ans =
Main Content
Results for
This stems purely from some play on my part. Suppose I asked you to work with the sequence formed as 2*n*F_n + 1, where F_n is the n'th Fibonacci number? Part of me would not be surprised to find there is nothing simple we could do. But, then it costs nothing to try, to see where MATLAB can take me in an explorative sense.
n = sym(0:100).';
Fn = fibonacci(n);
Sn = 2*n.*Fn + 1;
Sn(1:10) % A few elements
For kicks, I tried asking ChatGPT. Giving it nothing more than the first 20 members of thse sequence as integers, it decided this is a Perrin sequence, and gave me a recurrence relation, but one that is in fact incorrect. Good effort from the Ai, but a fail in the end.
Is there anything I can do? Try null! (Look carefully at the array generated by Toeplitz. It is at least a pretty way to generate the matrix I needed.)
X = toeplitz(Sn,[1,zeros(1,4)]);
rank(X(5:end,:))
Hmm. So there is no linear combination of those columns that yields all zeros, since the resulting matrix was full rank.
X = toeplitz(Sn,[1,zeros(1,5)]);
rank(X(6:end,:))
But if I take it one step further, we see the above matrix is now rank deficient. What does that tell me? It says there is some simple linear combination of the columns of X(6:end,:) that always yields zero. The previous test tells me there is no shorter constant coefficient recurrence releation, using fewer terms.
null(X(6:end,:))
Let me explain what those coefficients tell me. In fact, they yield a very nice recurrence relation for the sequence S_n, not unlike the original Fibonacci sequence it was based upon.
S(n+1) = 3*S(n) - S_(n-1) - 3*S(n-2) + S(n-3) + S(n-4)
where the first 5 members of that sequence are given as [1 3 5 13 25]. So a 6 term linear constant coefficient recurrence relation. If it reminds you of the generating relation for the Fibonacci sequence, that is good, because it should. (Remember I started the sequence at n==0, IF you decide to test it out.) We can test it out, like this:
SfunM = memoize(@(N) Sfun(N));
SfunM(25)
2*25*fibonacci(sym(25)) + 1
And indeed, it works as expected.
function Sn = Sfun(n)
switch n
case 0
Sn = 1;
case 1
Sn = 3;
case 2
Sn = 5;
case 3
Sn = 13;
case 4
Sn = 25;
otherwise
Sn = Sfun(n-5) + Sfun(n-4) - 3*Sfun(n-3) - Sfun(n-2) +3*Sfun(n-1);
end
end
A beauty of this, is I started from nothing but a sequence of integers, derived from an expression where I had no rational expectation of finding a formula, and out drops something pretty. I might call this explorational mathematics.
The next step of course is to go in the other direction. That is, given the derived recurrence relation, if I substitute the formula for S_n in terms of the Fibonacci numbers, can I prove it is valid in general? (Yes.) After all, without some proof, it may fail for n larger than 100. (I'm not sure how much I can cram into a single discussion, so I'll stop at this point for now. If I see interest in the ideas here, I can proceed further. For example, what was I doing with that sequence in the first place? And of course, can I prove the relation is valid? Can I do so using MATLAB?)
(I'll be honest, starting from scratch, I'm not sure it would have been obvious to find that relation, so null was hugely useful here.)
Hi everyone,
I've recently joined a forest protection team in Greece, where we use drones for various tasks. This has sparked my interest in drone programming, and I'd like to learn more about it. Can anyone recommend any beginner-friendly courses or programs that teach drone programming?
I'm particularly interested in courses that focus on practical applications and might align with the work we do in forest protection. Any suggestions or guidance would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!
"What are your favorite features or functionalities in MATLAB, and how have they positively impacted your projects or research? Any tips or tricks to share?
