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7425_C000.qxd 6/9/06 16:53 Page i

ELEMENTARY
MATHEMATICAL and
COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS
for ELECTRICAL and
COMPUTER ENGINEERS
USING MATLAB®
Second Edition
7425_C000.qxd 6/9/06 16:53 Page ii
7425_C000.qxd 6/9/06 16:53 Page iii

ELEMENTARY
MATHEMATICAL and
COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS
for ELECTRICAL and
COMPUTER ENGINEERS
USING MATLAB®
Second Edition

Jamal T. Manassah

Boca Raton London New York

CRC is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group,

an informa business
7425_C000.qxd 6/9/06 16:53 Page iv

MATLAB® is a trademark of The MathWorks, Inc. and is used with permission. The MathWorks does not
warrant the accuracy of the text or exercises in this book. This book’s use or discussion of MATLAB®
software or related products does not constitute endorsement or sponsorship by The MathWorks of a
particular pedagogical approach or particular use of the MATLAB® software.

CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742

© 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business

No claim to original U.S. Government works

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

International Standard Book Number-10: 0-8493-7425-1 (Hardcover)

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-8493-7425-8 (Hardcover)

This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reprinted material
is quoted with permission, and sources are indicated. A wide variety of references are listed. Reasonable
efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and the publisher cannot
assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or for the consequences of their use.

No part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming,
and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the
publishers.

For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.copyright.
com (http://www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC) 222 Rosewood
Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that provides licenses and
registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a photocopy license by the
CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged.

Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are
used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Manassah, Jamal T.
Elementary mathematical and computational tools for electrical and computer
engineers using MATLAB / Jamal T. Manassah. -- 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8493-7425-8 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8493-7425-1 (alk. paper)
1. Electric engineering--Mathematics. 2. Computer science--Mathematics. 3.
MATLAB. I. Title.

TK153.M362 2007
510.2’46213--dc22 2 006018608

Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at

http://www.taylorandfrancis.com

and the CRC Press Web site at

http://www.crcpress.com
7425_C000.qxd 6/9/06 16:53 Page v

Author

Jamal T. Manassah has been a professor of electrical engineering at the City

College of New York since 1981. He earned his B.Sc. degree in physics from
the American University of Beirut, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in theoretical
physics from Columbia University. Dr. Manassah was a member of the
Institute for Advanced Study. His current research interests are in theoretical
and computational quantum and nonlinear optics, and in photonics.
7425_C000.qxd 6/9/06 16:53 Page vi
7425_C000.qxd 6/9/06 16:53 Page vii

Preface to the First Edition

This book is mostly based on a series of notes for a primer course in electrical
and computer engineering that I taught at the City College of New York
School of Engineering. Each week, the class met for an hour of lecture and a
three-hour computer laboratory session where students were divided into
small groups of 12 to 15 students each. The students met in an informal learn-
ing community setting, a computer laboratory, where each student had the
exclusive use of a PC. The small size of the groups permitted a great deal of
individualized instruction, which was a key ingredient to cater successfully
to the needs of students with heterogeneous high school backgrounds.
A student usually takes this course in the second semester of his or her
freshman year. Typically, the student would have completed one semester of
college calculus, and would be enrolled in the second course of the college
calculus sequence and in the first course of the physics sequence for students
in the physical sciences and engineering.
My purpose in developing this book is to help bring the beginner engi-
neering student’s analytical and computational skills to a level of competency
that would permit him or her to participate, enjoy, and succeed in subsequent
electrical and computer engineering courses. My experience indicates that the
lack of mastery of fundamental quantitative tools is the main impediment to
a student’s progress in engineering studies.
The specific goals of this book are:

1. To make you more comfortable applying the mathematics and

physics that you learned in high school or in college courses,
through interactive activities.
2. To introduce you, through examples, to many new practical tools of
mathematics, including discrete variables material that is essential to
your success in future electrical engineering courses.
3. To instruct you in the use of a powerful computer program,
MATLAB®, which was designed to be simultaneously user-friendly
and powerful in tackling efficiently the most demanding problems
of engineering and sciences.
4. To give you, through the applications and examples covered,
glimpses of some of the fascinating problems that an electrical or
computer engineer solves in the course of completing many of his
or her design projects.

My experience indicates that you can achieve the above goals through the
following work habits that I usually recommend to my own students:

● Read carefully the material from this book that is assigned to you
by your instructor for the upcoming week, and make sure to solve
7425_C000.qxd 6/9/06 16:53 Page viii

the suggested preparatory exercises in advance of the weekly

lecture.
● Attend the lecture and follow closely the material presented, in par-
ticular the solutions to the more difficult preparatory exercises and
the demonstrations.
● Following the lecture, make a list of questions on the preparatory
material to which you still seek answers, and ask your instructor
for help and clarification on these questions, preferably in the first
30 minutes of your computer lab session.
● Complete the in-class exercises during the computer lab session. If
you have not finished solving all in-class exercises, make sure you
complete them on your own, when the lab is open, or at home if you
own a computer, and certainly before the next class session, along
with the problems designated in the book as homework problems
and assigned to you by your instructor.

In managing this course, I found it helpful for both students and instructors
to require each student to solve all problems in a bound notebook. The advan-
tage to the student is to have easy access to his or her previous work, personal
notes, and reminders that he or she made as the course progressed. The advan-
tage to the instructor is to enhance his or her ability to assess, more easily and
readily, an individual student’s progress as the semester progresses.
This book may be used for self-study by readers with perhaps a little more
mathematical maturity acquired through a second semester of college calcu-
lus. The advanced reader of this book who is familiar with numerical meth-
ods will note that, in some instances, I did not follow the canonical order for
the sequence of presentation of certain algorithms, thus sacrificing some opti-
mality in the structure of some of the elementary programs included. This
was necessitated by the goal I set for this book, which is to introduce both
analytical and computational tools simultaneously.
The sections of this book that are marked with asterisks include material
that I assigned as projects to students with either strong theoretical interest
or more mathematical maturity than a typical second semester freshman
student. Although incorporated in the text, they can be skipped in a first
reading. I hope that, by their inclusion, I will facilitate to the interested
reader a smooth transition to some new mathematical concepts and compu-
tational tools that are of particular interest to electrical engineers.
This text greatly benefited from course material previously prepared by
my colleagues in the departments of electrical engineering and computer
science at City College of the City University of New York, in particular,
P. Combettes, I. Gladkova, B. Gross, and F. Thau. They provided either the start-
ing point for my subsequent efforts in this course, or the peer critique for the
early versions of this manuscript. I owe them many thanks and, of course, do
not hold them responsible for any of the remaining imperfections in the text.
The preparation of this book also owes a lot to my students. Their ques-
tions and interest in the material contributed to many modifications in the
7425_C000.qxd 6/9/06 16:53 Page ix

order and in the presentation of the different chapters. Their desire for work-
ing out more applications led me to expand the scope of the examples and
exercises included in the text. I am grateful to all of them. I am also grateful
to Erwin Cohen, who introduced me to the fine team at CRC Press, and to
Jerry Papke whose stewardship of the project from start to end at CRC Press
was most supportive and pleasant. The editorial and production teams at
CRC in particular, Samar Haddad, the project editor, deserve credit for the
quality of the final product rendering. Naomi Fernandes and her colleagues
at The MathWorks Inc. kindly provided me with a copy of the new release
of MATLAB for which I am grateful.
I dedicate this book to Azza, Tala, and Nigh whose support and love
always made difficult tasks a lot easier.
Jamal T. Manassah
New York, January 2001
7425_C000.qxd 6/9/06 16:53 Page x
7425_C000.qxd 6/9/06 16:53 Page xi

Preface to the Second Edition

Comments received from readers and my own students invariably sug-

gested the desirability for expanding Chapter 1 in a manner that will reduce
the need to refer as often to the MATLAB® online help or to a MATLAB user
manual. It was also suggested that the reference value of this book might be
enhanced if a chapter on symbolic manipulation with MATLAB was added.
This second edition is responsive to both of these requests.
The MATLAB syntax was also updated to conform to the current version
of MATLAB. I have also added a number of special sections designated to
the more advanced students or for those students seeking additional chal-
lenges. Typically, these sections were assigned to outstanding students who
supplemented the regular course homework with special assignments. The
continuous need to challenge these gifted students is specially rewarding
when teaching in an urban university where many promising future scien-
tific talents are discovered only after these students are enrolled in college-
level courses.
Now that my modest experiment with introducing an integrated, empiri-
cal, and interdisciplinary style to teaching beginner engineering students
applied mathematics is approximately 10 years in progress, it may be useful
to reflect on the successes and failures of this particular effort:

