And voilĂ . # ## Conclusion # # That's it for today, *folks*! # # > See [here](https://github.com/Naereen/notebooks/) for other notebooks I wrote, in Python, Julia, OCaml or other languages.