We are modeling the introduction of a novel pathogen into a completely susceptible population. In the cells below, I have provided you with the Matlab code for a simple stochastic SIR model, implemented using the "GillespieSSA" function
Simulating the stochastic model 100 times for
Since γ is 0.4 per day, per day
% Define the parameters
beta = 0.36;
gamma = 0.4;
n_sims = 100;
tf = 100; % Time frame changed to 100
% Calculate R0
R0 = beta / gamma
% Initial state values
initial_state_values = [1000000; 1; 0; 0]; % S, I, R, cum_inc
% Define the propensities and state change matrix
a = @(state) [beta * state(1) * state(2) / 1000000, gamma * state(2)];
nu = [-1, 0; 1, -1; 0, 1; 0, 0];
% Define the Gillespie algorithm function
function [t_values, state_values] = gillespie_ssa(initial_state, a, nu, tf)
t = 0;
state = initial_state(:); % Ensure state is a column vector
t_values = t;
state_values = state';
while t < tf
rates = a(state);
rate_sum = sum(rates);
if rate_sum == 0
break;
end
tau = -log(rand) / rate_sum;
t = t + tau;
r = rand * rate_sum;
cum_sum_rates = cumsum(rates);
reaction_index = find(cum_sum_rates >= r, 1);
state = state + nu(:, reaction_index);
% Update cumulative incidence if infection occurred
if reaction_index == 1
state(4) = state(4) + 1; % Increment cumulative incidence
end
t_values = [t_values; t];
state_values = [state_values; state'];
end
end
% Function to simulate the stochastic model multiple times and plot results
function simulate_stoch_model(beta, gamma, n_sims, tf, initial_state_values, R0, plot_type)
% Define the propensities and state change matrix
a = @(state) [beta * state(1) * state(2) / 1000000, gamma * state(2)];
nu = [-1, 0; 1, -1; 0, 1; 0, 0];
% Set random seed for reproducibility
rng(11);
% Initialize plot
figure;
hold on;
for i = 1:n_sims
[t, output] = gillespie_ssa(initial_state_values, a, nu, tf);
% Check if the simulation had only one step and re-run if necessary
while length(t) == 1
[t, output] = gillespie_ssa(initial_state_values, a, nu, tf);
end
if strcmp(plot_type, 'cumulative_incidence')
plot(t, output(:, 4), 'LineWidth', 2, 'Color', rand(1, 3));
elseif strcmp(plot_type, 'prevalence')
plot(t, output(:, 2), 'LineWidth', 2, 'Color', rand(1, 3));
end
end
xlabel('Time (days)');
if strcmp(plot_type, 'cumulative_incidence')
ylabel('Cumulative Incidence');
ylim([0 inf]);
elseif strcmp(plot_type, 'prevalence')
ylabel('Prevalence of Infection');
ylim([0 50]);
end
title(['Stochastic model output for R0 = ', num2str(R0)]);
subtitle([num2str(n_sims), ' simulations']);
xlim([0 tf]);
grid on;
hold off;
end
% Simulate the model 100 times and plot cumulative incidence
simulate_stoch_model(beta, gamma, n_sims, tf, initial_state_values, R0, 'cumulative_incidence');
% Simulate the model 100 times and plot prevalence
simulate_stoch_model(beta, gamma, n_sims, tf, initial_state_values, R0, 'prevalence');
Base case:
Suppose you need to do a computation many times. We are going to assume that this computation cannot be vectorized. The simplest case is to use a for loop:
number_of_elements = 1e6;
test_fcn = @(x) sqrt(x) / x;
tic
for i = 1:number_of_elements
x(i) = test_fcn(i);
end
t_forward = toc;
disp(t_forward + " seconds")
Preallocation:
This can easily be sped up by preallocating the variable that houses results:
tic
x = zeros(number_of_elements, 1);
for i = 1:number_of_elements
x(i) = test_fcn(i);
end
t_forward_prealloc = toc;
disp(t_forward_prealloc + " seconds")
In this example, preallocation speeds up the loop by a factor of about three to four (running in R2024a). Comment below if you get dramatically different results.
disp(sprintf("%.1f", t_forward / t_forward_prealloc))
Run it in reverse:
Is there a way to skip the explicit preallocation and still be fast? Indeed, there is.