• Almost everybody in my academic circle now recognizes the use-

fulness of supplementing and enhancing the regular rigorous stan-
dard mathematical curriculum for engineering students with a
hands-on elementary applied course.
• Those of my colleagues who still prefer to have the different mate-
rial taught in a more compartmentalized manner and at a later
stage of a student career argue that students may not be willing or
able to devote the blocks of time required to integrate the skills that
both the analytical and numerical techniques demand within the
same course. While I accept the premise that my adopted approach
certainly requires a higher level of motivation and time commit-
ment by students, it is also true that students who were willing to
invest the required time in a course based on this text ended up
ready to plunge in more advanced engineering courses much ear-
lier than others. I am particularly gratified by the performance of
those of my students who, following the successful completion of
this text went on to advanced engineering courses and were able to
concentrate and excel in the new engineering material covered
7425_C000.qxd 6/9/06 16:53 Page xii

there while many of their classmates were bogged down acquiring

the computational tools which those selected had already mastered.
• There is still no consensus in my own academic circle as to whether
it is advisable to let students explore through computer experi-
ments new mathematical results prior (or even much prior) to the
formal introduction of the underlying theoretical principles in a
more structured environment. My own observations are that a stu-
dent’s intuitive skills are strongly enhanced by accumulated math-
ematical empirical discovery and experience; however, it will be
probably up to psychologists working in learning theories to come
up with a more definitive answer to the value of an empirical
approach in teaching applied mathematics.
• Teachers who adopted this text successfully informed me that they
incorporated a certain amount of flexibility in different students’
assignments to reflect the different levels of skills present in a nor-
mal student population distribution. My own experience was not
different.

My advice to beginner students of engineering using this text is to take

their time and finish each chapter with its solved examples and suggested
problems before moving on to the next chapter. I do not recommend to the
beginner to merely skim through the core material. The reader will quickly
discover that many computational skills are acquired and internalized best
when developed slowly and cumulatively.
The use of this text as reference material by a number of practicing scien-
tists and engineers is often brought to my attention by some pleasant com-
ments in a faculty meeting, professional conference, or social function. This
encouragement by peers is most appreciated.
This new edition benefited from comments, emails, and letters that I
received from many students, readers, and colleagues. I am grateful for all
those who took the time to make suggestions, point out misprints, and/or
argued the pedagogical approach that I adopted in presenting certain mate-
rial. I owe special thanks to Herman Cummins and Robert Brenart for their
valuable comments on this second edition’s book proposal, and to Allison
Taub, my editor at Taylor & Francis who took the initiative in actively and
enthusiastically championing the publication of a second edition of this text,
and in supporting its preparation at this time. Courtney Esposito and her
colleagues at The MathWorks Inc. continue to provide me with copies of the
most current releases of MATLAB and their supporting documentation for
which I am most grateful. Julie Spadaro, project editor at Taylor & Francis,
assured a quality final product, successfully coordinating production teams
on different continents.
My wife Azza and daughters Tala and Nigh urged me to prepare a second
edition of this book because partially, I suspect, they liked the fact that the
mail folder that I bring home with me every day now had many communi-
cations (even fan letters!) from other than the dozen or so colleagues, friends,
7425_C000.qxd 6/9/06 16:53 Page xiii

and editors who regularly read, comment, and respond to my research

papers. But above all, I know that deep in their hearts they supported me
unconditionally in what they knew was to me a labor of love. To them I
rededicate this book.
Jamal T. Manassah
New York, September 2006
7425_C000.qxd 6/9/06 16:53 Page xiv
7425_C000.qxd 6/9/06 16:53 Page xv

Contents

1. Starting with MATLAB and Exploring Its Graphics

Capabilities ....................................................................................................1
1.1 First Steps ..........................................................................................1
1.2 Basic Algebraic Operations and Functions ..................................2
1.3 Plotting Points ..................................................................................6
1.3.1 Axes Commands ..............................................................8
1.3.2 Labeling a Graph ............................................................9
1.3.3 Plotting a Point in 3-D ....................................................9
1.4 M-files ..............................................................................................10
1.5 MATLAB Simple Programming ..................................................11
1.5.1 The for Iterative Loop ................................................11
1.5.2 if-else-end Structures ............................................12
1.5.3 The while Loop ............................................................15
1.6 Arrays ..............................................................................................16
1.6.1 Array Relational Operations ........................................17
1.6.2 Array Algebraic Operations ........................................18
1.6.3 Combining Arrays Relational and Algebraic
Operations: Alternative Syntax to the if Statement ..19
1.6.4 Plotting Arrays ..............................................................20
1.7 Data Analysis ..................................................................................22
1.7.1 Manipulation of Data ....................................................22
1.7.2 Displaying Data ............................................................24
1.7.3 Normal Distribution ......................................................25
1.8 Parametric Equations ....................................................................27
1.8.1 Definition ........................................................................27
1.8.2 More Examples ..............................................................28
1.8.3 Oscilloscope Graphics ..................................................30
1.9 Polar Plots ......................................................................................32
1.10 3-D Plotting ....................................................................................34
1.10.1 Straight-Edge Geometric Figures ................................34
1.10.2 Parametric Equations for a 3-D Curve ......................38
1.10.3 Plotting a 3-D Surface ..................................................40
1.10.4 Contour: A Powerful Tool for Exploring 2-D
Geometries ......................................................................43
1.11 Animation ......................................................................................48
1.12 Specialized Plots: Velocity, Gradient, etc. ..................................49
1.12.1 Velocity Plots from Parametric Equations ................49
1.12.2 Gradient of a Potential ..................................................50
7425_C000.qxd 6/9/06 16:53 Page xvi

1.13 Printing and Saving Work in MATLAB ....................................52

1.13.1 Printing a Figure ............................................................52
1.13.2 Printing a Program File (Script M-file) ........................54
1.13.3 Converting a MATLAB Graphic into an
Image File ........................................................................54
1.13.4 Saving Values of Variables ............................................54
1.13.5 Loading the Value of a Variable ..................................54
1.13.6 Saving a MATLAB Session ..........................................54
1.13.7 Loading workspace.mat ..........................................54
1.14 MATLAB Commands Review ....................................................55

2. Difference Equations ................................................................................59

2.1 Simple Linear Forms ....................................................................59
2.2 Amortization ..................................................................................61
2.3 An Iterative Geometric Construct: The Koch Curve ................64
2.4 Solution of Linear Constant Coefficients
Difference Equations ....................................................................67
2.4.1 Homogeneous Solution ................................................68
2.4.2 Particular Solution ........................................................70
2.4.3 General Solution ............................................................70
2.5 Convolution-Summation of a First-Order System with
Constant Coefficients ....................................................................74
2.6 General First-Order Linear Difference Equations ....................76
2.7 Nonlinear Difference Equations ..................................................78
2.7.1 Computing Irrational Numbers ..................................78
2.7.2 The Logistic Equation ..................................................79
2.8 Fractals and Computer Art ..........................................................81
2.8.1 Mira’s Model ..................................................................81
2.8.2 Hénon’s Model ..............................................................84
2.9 Generation of Special Functions from Their Recursion
Relations ..........................................................................................86

3. Elementary Functions and Some of Their Uses ..................................89

3.1 Function Files ................................................................................89
3.2 Examples with Affine Functions ................................................91
3.2.1 Application to a Simple Circuit ..................................91
3.2.2 Further Consideration of Figure 3.1 ............................94
3.3 Examples with Quadratic Functions ..........................................95
3.4 Examples with Polynomial Functions ........................................96
3.5 Examples with the Trigonometric Functions ............................99
3.6 Examples with the Logarithmic Function ................................100
3.6.1 Ideal Coaxial Capacitor ..............................................100
3.6.2 The Decibel Scale ........................................................101
3.6.3 Entropy ..........................................................................101
3.7 Examples with the Exponential Function ................................103
3.7.1 Application to a Simple RC Circuit ..........................103
7425_C000.qxd 6/9/06 16:53 Page xvii

3.8 Examples with the Hyperbolic Functions and

Their Inverses ..............................................................................105
3.8.1 Application to the Capacitance of
Two Parallel Wires ......................................................105
3.9 Commonly Used Signal Processing Functions ........................105
3.10 Animation of a Moving Rectangular Pulse ..............................111
3.11 Use of the Function Handle ........................................................112
3.12 MATLAB Commands Review ....................................................114

