Computing with Continued Logarithms

Fuente: arXiv
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Autore principale: Collins, Michael J.
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Collins, Michael J.
author_facet Collins, Michael J.
contents Gosper developed an algorithm for performing arithmetic on continued fractions (CFs), and introduced continued logarithms (CLs) as a variant of continued fractions better suited to representing extremely large (or small) numbers. CLs are also well-suited to efficient hardware implementation. Here we present the algorithm for arithmetic on CLs, then extend it to the novel contribution of this paper, an algorithm for computing trigonometric, exponential, and log functions on CLs. These methods can be extended to other transcendental functions. As with the corresponding CF algorithms, computations are entirely in the domain of the CL representation, with no floating-point arithmetic; we read one CL input term at a time, producing the next CL term of the result as soon as it is determined. The CL algorithms are in fact simpler than their CF counterparts. We have implemented these algorithms in Haskell.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_07245
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Computing with Continued Logarithms
Collins, Michael J.
Number Theory
Gosper developed an algorithm for performing arithmetic on continued fractions (CFs), and introduced continued logarithms (CLs) as a variant of continued fractions better suited to representing extremely large (or small) numbers. CLs are also well-suited to efficient hardware implementation. Here we present the algorithm for arithmetic on CLs, then extend it to the novel contribution of this paper, an algorithm for computing trigonometric, exponential, and log functions on CLs. These methods can be extended to other transcendental functions. As with the corresponding CF algorithms, computations are entirely in the domain of the CL representation, with no floating-point arithmetic; we read one CL input term at a time, producing the next CL term of the result as soon as it is determined. The CL algorithms are in fact simpler than their CF counterparts. We have implemented these algorithms in Haskell.
title Computing with Continued Logarithms
topic Number Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.07245