clear x
tic
for i = number_of_elements:-1:1
x(i) = test_fcn(i);
end
t_backward = toc;
disp(t_backward + " seconds")
By running the loop backwards, the preallocation is implicitly performed during the first iteration and the loop runs in about the same time (within statistical noise):
disp(sprintf("%.2f", t_forward_prealloc / t_backward))
Do you get similar results when running this code? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Beneficial side effect:
Have you ever had to use a for loop to delete elements from a vector? If so, keeping track of index offsets can be tricky, as deleting any element shifts all those that come after. By running the for loop in reverse, you don't need to worry about index offsets while deleting elements.
Many times when ploting, we not only need to set the color of the plot, but also its
transparency, Then how we set the alphaData of colorbar at the same time ?
It seems easy to do so :
data = rand(12,12);
% Transparency range 0-1, .3-1 for better appearance here
AData = rescale(- data, .3, 1);
% Draw an imagesc with numerical control over colormap and transparency
imagesc(data, 'AlphaData',AData);
colormap(jet);
ax = gca;
ax.DataAspectRatio = [1,1,1];
ax.TickDir = 'out';
ax.Box = 'off';
% get colorbar object
CBarHdl = colorbar;
pause(1e-16)
% Modify the transparency of the colorbar
CData = CBarHdl.Face.Texture.CData;
ALim = [min(min(AData)), max(max(AData))];
CData(4,:) = uint8(255.*rescale(1:size(CData, 2), ALim(1), ALim(2)));
CBarHdl.Face.Texture.ColorType = 'TrueColorAlpha';
CBarHdl.Face.Texture.CData = CData;
But !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We cannot preserve the changes when saving them as images :
It seems that when saving plots, the `Texture` will be refresh, but the `Face` will not :
however, object Face only have 4 colors to change(The four corners of a quadrilateral), how
can we set more colors ??
`Face` is a quadrilateral object, and we can change the `VertexData` to draw more than one little quadrilaterals:
data = rand(12,12);
% Transparency range 0-1, .3-1 for better appearance here
AData = rescale(- data, .3, 1);
%Draw an imagesc with numerical control over colormap and transparency
imagesc(data, 'AlphaData',AData);
colormap(jet);
ax = gca;
ax.DataAspectRatio = [1,1,1];
ax.TickDir = 'out';
ax.Box = 'off';
% get colorbar object
CBarHdl = colorbar;
pause(1e-16)
% Modify the transparency of the colorbar
CData = CBarHdl.Face.Texture.CData;
ALim = [min(min(AData)), max(max(AData))];
CData(4,:) = uint8(255.*rescale(1:size(CData, 2), ALim(1), ALim(2)));
warning off
CBarHdl.Face.ColorType = 'TrueColorAlpha';
VertexData = CBarHdl.Face.VertexData;
tY = repmat((1:size(CData,2))./size(CData,2), [4,1]);
tY1 = tY(:).'; tY2 = tY - tY(1,1); tY2(3:4,:) = 0; tY2 = tY2(:).';
tM1 = [tY1.*0 + 1; tY1; tY1.*0 + 1];
tM2 = [tY1.*0; tY2; tY1.*0];
CBarHdl.Face.VertexData = repmat(VertexData, [1,size(CData,2)]).*tM1 + tM2;
CBarHdl.Face.ColorData = reshape(repmat(CData, [4,1]), 4, []);
The higher the value, the more transparent it becomes
data = rand(12,12);
AData = rescale(- data, .3, 1);
imagesc(data, 'AlphaData',AData);
colormap(jet);
ax = gca;
ax.DataAspectRatio = [1,1,1];