4. Differentiation, Integration, and Solutions of Ordinary

Differential Equations ............................................................................115
4.1 Limits of Indeterminate Forms ..................................................115
4.2 Derivative of a Function ............................................................117
4.3 Infinite Sums ................................................................................119
4.4 Numerical Integration ................................................................121
4.5 A Better Numerical Differentiator ............................................124
4.5.1 Application ..................................................................127
4.6 A Better Numerical Integrator: Simpson’s Rule ......................128
4.7 Numerical Solutions of Ordinary Differential Equations ......135
4.7.1 First-Order Iterator ......................................................137
4.7.2 Higher-Order Iterators: The Runge–Kutta
Method ..........................................................................142
4.7.3 MATLAB ODE Solvers ................................................146
4.8 Integral Equations ........................................................................152
4.9 MATLAB Commands Review ..................................................158

5. Root Solving and Optimization Methods ..........................................159

5.1 Finding the Real Roots of a Function of One Variable ..........159
5.1.1 Graphical Method ........................................................159
5.1.2 Numerical Methods ....................................................160
5.1.3 MATLAB fzero Built-in Function ..........................167
5.1.4 Application: Zeros of the Zero-Order
Bessel Function ............................................................168
5.2 Roots of a Polynomial ................................................................170
5.3 Optimization Methods for Functions of One Variable ..........171
5.3.1 Graphical Method ........................................................172
5.3.2 Numerical Method: The Golden Section Method ..173
5.3.3 MATLAB fminbnd Built-in Function ......................175
5.4 The Zeros and the Minima of Functions in Two Variables ..178
5.4.1 The MATLAB fsolve Built-in Command ..............178
5.4.2 The MATLAB fminsearch Built-in Command ....181
5.5 Finding the Minima of Functions with
Constraints Present ......................................................................185
5.5.1 Lagrange Multipliers ..................................................186
5.5.2 MATLAB fmincon Built-in Function ......................187
5.6 MATLAB Commands Review ..................................................189
7425_C000.qxd 6/9/06 16:53 Page xviii

6. Complex Numbers....................................................................................191
6.1 Introduction ..................................................................................191
6.2 The Basics ......................................................................................191
6.2.1 Addition ........................................................................192
6.2.2 Multiplication by a Real or Imaginary
Number ........................................................................193
6.2.3 Multiplication of Two Complex Numbers ..............193
6.3 Complex Conjugation and Division ........................................195
6.3.1 Application to Division ..............................................196
6.4 Polar Form of Complex Numbers ............................................197
6.4.1 New Insights into Multiplication and Division
of Complex Numbers ..................................................198
6.4.2 Roots of Complex Numbers ......................................200
6.4.3 The Function y ⫽ e j␪ ....................................................201
6.5 Analytical Solutions of Constant Coefficients ODE ..............204
6.5.1 Transient Solutions ......................................................205
6.5.2 Solution in the Presence of a Source:
Green Function Technique ..........................................207
6.5.3 Steady-State Solutions ................................................210
6.5.4 Applications to Circuit Analysis ................................211
6.6 Phasors ..........................................................................................213
6.6.1 Phasor of Two Added Signals ....................................213
6.6.2 Total Phasor of Many Signals ....................................214
6.7 Interference and Diffraction of Electromagnetic Waves ........216
6.7.1 The Electromagnetic Wave ........................................216
6.7.2 Addition of Two Electromagnetic Waves ................217
6.7.3 Generalization to N-waves ........................................218
6.8 Solving ac Circuits with Phasors: The Impedance
Method ..........................................................................................220
6.8.1 RLC Circuit Phasor Analysis ......................................221
6.8.2 The Infinite LC Ladder ................................................222
6.9 Transfer Function for a Difference Equation with
Constant Coefficients ..................................................................224
6.10 MATLAB Commands Review ..................................................234

7. Vectors ........................................................................................................235
7.1 Vectors in Two Dimensions ........................................................235
7.1.1 Addition ........................................................................235
7.1.2 Multiplication of a Vector by a Real Number ..........235
7.1.3 Cartesian Representation ............................................236
7.1.4 MATLAB Representation of Vectors ........................238
7.2 Dot (or Scalar) Product ..............................................................239
7.2.1 MATLAB Representation of the Dot Product ..........241
7.3 Components, Direction Cosines, and Projections ..................243
7.3.1 Components ..................................................................243
7.3.2 Direction Cosines ........................................................243
7.3.3 Projections ....................................................................244
7425_C000.qxd 6/9/06 16:53 Page xix

7.4 The Dirac Notation and Some General Theorems ..................244

7.4.1 Cauchy–Schwartz Inequality ....................................246
7.4.2 Triangle Inequality ......................................................248
7.5 Cross Product and Scalar Triple Product ................................249
7.5.1 Cross Product ..............................................................249
7.5.2 Geometric Interpretation of the Cross Product ......250
7.5.3 Scalar Triple Product ..................................................250
7.6 Tangent, Normal, and Curvature ..............................................253
7.7 Velocity and Acceleration Vectors in Polar Coordinates ........255
7.8 Line Integral ..................................................................................261
7.9 Infinite-Dimensional Vector Spaces ..........................................263
7.10 MATLAB Commands Review ..................................................272

8. Matrices ......................................................................................................273
8.1 Setting Up Matrices ....................................................................273
8.1.1 Creating a Matrix by Keying in the Elements ........273
8.1.2 Retrieving Special Matrices from the
MATLAB Library ........................................................275
8.1.3 Functional Construction of Matrices ........................277
8.2 Adding Matrices ..........................................................................280
8.3 Multiplying a Matrix by a Scalar ..............................................280
8.4 Multiplying Matrices ..................................................................281
8.5 Inverse of a Matrix ......................................................................282
8.6 Solving a System of Linear Equations ......................................285
8.7 Application of Matrix Methods ................................................288
8.7.1 dc Circuit Analysis ......................................................288
8.7.2 dc Circuit Design ........................................................289
8.7.3 ac Circuit Analysis ......................................................290
8.7.4 Accuracy of a Truncated Taylor Series ....................291
8.7.5 Reconstructing a Function from Its Fourier
Components ..................................................................294
8.7.6 Interpolating the Coefficients of an (n ⫺ 1)-
Degree Polynomial from n Points ............................296
8.7.7 Least-Squares Fit of Data ............................................297
8.7.8 Numerical Solution of Fredholm Equations ............298
8.8 Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors ..................................................299
8.8.1 Finding the Eigenvalues of a Matrix ........................299
8.8.2 Finding the Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors
Using MATLAB ............................................................302
8.9 The Cayley–Hamilton and Other Analytical Techniques ......305
8.9.1 Cayley–Hamilton Theorem ........................................305
dX
8.9.2 Solution of Equations of the Form ⫽ AX ..........306
dt
8.9.3 Solution of Equations of the Form
dX
= AX ⫹ B(t)..............................................................308
dt
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8.9.4 Pauli Spinors ................................................................312

8.10 Special Classes of Matrices ........................................................319
8.10.1 Hermitian Matrices ......................................................319
8.10.2 Unitary Matrices ..........................................................323
8.10.3 Unimodular Matrices ..................................................324
8.11 Transfer Matrices ..........................................................................330
8.12 Covariance Matrices ....................................................................334
8.12.1 Parametric Estimation ................................................336
8.12.2 Karhunen–Loeve Transform ......................................339
8.13 MATLAB Commands Review ..................................................341

9. Transformations ........................................................................................343
9.1 Two-Dimensional Geometric Transformations ......................343
9.1.1 Construction of Polygonal Figures ............................343
9.1.2 Inversion about the Origin and Reflection
about the Coordinate Axes ........................................344
9.1.3 Rotation around the Origin ........................................345
9.1.4 Scaling ............................................................................346
9.1.5 Translation ....................................................................347
9.2 Homogeneous Coordinates ........................................................347
9.3 Manipulation of 2-D Images ......................................................351
9.3.1 Geometrical Manipulation of Images ......................351
9.3.2 Digital Image Processing ............................................352
9.3.3 Encrypting an Image ..................................................353
9.4 Lorentz Transformation ..............................................................355
9.4.1 Space–Time Coordinates ............................................355
9.4.2 Addition Theorem for Velocities ..............................357
9.5 Iterative Constructs ....................................................................358
9.5.1 The Koch Curve ..........................................................358
9.5.2 The Serpenski Curve ..................................................361
9.6 MATLAB Commands Review ..................................................363

