Spurious ZeroDivisionError for complex powers when the phase is infinite
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Description
>>> complex('inf')**1j
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<python-input-0>", line 1, in <module>
complex('inf')**1j
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^~~
ZeroDivisionError: zero to a negative or complex power
The base is not zero. The result should be nan+nanj, as in the GNU MPC.
_Py_c_pow() computes an infinite phase here, and cos() and sin() of an infinite argument are domain errors, so libm sets errno to EDOM. complex_pow() translates any EDOM to ZeroDivisionError, as it cannot distinguish it from the EDOM set for a zero base.
Any finite base for which the phase overflows is affected too:
>>> complex(1e300)**complex(0, 1e308)
ZeroDivisionError: zero to a negative or complex power
>>> complex(2)**complex(0, float('inf'))
ZeroDivisionError: zero to a negative or complex power
sin() and cos() set errno only for infinite arguments, so it is enough to discard errno in _Py_c_pow() after computing the result: _Py_ADJUST_ERANGE2() recovers ERANGE from the result itself.
Noticed by @hpkfft in #156694.
Linked PRs
- gh-156887
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start at _Py_c_pow() and complex_pow(), using the reproductions in the issue to observe the errno handling for infinite phases. Check that the result is nan+nanj rather than ZeroDivisionError, and run the relevant complex-power tests after confirming the linked PR's status.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- backend
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 2/5
- Estimated time
- 1-3 hours
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Clearly specified
- Newbie friendliness
- 25/100