ax.TickDir = 'out';
ax.Box = 'off';
CBarHdl = colorbar;
pause(1e-16)
CData = CBarHdl.Face.Texture.CData;
ALim = [min(min(AData)), max(max(AData))];
CData(4,:) = uint8(255.*rescale(size(CData, 2):-1:1, ALim(1), ALim(2)));
warning off
CBarHdl.Face.ColorType = 'TrueColorAlpha';
VertexData = CBarHdl.Face.VertexData;
tY = repmat((1:size(CData,2))./size(CData,2), [4,1]);
tY1 = tY(:).'; tY2 = tY - tY(1,1); tY2(3:4,:) = 0; tY2 = tY2(:).';
tM1 = [tY1.*0 + 1; tY1; tY1.*0 + 1];
tM2 = [tY1.*0; tY2; tY1.*0];
CBarHdl.Face.VertexData = repmat(VertexData, [1,size(CData,2)]).*tM1 + tM2;
CBarHdl.Face.ColorData = reshape(repmat(CData, [4,1]), 4, []);
More transparent in the middle
data = rand(12,12) - .5;
AData = rescale(abs(data), .1, .9);
imagesc(data, 'AlphaData',AData);
colormap(jet);
ax = gca;
ax.DataAspectRatio = [1,1,1];
ax.TickDir = 'out';
ax.Box = 'off';
CBarHdl = colorbar;
pause(1e-16)
CData = CBarHdl.Face.Texture.CData;
ALim = [min(min(AData)), max(max(AData))];
CData(4,:) = uint8(255.*rescale(abs((1:size(CData, 2)) - (1 + size(CData, 2))/2), ALim(1), ALim(2)));
warning off
CBarHdl.Face.ColorType = 'TrueColorAlpha';
VertexData = CBarHdl.Face.VertexData;
tY = repmat((1:size(CData,2))./size(CData,2), [4,1]);
tY1 = tY(:).'; tY2 = tY - tY(1,1); tY2(3:4,:) = 0; tY2 = tY2(:).';
tM1 = [tY1.*0 + 1; tY1; tY1.*0 + 1];
tM2 = [tY1.*0; tY2; tY1.*0];
CBarHdl.Face.VertexData = repmat(VertexData, [1,size(CData,2)]).*tM1 + tM2;
CBarHdl.Face.ColorData = reshape(repmat(CData, [4,1]), 4, []);
The code will work if the plot have AlphaData property
data = peaks(30);
AData = rescale(data, .2, 1);
surface(data, 'FaceAlpha','flat','AlphaData',AData);
colormap(jet(100));
ax = gca;
ax.DataAspectRatio = [1,1,1];
ax.TickDir = 'out';
ax.Box = 'off';
view(3)
CBarHdl = colorbar;
pause(1e-16)
CData = CBarHdl.Face.Texture.CData;
ALim = [min(min(AData)), max(max(AData))];
CData(4,:) = uint8(255.*rescale(1:size(CData, 2), ALim(1), ALim(2)));
warning off
CBarHdl.Face.ColorType = 'TrueColorAlpha';
VertexData = CBarHdl.Face.VertexData;
tY = repmat((1:size(CData,2))./size(CData,2), [4,1]);
tY1 = tY(:).'; tY2 = tY - tY(1,1); tY2(3:4,:) = 0; tY2 = tY2(:).';
tM1 = [tY1.*0 + 1; tY1; tY1.*0 + 1];
tM2 = [tY1.*0; tY2; tY1.*0];
CBarHdl.Face.VertexData = repmat(VertexData, [1,size(CData,2)]).*tM1 + tM2;
CBarHdl.Face.ColorData = reshape(repmat(CData, [4,1]), 4, []);
While searching the internet for some books on ordinary differential equations, I came across a link that I believe is very useful for all math students and not only. If you are interested in ODEs, it's worth taking the time to study it.
A First Look at Ordinary Differential Equations by Timothy S. Judson is an excellent resource for anyone looking to understand ODEs better. Here's a brief overview of the main topics covered:
- Introduction to ODEs: Basic concepts, definitions, and initial differential equations.
- Methods of Solution:
- Separable equations
- First-order linear equations
- Exact equations
- Transcendental functions
- Applications of ODEs: Practical examples and applications in various scientific fields.
- Systems of ODEs: Analysis and solutions of systems of differential equations.