10. A Taste of Probability Theory ................................................................365

10.1 Introduction ..................................................................................365
10.2 Basics ..............................................................................................366
10.3 Addition Laws for Probabilities ................................................371
10.4 Conditional Probability ..............................................................375
10.4.1 Total Probability Theorem ..........................................377
10.4.2 Bayes Theorem ............................................................377
10.5 Repeated Trials ............................................................................380
10.6 Generalization of Bernoulli Trials ............................................382
10.7 The Poisson and the Normal Distributions ............................382
10.7.1 The Poisson Distribution ............................................383
10.7.2 The Normal Distribution ............................................385
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Appendix A: Review of Elementary Functions............................................389

A.1 Affine Functions ..........................................................................389
A.2 Quadratic Functions ....................................................................390
A.3 Polynomial Functions ..................................................................395
A.4 Trigonometric Functions ............................................................395
A.5 Inverse Trigonometric Functions ..............................................397
A.6 The Natural Logarithmic Function ..........................................397
A.7 The Exponential Function ..........................................................398
A.8 The Hyperbolic Functions ..........................................................399
A.9 The Inverse Hyperbolic Functions ............................................401

Appendix B: Determinants ..............................................................................403

Appendix C: Symbolic Calculations with MATLAB ..................................407

C.1 Symbolic Manipulation ..............................................................408
C.1.1 Creating Symbolic Expressions ................................408
C.1.2 Algebraic Manipulation ..............................................411
C.1.3 Plotting Symbolic Expressions ..................................414
C.2 Symbolic Solution of Algebraic and Transcendental
Equations ......................................................................................417
C.3 Symbolic Calculus ......................................................................418
C.4 Symbolic Linear Algebra ............................................................423
C.5 z-Transform and Laplace Transform ........................................428
C.5.1 z-Transform ..................................................................428
C.5.2 Solving Constant Coefficients Linear Difference
Equations Using z-Transform ....................................431
C.5.3 Laplace Transform ......................................................432
C.5.4 Solving Constant Coefficients Linear ODE
Using Laplace Transform ............................................436

Appendix D: Some Useful Formulae ............................................................439

Appendix E: Text Formatting ..........................................................................443

Selected References ..........................................................................................445

Index......................................................................................................................447
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1
Starting with MATLAB and Exploring Its
Graphics Capabilities

MATLAB can be thought of as a library of programs that will prove very use-
ful in solving many electrical engineering computational problems. MATLAB
is an ideal tool for numerically assisting you in obtaining answers, which is a
major goal of engineering analysis and design. This program is very useful in
research on circuit analysis, device design, signal processing, filter design,
control system analysis, antenna design, microwave engineering, photonics
engineering, computer engineering, and every other subfields of electrical
engineering. It is also a powerful graphic and visualization tool of beneficial
use for both quantitative courses and in your future career. In this chapter, we
start our exploration of MATLAB; in subsequent chapters, we will add to our
knowledge about this powerful tool of the modern engineer.

1.1 First Steps

The first step in using MATLAB is to know how to call it. It is important to
remember that although the front-end and the interfacing for machines with
different operating systems are sometimes different, once you are inside
MATLAB, all programs and routines are written in the same manner. Only
those few commands that are for file management and for interfacing with
external devices such as printers may be different for different operating sys-
tems. After entering MATLAB, usually by double clicking on the MATLAB
program icon, you should see the prompt >>, which means the program
interpreter is waiting for you to enter instructions. The interpreter goes to
work when you press the Return key. In case you wish to go to a new line
for the purpose of continuing your instructions, you should enter ellipses
( … ) before you hit the Return key.
In case the program is already opened, and to make sure that nothing is
saved from a previous session, type and enter:

>>clear all
1
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2 Elementary Mathematical and Computational Tools Using MATLAB®

This command removes all variables from the workspace. Also type and
enter (we shall henceforth say just enter):

>>clf

This command creates a graph window (if one does not already exist) or
clears an existing graph window. The command figure creates a new fig-
ure window, leaving the existing ones unaltered.
The command quit stops MATLAB.
Because it is not the purpose of this text to explain the function of every
MATLAB command, how would you get information on a particular syntax?
The MATLAB program has extensive help documentation available with
simple commands. For example, if you wanted help on a function called
roots (we will use this function often), you would type help roots.
Note that the help facility cross-references other functions that may have
related uses. This requires that you know the function name. If you want an
idea of the available help files in MATLAB, type help. This gives you a list
of topics included in MATLAB.
To get help on a particular topic such as elementary matrices and matrix
manipulation, type matlab\elmat. This gives you a list of all relevant
functions pertaining to that area. Now you may type help for any function
listed there. For example, try help size.

1.2 Basic Algebraic Operations and Functions

The MATLAB environment can be used, on the most elementary level, as a
tool to perform simple algebraic manipulations and function evaluations.

EXAMPLE 1.1

Exploring the calculator functions of MATLAB: The purpose of this example

is to show how to manually enter data and how to use the basic algebraic
operations of MATLAB. Note that the statements will be executed immedi-
ately after they are typed and entered (no equal sign is required).
Enter the text that follows the >> prompt to find out the MATLAB
responses to the following:

>> format short

>> 2.54376+2.32e1 %2.32e1=2.32*(10^1)
ans =
25.7438
>> 5.45^2
ans =
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Starting with MATLAB® and Exploring Its Graphics Capabilities 3

29.7025
>> ceil(7.58)
ans =
8
>> 2*sin(pi/4)
ans =
1.4142

The % symbol is used so that one can type comments in a program. (Comments
following the % symbol are ignored by the MATLAB interpreter.) Then enter:

>> format short e

>> 2.54376+2.32e1
ans =
2.5744e+001
>> 5.45^2
ans =
2.9703e+001
>> ceil(7.58)
ans =
8
>> 2*sin(pi/4)
ans =
1.4142e+000 ⵧ

The last command gave twice the sine of
/4. Note that the argument of the
function was enclosed in parentheses directly following the name of the
function. Therefore, if you wanted to find sin3(x), the proper MATLAB syn-
tax would be

>>sin(pi/4)^3

The numeric functions of MATLAB are:

ceil(x) rounds the number to nearest integer toward 
fix(x) rounds the number to nearest integer toward 0
floor(x) rounds the number to nearest integer toward 
round(x) rounds the number to nearest integer

The numeric formats of MATLAB are:

format short (default value) gives the number with four decimal
digits
format long gives the number with 16 digits
format short e gives the number with four decimals plus an exponent
format long e gives the number with 15 digits plus an exponent
format bank gives the number with 2 digits after the decimal (use-
ful for financial calculations)
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4 Elementary Mathematical and Computational Tools Using MATLAB®

To facilitate its widespread use, MATLAB has all the standard elementary
mathematical functions as built-in functions. Type help elfun to obtain a
listing of these functions. Remember that this is just a subset of the available
functions in the MATLAB library.

>>help elfun

The response to the last command will give you a list of these elementary
functions, some of which may be new to you, but all of which will be used
in your future engineering studies. Many of these functions will also be used
in later chapters of this book.
In the following table, the MATLAB expressions for the most common
mathematical functions are given:

MATLAB form Name Mathematical form

sqrt(x) squareroot 兹x
exp(x) exponential exp(x)  ex
log(x) natural logarithm ln(x)
log10(x) base10 logarithm log(x)  (ln(x)/ln(10))
sin(x) sine sin(x)
cos(x) cosine cos(x)
sec(x) secant sec(x)
tan(x) tangent tan(x)  (sin(x)/cos(x))
cot(x) cotangent cot(x)  (1/tan(x))
asin(x) inverse sine sin1(x)  arcsin(x)
acos(x) inverse cosine cos1(x)
asec(x) inverse secant sec1(x)
atan(x) inverse tangent tan1(x)
acot(x) inverse cotangent cot1(x)
sinh(x) hyperbolic sine sinh(x)  (ex  ex)/2
cosh(x) hyperbolic cosine cosh(x)  (ex  ex)/2
sech(x) hyperbolic secant sech(x)  1/cosh(x)
tanh(x) hyperbolic tangent tanh(x)  sinh(x)/cosh(x)
coth(x) hyperbolic cotangent coth(x)  1/tanh(x)
asinh(x) inverse hyperbolic sine (
sinh1 ( x)  ln x  x 2  1 )
where    x  

acosh(x) inverse hyperbolic cosine (

cosh1 ( x)  ln x  x 2  1 )
where x 1
1 1 
asech(x) inverse hyperbolic secant sech1 ( x)  ln   2  1 
x x 
where 0  x  1
1  1 x 
atanh(x) inverse hyperbolic tangent tanh1 ( x)  ln  
2  1 x 
where 1  x  1

1  x 1 
acoth(x) inverse hyperbolic cotangent coth1 ( x) 
ln  
2  x 1 
where x  1 or x  1
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Starting with MATLAB® and Exploring Its Graphics Capabilities 5

EXAMPLE 1.2

Assigning and calling values of parameters: In addition to inputting data

directly to the screen, you can assign a symbolic constant or constants to rep-
resent data and perform manipulations on them.
For example, enter and note the answer to each of the following:

>> format short

>> a=2.65;
>> b=3.765;
>> c=a*(a+b)
c =
16.9997
>> d=a*b
d =
9.9772
>> e=a/b
e =
0.7039
>> f=a^3/b^2
f =
1.3128
>> g=a+3*b^2
g =
45.1757

(The spacing shown above is obtained by selecting Compact for Numerical

Display in the Command Window Preferences in the File pull-down menu.)
ⵧ

If we desire at any point to know the list of the current variables in a MATLAB
session, we enter:

>>who

Note on variable names: Variable names must begin with a letter, contains
letters, digits, and underscore characters, and must contain less than 32 char-
acters. MATLAB is case-sensitive.

