Minimize and complex numbers

Questions
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1

Hi,
I keep running into a problem using minimize on a set of equations that are complex but after multiplying by the complex conjugate the imaginary part is zero but Minimize keeps outputting:

The objective function {((-0.802836+0. I)+scatter)^2,((-0.800188+0. I)+scatter)^2,((-0.835493+0. I)+scatter)^2,((-0.823595+0. I)+scatter)^2,((-0.807161+0. I)+scatter)^2,<<42>>,((-0.818022+0. I)+scatter)^2,((-0.811734+0. I)+scatter)^2,((-0.812057+0. I)+scatter)^2,<<115>>} should be scalar-valued. >>

So far I have tried to use the Re[] function to strip off the imaginary part but with the same results. Any ideas?

2

Perhaps the round-off errors introduce small imaginary parts in the function to minimize. Have you tried with Abs instead of multiplying by the conjugate?

3

Try Chop. It replaces approximate real numbers close to zero with integer 0.

4

Thanks for the replies, the problem was on my end with the independent variable definition.

5

Direct manipulation

In[7]:= ((-0.800188 + 0. I) + scatter)^2 /. Complex[x_, __] -> x

Out[7]= (-0.800188 + scatter)^2