- Series and Numerical Methods: Use of series and numerical methods for solving ODEs.
This book provides a clear and comprehensive introduction to ODEs, making it suitable for students and new researchers in mathematics. If you're interested, you can explore the book in more detail here: A First Look at Ordinary Differential Equations.
Spring is here in Natick and the tulips are blooming! While tulips appear only briefly here in Massachusetts, they provide a lot of bright and diverse colors and shapes. To celebrate this cheerful flower, here's some code to create your own tulip!
How to leave feedback on a doc page
Leaving feedback is a two-step process. At the bottom of most pages in the MATLAB documentation is a star rating.
Start by selecting a star that best answers the question. After selecting a star rating, an edit box appears where you can offer specific feedback.
When you press "Submit" you'll see the confirmation dialog below. You cannot go back and edit your content, although you can refresh the page to go through that process again.
Tips on leaving feedback
- Be productive. The reader should clearly understand what action you'd like to see, what was unclear, what you think needs work, or what areas were really helpful.
- Positive feedback is also helpful. By nature, feedback often focuses on suggestions for changes but it also helps to know what was clear and what worked well.
- Point to specific areas of the page. This helps the reader to narrow the focus of the page to the area described by your feedback.
What happens to that feedback?
Before working at MathWorks I often left feedback on documentation pages but I never knew what happens after that. One day in 2021 I shared my speculation on the process:
> That feedback is received by MathWorks Gnomes which are never seen nor heard but visit the MathWorks documentation team at night while they are sleeping and whisper selected suggestions into their ears to manipulate their dreams. Occassionally this causes them to wake up with a Eureka moment that leads to changes in the documentation.
I'd like to let you in on the secret which is much less fanciful. Feedback left in the star rating and edit box are collected and periodically reviewed by the doc writers who look for trends on highly trafficked pages and finer grain feedback on less visited pages. Your feedback is important and often results in improvements.
Drumlin Farm has welcomed MATLAMB, named in honor of MathWorks, among ten adorable new lambs this season!
📚 New Book Announcement: "Image Processing Recipes in MATLAB" 📚
I am delighted to share the release of my latest book, "Image Processing Recipes in MATLAB," co-authored by my dear friend and colleague Gustavo Benvenutti Borba.
This 'cookbook' contains 30 practical recipes for image processing, ranging from foundational techniques to recently published algorithms. It serves as a concise and readable reference for quickly and efficiently deploying image processing pipelines in MATLAB.
Gustavo and I are immensely grateful to the MathWorks Book Program for their support. We also want to thank Randi Slack and her fantastic team at CRC Press for their patience, expertise, and professionalism throughout the process.
___________
A colleague said that you can search the Help Center using the phrase 'Introduced in' followed by a release version. Such as, 'Introduced in R2022a'. Doing this yeilds search results specific for that release.
Seems pretty handy so I thought I'd share.
Bringing the beauty of MathWorks Natick's tulips to life through code!
Remix challenge: create and share with us your new breeds of MATLAB tulips!
I found this plot of words said by different characters on the US version of The Office sitcom. There's a sparkline for each character from pilot to finale episode.
Northern lights captured from this weekend at MathWorks campus ✨
Did you get a chance to see lights and take some photos?
From Alpha Vantage's website: API Documentation | Alpha Vantage
Try using the built-in Matlab function webread(URL)... for example:
% copy a URL from the examples on the site
URL = 'https://www.alphavantage.co/query?function=TIME_SERIES_DAILY&symbol=IBM&apikey=demo'
% or use the pattern to create one
tickers = [{'IBM'} {'SPY'} {'DJI'} {'QQQ'}]; i = 1;
URL = ...
['https://www.alphavantage.co/query?function=TIME_SERIES_DAILY_ADJUSTED&outputsize=full&symbol=', ...
+ tickers{i}, ...
+ '&apikey=***Put Your API Key here***'];
X = webread(URL);
You can access any of the data available on the site as per the Alpha Vantage documentation using these two lines of code but with different designations for the requested data as per the documentation.
It's fun!