Question: From the above, can you deduce the order in which MATLAB
performs the basic algebraic operations?

Answer: The order of precedence is as follows:

1. Parentheses, starting with the innermost
2. Exponentiation from left to right
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6 Elementary Mathematical and Computational Tools Using MATLAB®

3. Multiplication and division with equal precedence, also evaluated

from left to right
4. Addition and subtraction, with equal precedence, also evaluated
from left to right

IN-CLASS EXERCISE

Pb. 1.1 Using the values, a  0.875 and b  1.5786, find the values of the fol-
lowing expressions (give your answers in the engineering short format):

h  sin(a) sin3/2(b)
j  a1/3 b3/7
k  (sin1(a/b))2/3
l  sinh(a) ab

1.3 Plotting Points

In this section, you will learn how to use some simple MATLAB graphics
commands to plot points. We use these graphics commands later in the text
for plotting arrays and for visualizing their properties. To view all the func-
tions connected with two-dimensional (2-D) graphics, type

>>help plot

All graphics functions connected with three-dimensional curves graphics

can be looked up by typing

>>help plot3

A point P in the x–y plane is specified by two coordinates: the x-coordinate

measures the horizontal distance of the point from the y-axis, while the
y-coordinate measures the vertical distance above or below the x-axis. These
coordinates are called Cartesian coordinates, and any point in the plane can
be described in this manner. We write for the point, P(x, y).
Other representations can also be used to locate a point with respect to a
particular set of axes. For example, in the polar representation, the point is
specified by an r-coordinate that measures the distance of the point from the
origin, while the -coordinate measures the angle which the line passing
through the origin and this point makes with the positive x-axis. The angle
is measured anticlockwise from the positive x-axis.
The purpose of the following two examples is to learn how to represent
points in a Cartesian plane and to plot them using MATLAB.
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Starting with MATLAB® and Exploring Its Graphics Capabilities 7

EXAMPLE 1.3

Plot the point P(3, 4). Mark this point with a red asterisk.
Solution: Enter the following:
>> x1=3;
y1=4;
plot(x1,y1,'*r') ⵧ
Note that the semicolon is used in the above commands to suppress the
echoing of the values of the inputs. The '*r' is used to mark the location and
the color of the point that we are plotting.
The symbols for the most common markers and colors for display in
MATLAB plot-functions are:

Markers Symbol Color Symbol

Circle o Blue b
Cross x Cyan c
Diamond d Green g
Dot ⴢ Magenta m
Pentagram p Yellow y
Plus sign ⴙ Red r
Square s White w
Star * Black k

EXAMPLE 1.4

Plot the second point, R(2.5, 4), on the graph while keeping point P of the
previous example on the same graph. Mark the new point with a small green
circle.

Solution: If we went ahead, defined the coordinates of R, and attempted to

plot the point R through the following commands:
>>x2=2.5;
y2=4;
plot(x2,y2,'og')
We would find that the last plot command erases the previous plot output.
Thus, what should we do if we want both points plotted on the same graph?
The answer is to use the hold on command after the first plot.
The following illustrates the instructions that you should have entered
instead of entering the above:
>>hold on
x2=2.5;
y2=4;
plot(x2,y2,'og')
hold off
The hold off turns off the hold on feature. ⵧ
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8 Elementary Mathematical and Computational Tools Using MATLAB®

NOTES
1. There is no limit to the number of plot commands you can type
before the hold is turned off.
2. An alternative method for viewing multiple points on the same
graph is available: we may instead, following the entering of the
values of x1, y1, x2, y2, enter:

>>plot(x1,y1,'*r',x2,y2,'og')

This has the advantage, in MATLAB, if no color is specified, that the

program assigns automatically a different color to each point.

1.3.1 Axes Commands

You may have noticed that MATLAB automatically adjusts the scale on a
graph to accommodate the coordinates of the points being plotted. The axis
scaling can be manually enforced by using the command

>>axis([xmin xmax ymin ymax])

Make sure that the minimum axis value is less than the maximum axis value
or an error will result.
In addition to being able to adjust the scale of a graph, you can also change
the aspect ratio of the graphics window. This is useful when you wish to see
the correct x to y scaling. For example, without this command, a circle will look
more like an ellipse, even if we have chosen ymax  ymin  xmax  xmin.

EXAMPLE 1.5

Plot the vertices of the square, formed by the points (1, 1), (1, 1),
(1, 1), (1, 1), keeping the same aspect ratio as in a graph paper, i.e., 1.

Solution: Enter the following:

>>x1=-1;y1=-1;
>>x2=1;y2=-1;
>>x3=-1;y3=1;
>>x4=1;y4=1;
>>plot(x1,y1,'o',x2,y2,'o',x3,y3,'o',x4,y4,'o')
>>axis([-2 2 -2 2])
>>axis square %makes the aspect ratio 1 ⵧ

Note that prior to the axis square command, the square looked like a rect-
angle. If you want to go back to the default aspect ratio, type axis normal.
In specific instances, you may need to choose other than the default
tick marks chosen by MATLAB, you can achieve this by adding the
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Starting with MATLAB® and Exploring Its Graphics Capabilities 9

following command:

set(gca,'Xtick',[xmin:dx:xmax],'Ytick',[ymin:dy:ymax])

Here gca stands for get current axes, and dx and dy are respectively the spac-
ings between tick marks that you desire in the x- and y-directions.
You can also make the graph easier to read, by using the command:

>>grid

This command displays gridlines at the tick marks.

If we repeat Example 1.5 with these new features added, the set of instruc-
tions will now read:

>>x1=-1;y1=-1;x2=1;y2=-1;x3=-1;y3=1;x4=1;y4=1;
>>plot(x1,y1,'o',x2,y2,'o',x3,y3,'o',x4,y4,'o')
>>axis([-2 2 -2 2])
>>axis square
>>set(gca,'Xtick',[-2:0.5:2],'Ytick',[-2:0.5:2])
>>grid

The tick marks were chosen in this instance to be separated by –12 units in both
the x- and y-directions.

1.3.2 Labeling a Graph

To add labels to your graph, the functions xlabel, ylabel, and title can
be used as follows:

>>xlabel('x-axis')
>>ylabel('y-axis')
>>title('points in a plane')

If you desire to also add a caption anywhere in the graph, you can use the
MATLAB command

>>gtext('caption')

and place it at the location on the graph of your choice, by clicking the mouse
on the desired location when the crosshair is properly centered there.
Different fonts and symbols can be used in labeling MATLAB graphs.
LaTeX symbols are used by MATLAB for this purpose (see Appendix E).

1.3.3 Plotting a Point in 3-D

In addition to being able to plot points on a plane (2-D space), MATLAB is
also able to plot points in a three-dimensional space (3-D space). For this, we
use the plot3 function.
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10 Elementary Mathematical and Computational Tools Using MATLAB®

EXAMPLE 1.6

Plot the points P(1, 1, 1), Q(4, 5, 6) and R(2, 5, 3). Show a grid in your graph.
Solution: Enter the following commands:

>>x1=1;x2=4;x3=2;
>>y1=1;y2=5;y3=5;
>>z1=1;z2=6;z3=3;
>>plot3(x1,y1,z1,'o',x2,y2,z2,'*',x3,y3,z3,'d')
>>axis([0 6 0 6 0 6])
>>grid ⵧ

NOTE You can also plot multiple points in a 3-D space in exactly the same
way as you did on a plane. Axis adjustment can still be used, but the vector
input into the axis command must now have six entries, as follows:

axis([xmin xmax ymin ymax zmin zmax])

You can similarly label your 3-D figure using xlabel, ylabel, zlabel, and
title.
The grid command is also valid in conjunction with the plot3 command.

1.4 M-files
In the last section, we found that to complete a figure with a caption, we had
to enter several commands one by one in the command window. Typing
errors will be time-consuming to fix because if you are working in the com-
mand window, and if you make an error, you will need to retype all or part
of the program. Even if you do not make any mistakes (!), all of your work
may be lost if you inadvertently quit MATLAB and have not taken the nec-
essary steps to save the contents of the important program that you just fin-
ished developing. This will be time-consuming. Especially, if you are
simulating a process, and all that you want to change in successive runs are
the parameters of the problem. To preserve large sets of commands, you can
store them in a special type of file called an M-file.
MATLAB supports two types of M-files: script and function M-files. To hold
a large collection of commands, we use a script M-file. The function M-file is
discussed in Chapter 3. To make a script M-file, you need to open a file using
the built-in MATLAB Menu. First select New from the File menu. Then select
the M-file entry from the pull-down menu. After typing the M-file contents,
you need to save the file. For this purpose, use the save as command from the
File window. A field will pop up in which you can type in the name you have
chosen for this file. In the pop-up lower window, indicate that it is an .m file.
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Starting with MATLAB® and Exploring Its Graphics Capabilities 11

NOTES
1. Avoid naming a file by a mathematical abbreviation, the name of a
mathematical function, a MATLAB command, or a number.
2. To run your script M-file, just enter in the command window the
filename omitting the .m extension in the file name at its end at the
MATLAB prompt. To be able to access this file from the command
window, make sure that the folder in which you saved this file is in
the MATLAB Path. If this is not the case use the Set Path in the File
pull-down menu and follow the screen prompts.

EXAMPLE 1.7

For practice, go to the File pull-down menu, select New and M-file to create
the following file that you will name myfile_17.
Enter in the editor window, the following set of instructions:

x1=1;y1=.5;x2=2;y2=1.5;x3=3;y3=2;
plot(x1,y1,'o',x2,y2,'+',x3,y3,'*')
axis([0 4 0 4])
xlabel('xaxis')
ylabel('yaxis')
title('3points in a plane')

After creating and saving this file as myfile_17 in your work folder, go to the
MATLAB command window and enter myfile_17. MATLAB will execute the
instructions in the same sequence as the statements stored in that file. ⵧ

1.5 MATLAB Simple Programming

In this section, we introduce the programming flow control commands for,
if, and while.

1.5.1 The for Iterative Loop

The power of computers lies in their ability to perform a large number of
repetitive calculations. To do this without entering the value of a parameter
or variable each time that these are changed, all computer languages have
control structures that allow commands to be performed and controlled by
counter variables, and MATLAB is no different. For example, the MATLAB
for loop allows a statement or a group of statements to be repeated a pre-
scribed number (i.e., positive integer) of times.
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12 Elementary Mathematical and Computational Tools Using MATLAB®

EXAMPLE 1.8

Generate the square of the first ten integers.

Solution: Edit and execute the following script M-file:

for m=1:10
x(m)=m^2;
end ⵧ

In this case, the number of repetitions is controlled by the index variable m,

which takes on the values m=1 to 10 in intervals of 1. Therefore, 10 assign-
ments are made. What the above loop is doing is sequentially assigning the
different values of m^2 (i.e., m2) for each element of the “x-array.” An array
is just a data structure that can hold multiple entries. An array can be 1-D
such as in a vector or 2-D such as in a matrix. More will be said about vec-
tors and matrices in subsequent chapters. At this time, assume 1-D and 2-D
arrays as pigeonholes with numbers or ordered pair of numbers respectively
assigned to them.
To find the value of a particular slot of the array, such as slot 3, enter:

>>x(3)

To read all the values stored in the array, enter:

>>x

Question: What do you get if you enter m, following the execution of the
above program?
Answer: The value 10, which is the last value of m read by the counter.

Homework Problem
Pb. 1.2 A couple establishes a college savings account for their newly
born baby girl, deposit $2000 in this account, and commit themselves to
deposit an equal amount at each future birthday of the new born. They
chose to invest this money with an investment firm that guarantees a
minimum annual return of 5%. What will be the minimum balance of the
account when the young lady turns 18? (Include in your calculation the
amount deposited on her 18th birthday.)

1.5.2 if-else-end Structures

If a sequence of commands must be conditionally evaluated based on a rela-
tional test, the programming of this logical relationship is executed with
some variation of an if-else-end structure.
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Starting with MATLAB® and Exploring Its Graphics Capabilities 13

A. The simplest form of this structure is:

if expression
Commands evaluated if expression is True
else
Commands evaluated if expression is False
end

NOTES
1. The commands between the if and else statements are evaluated
for all elements in the expression which are true.
2. The conditional expression uses the Boolean logical symbols &
(AND), | (OR), and ⬃ (NOT) to connect different propositions.

EXAMPLE 1.9

Find for integer a, 0  a  10, the values of C, defined as follows:

 ab for a  5

C 3
 ab for a  5
2

and b  15.

Solution: Edit and execute the following script M-file:

>>b=15;
for a=1:10
if a>5
C(a)=a*b;
else
C(a)=(a*b)*(3/2);
end
end

Check that the values of C that you will obtain by typing C are:

22.5 45 67.5 90 112.50 90 105 120 135 150 ⵧ

B. When there are three or more alternatives for the conditional, the
if-else-end structure takes the form:
if expression 1
Commands 1 evaluated if expression 1 is True
elseif expression 2
Commands 2 evaluated if expression 2 is True
7425_C001.qxd 9/2/06 12:03 PM Page 14

14 Elementary Mathematical and Computational Tools Using MATLAB®

elseif expression 3
Commands 3 evaluated if expression 3 is True
...

....
else
Commands evaluated if no other expression is True
end

In this form, only the commands associated with the first True expression
encountered are evaluated, ensuing relational expressions are not tested.

EXAMPLE 1.10

Find for integers a, 1  a  15, the value of D defined by

 a3 for a  5

D   2a for 5  a  10

 a  7 for 10  a  15

Solution: Edit and execute the following script M-file:

for a=1:15
if a<=5
D(a)=a^3;
elseif a>5 & a<10
D(a)=2*a;
else
D(a)=7+a;
end
end
D ⵧ

Homework Problem
Pb. 1.3 For the values of integer a going from 1 to 10, find the values of
C such that

 a2 if a is even
C
 a
3
if a is odd

Use the stem command to graphically show C. (Hint: Look up in the help
file the function mod.)
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Starting with MATLAB® and Exploring Its Graphics Capabilities 15

1.5.3 The while Loop

The while loop is used when the iteration process has to terminate when a
priori specified condition is satisfied. The difference with the for command
is that there the number of iterations is specified in advance.
The syntax for the while loop is as follows:

Initial assignment
while relational condition
expression
end

NOTE Special care should be exercised when using the while loop, as in
some cases the looping may never stop.

EXAMPLE 1.11

The unknown quantity x has the form 2n, where n is an integer. We desire to
find the largest such number subject to the condition that x  75,345.
Solution: Using the above syntax of the while loop, we enter:

>>x=2;
while 2*x<75345
x=2*x;
end
x

The unknown variable is initially assigned the value 2, it has this value until
it encounters the statement x=2*x, which should be read that x(n  1) 
2*x(n), the value of x is then changed to xnew. Before each pass through the
loop, the value of x is checked to see whether x  75,345. If this condition is
satisfied, the next iteration is carried through; otherwise the looping is
stopped. The final result to our problem is the value of x before any more
loop is executed.
If the statement of the problem is changed, and we had asked instead the
question to list all x’s that satisfied the condition x  75,345. We would have
entered instead of the above the following instructions:

>>x=2;
while x<75345
disp(x)
x=2*x;
end

The disp (display) command displays the results of all iterations satisfying
the desired condition. ⵧ
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16 Elementary Mathematical and Computational Tools Using MATLAB®

Homework Problem
Pb. 1.4 Using while, find the largest number x which can be written in
the form

x  3n  2n  3

and such that n is an integer and x  35,724.

1.6 Arrays
As mentioned earlier, think of an array as a string of ordered numbers, i.e.,
to determine an array, we need to specify the value and position of each ele-
ment in this string.
As pointed out earlier, an element in the array is addressed by writing the
name of the array followed by the position of the element within parenthe-
ses. For example, x(3) will be the value of the third element in the array x.
The basic array functions are:

length(x) finds the length of the array x (i.e., number of elements)

find(x) computes a new array where the successive elements indicate
the positions where the components of the array x are nonzero
max(x) gives the value of the largest element in the array x
min(x) gives the value of the smallest element in the array x
sum(x) gives the sum of all elements in the array x

EXAMPLE 1.12

Enter the array x  [0 3 6 2 11 0 7 9], and find its third element, length,
nonzero elements, value of its largest and smallest elements, and sum of all
its elements.