This cheat sheet is here:
reference:
- https://github.com/peijin94/matlabPlotCheatsheet
- https://github.com/mathworks/visualization-cheat-sheet
- https://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab/plot-gallery.html
- https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/release-notes.html
MATLAB used to have official visualization-cheat-sheet, but there have been quite a few new updates in MATLAB versions recently. Therefore, I made my own cheat sheet and marked the versions of each new thing that were released :
Temporary print statements are often helpful during debugging but it's easy to forget to remove the statements or sometimes you may not have writing privileges for the file. This tip uses conditional breakpoints to add print statements without ever editing the file!
What are conditional breakpoints?
Conditional breakpoints allow you to write a conditional statement that is executed when the selected line is hit and if the condition returns true, MATLAB pauses at that line. Otherwise, it continues.
The Hack: use ~fprintf() as the condition
fprintf prints information to the command window and returns the size of the message in bytes. The message size will always be greater than 0 which will always evaluate as true when converted to logical. Therefore, by negating an fprintf statement within a conditional breakpoint, the fprintf command will execute, print to the command window, and evalute as false which means the execution will continue uninterupted!
How to set a conditional break point
1. Right click the line number where you want the condition to be evaluated and select "Set Conditional Breakpoint"
2. Enter a valid MATLAB expression that returns a logical scalar value in the editor dialog.
Handy one-liners
Check if a line is reached: Don't forget the negation (~) and the line break (\n)!
~fprintf('Entered callback function\n')
Display the call stack from the break point line: one of my favorites!
~fprintf('%s\n',formattedDisplayText(struct2table(dbstack)))
Inspect variable values: For scalar values,
~fprintf('v = %.5f\n', v)
~fprintf('%s\n', formattedDisplayText(v)).
Make sense of frequent hits: In some situations such as responses to listeners or interactive callbacks, a line can be executed 100s of times per second. Incorporate a timestamp to differentiate messages during rapid execution.
~fprintf('WindowButtonDownFcn - %s\n', datetime('now'))
Closing
This tip not only keeps your code clean but also offers a dynamic way to monitor code execution and variable states without permanent modifications. Interested in digging deeper? @Steve Eddins takes this tip to the next level with his Code Trace for MATLAB tool available on the File Exchange (read more).
Summary animation
To reproduce the events in this animation:
% buttonDownFcnDemo.m
fig = figure();
tcl = tiledlayout(4,4,'TileSpacing','compact');
for i = 1:16
ax = nexttile(tcl);
title(ax,"#"+string(i))
ax.ButtonDownFcn = @axesButtonDownFcn;
xlim(ax,[-1 1])
ylim(ax,[-1,1])
hold(ax,'on')
end
function axesButtonDownFcn(obj,event)
colors = lines(16);
plot(obj,event.IntersectionPoint(1),event.IntersectionPoint(2),...
'ko','MarkerFaceColor',colors(obj.Layout.Tile,:))
end
Hello MathWorks Community,
I am excited to announce that I am currently working on a book project centered around Matrix Algebra, specifically designed for MATLAB users. This book aims to cater to undergraduate students in engineering, where Matrix Algebra serves as a foundational element.
Matrix Algebra is not only pivotal in understanding complex engineering concepts but also in applying these principles effectively in various technological solutions. MATLAB, renowned for its powerful computational capabilities, is an excellent tool to explore and implement these concepts, making it a perfect companion for this book.
As I embark on this journey to create a resource that bridges theoretical matrix algebra with practical MATLAB applications, I am looking for one or two knowledgeable individuals who have a firm grasp of both subjects. If you have experience in teaching or applying matrix algebra in engineering contexts and are familiar with MATLAB, your contribution could be invaluable.
Collaborators will help in shaping the content to ensure it is educational, engaging, and technically robust, making complex concepts accessible and applicable for students.
If you are interested in contributing to this project or know someone who might be, please reach out to discuss how we can work together to make this book a valuable resource for engineering students.
Thank you and looking forward to your participation!
What's your way?