Solution:

>> x=[0 3 6 -2 11 0 7 9];

>> x(3)
ans =
6
>> length(x)
ans =
8
>> find(x)
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Starting with MATLAB® and Exploring Its Graphics Capabilities 17

ans =
2 3 4 5 7 8
>> max(x)
ans =
11
>> min(x)
ans =
-2
>> sum(x)
ans =
34 ⵧ

1.6.1 Array Relational Operations

MATLAB has six relational operations that compare the elements of two
arrays of the same length.
The relational operators are:

= = equal to
~ = not equal to
< smaller than
<= smaller or equal to
> larger than
>= larger than or equal

If we combine within parentheses the symbols for two arrays with a rela-
tional operator, the result will be a new array consisting of 0’s and 1’s, where
the 1’s are in the positions where the relation between the two elements in
the same position from the two arrays is satisfied, and 0’s otherwise.

EXAMPLE 1.13

Study the following printout:

x = [1 4 7 5 11 2];
y = [3 -2 7 2 12 -4];
>> z1=(x==y)
z1 =
0 0 1 0 0 0
>> z2=(x~=y)
z2 =
1 1 0 1 1 1
>> z3=(x<y)
z3 =
1 0 0 0 1 0
>> z4=(x<=y)
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18 Elementary Mathematical and Computational Tools Using MATLAB®

z4 =
1 0 1 0 1 0
>> z5=(x>y)
z5 =
0 1 0 1 0 1
>> z6=(x>=y)
z6 =
0 1 1 1 0 1
>> z7=(z1==z2)
z7 =
0 0 0 0 0 0
>> z8=(z3==z6)
z8 =
0 0 0 0 0 0
>> z9=(z4==z5)
z9 =
0 0 0 0 0 0

Comments: The values of z7, z8, and z9 are identically zeros. This means that
no corresponding elements of z1 and z2, z3 and z6, z4 and z5, respectively are
ever equal, i.e., each pair represents mutually exclusive conditions. ⵧ

1.6.2 Array Algebraic Operations

In Section 1.5, we used for loops repeatedly. However, this kind of loop-
programming is very inefficient and must be avoided as much as possible in
MATLAB. In fact, ideally, a good MATLAB program will always minimize
the use of loops because MATLAB is an interpreted language — not a com-
piled one. As a result, any looping process is very inefficient. Nevertheless,
at times we use the for loops, when necessitated by pedagogical reasons.
To understand array operations more clearly, consider the following:
a=1:3 % a starts at 1, goes to 3 in increments of 1.
If the increment is not 1, you must specify the increment; for example,

b=2:0.2:6 % b starts at 2 ends at 6 in steps of 0.2

To distinguish arrays operations from either operations on scalars or on

matrices, the symbol for multiplication becomes .*, that of division ./,
and that of exponentiation .^. Thus, for example,

c=a.*b % takes every element of a and multiplies

% it by the element of b in the same array location

Similarly, for exponentiation and division:

d=a.^b
e=a./b
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Starting with MATLAB® and Exploring Its Graphics Capabilities 19

If you try to use the regular scalar operations symbols, you will get an error
message.
Note that array operations such as the above require the two arrays to
have the same length (i.e., the same number of elements). To verify that two
arrays have the same number of elements (dimension), use the length com-
mand. The exception to the equal length arrays rule is when one of the
arrays is a scalar constant.

NOTE The expression x=linspace(0,10,200) is also a generator for an

x-array. Its first element equal to 0, its last element equal to 10, and it has 200
equally spaced points between 0 and 10. Here, the number of points rather
than the increment is specified; that is, length(x)=200.

1.6.3 Combining Arrays Relational and Algebraic Operations: Alternative

Syntax to the if Statement
As an alternative to the if syntax, we can use a combination of arrays rela-
tional and algebraic operations to generate a complicated array from a sim-
ple one.

EXAMPLE 1.14

Using array operations, find for integers a, 1  a  15, the value of D defined by

 a4 for a  5

D   2a for 5  a  10

 a  7 for 10  a  15

Solution:
>>a=1:15;
D=(a.^4).*(a<=5)+2*a.*(5<a).*(a<10)+(a+7).*(10<=a)...
.*(a<=15) ⵧ
NOTE We have used in the above the property that the logical AND link-
ing two separate relational operations can be represented by the array prod-
uct of these relations.

Homework Problem
Pb. 1.5 The array n is all integers from 1 to 110. The array y is defined by

 n
1/ 2
if n divisible by 3, 5, or 7
y=
 0 otherwise

Find the value of the sum of the elements of y.

7425_C001.qxd 9/2/06 12:03 PM Page 20

20 Elementary Mathematical and Computational Tools Using MATLAB®

1.6.4 Plotting Arrays

If we are given two arrays x and y, we can plot the y-array as function of the
x-array. What MATLAB is actually doing is displaying all the points
P(xi, yi) and connecting each two consecutive points by a straight line.
The same options for markers and color that were available for plotting
points and described earlier are also valid in this case. Additionally, we can
specify here the style of the line that connects the different points.

Style MATLAB Symbol

Solid line –
Dashed line ––
Dash-dot line –.
Dotted line :

If the points are close together, the points will look connected by a continu-
ous line making a smooth curve; we say that the program graphically inter-
polated the discrete points into a continuous curve.
The commands for labeling, axis and tick marks used in plotting points are
also valid here. We can zoom to a particular region of the graph by using the
command zoom, And we can read off the coordinates of particular point(s)
in the graph, by using

[x,y]=ginput(n)

This command serves to read the values of the coordinates of points off a dis-
played graph (n is the number of points). The command pops out the
crosshair. The operator manually zeros on the points of interest and clicks. As
a result, MATLAB prints the coordinates of the points in the same order as
those of the clicks of the mouse.

EXAMPLE 1.15

The three arrays x, y, and z are defined as follows:

x  0:0.1:10; y  x 2  6x  20; z  3x  5

Plot y as function of x, and z as function of x. Show the traces as red dotted

line and blue solid line, respectively, label the x- and y-axis, and label graph
as Figure of Example 1.15.

Solution:
>>x=0:0.1:10;
y=x.^2-6*x-20;
z=2*x-5;
plot(x,y,'r:',x,z,'b-')
xlabel('x axis')
7425_C001.qxd 9/2/06 12:03 PM Page 21

Starting with MATLAB® and Exploring Its Graphics Capabilities 21

ylabel('y-z axis')
title('Figure of Example 1.15')
grid

In the above solution, we plotted both curves on the same graph. Often, it may
be required to plot the two curves in separate graphs but in the same figure
window. This can be achieved using the subplot command. The arguments
of the subplot command subplot(m,n,p) specify m the number of rows par-
titioning the graph, n the number of columns, and p the number of the partic-
ular subgraph chosen (enumerated through the left to right, top to bottom
convention). The program to plot the above arrays in two graphs in a column
would read

>>x=0:0.1:10;
y=x.^2-6*x-20;
z=2*x-5;
subplot(2,1,1)
plot(x,y,'r:')
xlabel('x axis')
ylabel('y axis')
title('Figure of Example 1.14-a')
subplot(2,1,2)
plot(x,z,'b-')
xlabel('x axis')
ylabel('z axis')
title('Figure of Example 1.14-b') ⵧ

All the plotting that we did so far has been using the linear scale in both the
horizontal and vertical axes. Sometimes when the elements of an array can
change values by several decades over the range of interest, it is well advised
to use the different kinds of the log-plots. As the need arises we can, instead
of the plot command, use one of the following alternatives:

semilogy creates a semilog plot with logarithmic scale on the y-axis

semilogx creates a semilog plot with logarithmic scale on the x-axis
loglog creates a log–log graph

Homework Problem
Pb. 1.6 The arrays y and z are generated from the array of positive inte-
gers x  1:20, such that:
y  2x and z  51/x
Plot the array z as function of the array y. (You should be able to read off
the value of the coordinates of any point on the plot over the entire range
of the graph.)
7425_C001.qxd 9/2/06 12:03 PM Page 22

22 Elementary Mathematical and Computational Tools Using MATLAB®

1.7 Data Analysis

1.7.1 Manipulation of Data
The most convenient representation for data collected from experiments is in
the form of histograms. Typically, you collect data and want to sort it out in
different bins. But prior to getting to this point, let us review and introduce
some array-related commands that are useful in data manipulation.
Let {yn} be a data set. It can be represented in MATLAB by an array y.

length(y) gives the length of the array (i.e., the number of data points)
y(i) gives the value of the element of y in the ith position
y(i:j) gives a new array, consisting of all elements of y between and
including the locations i and j
find(y) computes a new array where the successive elements indicate
the positions where the components of the array y are nonzero
max(y) gives the value of the largest element in the array
min(y) gives the value of the smallest element in the array
sort(y) sorts the elements of y in ascending order and gives a new
array of the same size as y
sum(y) sums the elements of y. The answer is a scalar
mean(y) gives the mean value of the elements of y
std(y) computes the standard deviation of the elements of y

The definitions of the mean and of the standard deviation are, respectively,
given by

N
1
y
N
∑ y(i)
i1

N
( y(i)  y )2
 ∑
i1 ( N  1)

where N is the length of the array.

EXAMPLE 1.16

An old recorder at Bill’s backyard in Hamilton Heights in New York down-

loaded the following raw data for the temperature readings on July 25
between 12:01 p.m. and 1:00 p.m.:

T=[95 95.5 96 95.8 97 96.5 96 95 55 96 95 97 96 ...

96.5 96.2 125 96 95 95.5 96]
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 I had heard of people being made away with when out shooting,
but in my case it would hardly be possible. In the first place, I did not
shoot, having always had a disinclination to the brutal killing of
animals for the sake of pleasure. There remained as far as I could
see only the ordinary means of poisoning, with all their attendant
dangers.
An instantaneous poison would be most convenient, as it was
highly unlikely that I should have sufficient access to Lord Gascoyne
to deal with him slowly.
I rose in the morning with one scheme after another chasing itself
through my brain. Dressing rapidly, I went for a walk before breakfast
round the ancient battlements. These were quite a mile in
circumference, and the climbing of worn steps, hazardous scalings
of the walls from whence to get a better view, and a careful
examination of the various architectural designs of which the building
was constructed, occupied me very pleasantly for a full hour, and it
was half-past nine, the time for breakfast, when I turned to re-enter
the castle. As I descended some steps which led down to the
quadrangle, I was astonished to come face to face with a girl of
about nineteen or twenty and a child. She was obviously a lady, but
she had not been at the dinner-table the evening before, or in the
picture-gallery afterwards. I concluded that she was the little boy’s
governess, but who the child might be I could not imagine. I detected
at once that the girl was beautiful, and when I say I detected I use
the word advisedly, because it was not a beauty which would be
immediately appreciated. The gray eyes, oval face, threaded gold
hair, straight nose, and delicately-cut mouth were almost too frail to
impress the casual observer. I saw at once, however, that she was
rarely perfect in such a type of beauty as I always imagined Burns’
Mary must have possessed. She wore a quaint hood, almost like a
child’s, edged with some inexpensive gray fur. The little boy looked
at me shyly, and I held out my arms. A smile broke over his face and
he offered me his ball, inviting me to play with him. In less than a
minute we were all three laughing like old friends.
After having made myself sufficiently agreeable, I escaped from
the child, who was clamouring to me to continue the game, and ran
down the steps. I found Lady Gascoyne in sole possession of the
breakfast-table. “I am afraid we are the only early risers, Mr. Rank,”
she said.
As a matter of fact, I rather fancied I had caught a glimpse of
Lady Enid going along the road towards Hammerton woods, and I
think I was fairly correct in guessing that she was not walking at such
a rapid pace for the pleasure of her own company. Indeed, I would
not have minded taking long odds that Sir Cheveley was not very far
away.
I, of course, said nothing of this to Lady Gascoyne, but
mentioned my meeting with the girl in the gray hood.
Lady Gascoyne smiled.
“Now, isn’t she pretty, Mr. Rank?”
“Almost beautiful,” I hazarded. It is dangerous to be enthusiastic
about another woman, even to the nicest of her sex.
“That shows your good taste. Some people cannot see it.”
“It is the sort of beauty which is very rare, and not exactly showy.”
“She is to my mind wonderful. It does one good to look at her. I
expect you are wondering who the little boy is. It is a sad story. I had
a great school friend whose father was enormously rich. About a
year after her marriage he failed, and her husband’s fortune went in
the same crash. Her husband shot himself, and she died six months
later, leaving her little boy in my care. Oh!” she added quickly,
evidently afraid that my inward comment might be a disparagement
on her dead friend, “she did so at my express desire. We loved one
another so, that it was the most natural thing she could do.”
“He seems a dear little chap.”
“He is a darling, and devoted to Hammerton already. Lord
Gascoyne is so good about it, and lets me have him here always.
Miss Lane is his governess.”
Sir Cheveley Drummond, looking a little conscious, came in at
this moment.
“How energetic everybody is this morning,” said Lady Gascoyne.
Mr. Puttock, who appeared on the scene almost as she spoke,
looked anything but energetic. He looked as effete as only a
decadent young American can look. Lady Enid, who followed,
managed to convey with great art the impression that she had just
left her room. Lady Briardale did not appear, but Lady Branksome,
unable to trust Lady Enid, arrived in good time, although she
confided to me later that she thought breakfasting in public a
barbarous practice.
After breakfast, the whole party, with the exception of Sir
Cheveley Drummond, went to church. Poor Sir Cheveley hardly saw
the point of going when he knew perfectly well that he would not be
permitted to share Lady Enid’s hymn-book.
I distinctly heard Lady Briardale say, as we were all waiting in the
hall:
“I should have thought, my dear, that he would have preferred a
synagogue.”
At church a thrill passed through me when I found that I was
seated next to Esther Lane. It was an infinite pleasure to me to be
sitting beside her through the long and stupid sermon. The yellow
winter sunlight fell across the recumbent effigies of dead and gone
Gascoynes, and made the painted window to the east a blaze of
colour.
Her presence and the surroundings filled me with a sense of
purity and peace, and I surrendered myself to the primitive emotions.
I suppose a less subtle soul would have been oppressed with a
sense of past sins, and would in such a building have been filled with
despair at the consciousness of irrevocable guilt. I fortunately had
schooled myself to control. The sensation of goodness can, like
other things, be acquired. When I had obtained the prize for which I
was striving I had not the least doubt that I should find it easy to put
away from me any unworthy feeling of regret. Why should I not? The
harm was after all very questionable. It was not as if, so far, I had
made widows and orphans. The amount of suffering I had inflicted
was limited, and at any rate I should not leave poverty, the greatest
of all ills, in my track. Indeed, under the influence of that Sunday
morning service I felt quite regenerated. When we left the church
Esther Lane and her pupil went through the great gates of the castle
into the woods beyond, and I would have given worlds to follow her,
but Lady Branksome told me that she agreed with her son, and that I
was decidedly amusing. She insisted on my going for a walk with
her. At the same time she took good care to see that Mr. Puttock and
Lady Enid were close behind.
 In the afternoon I manœuvred a meeting with Esther Lane. I
surmised that she and her pupil would walk away from the castle,
and so I kept watch on the drawbridge. Everybody was more or less
occupied. I was aware that Lady Branksome had, before retiring for
her afternoon nap, left Mr. Puttock in possession of Lady Enid, who
had got rid of him with all the ease imaginable, and was now walking
with Sir Cheveley on the battlements.
Lord Gascoyne had pleaded letters, and I had arranged to fetch
him in an hour or so and go for a tramp.
As Esther Lane and her pupil crossed the drawbridge I was
leaning over the extreme end of the parapet in the most natural
manner in the world. I pretended not to notice them, and only
permitted myself to be aroused from a contemplation of the beautiful
scenery which lay below by the child flinging his arms with a scream
of delight round my legs.
She blushed as she apologised for her charge. She was evidently
a little nervous as to what her employers might think if they saw her
walking with one of their guests, and, after a short interchange of
commonplaces, tried to get rid of me. I refused to be shaken off, and
a couple of hundred yards took us out of sight of the castle.
We dropped at once into a style of conversation which was
almost intimate, and although I was with her barely three quarters of
an hour she confided a great deal in me.
Not that there was much to confide. She was the daughter of a
solicitor who had left nothing but debts. Her mother was dead, and
she was absolutely alone in the world. Her only relations were some
very distant cousins who were so poor that it had been impossible
for them to help her in any way.
“I was very lucky,” she said, gratefully, “to get such a good
situation, and it came about in the quaintest way. Lady Gascoyne
had seen all sorts of people with diplomas and recommendations
which I had not got, and she saw me sitting in the waiting-room as
she passed out. I don’t think the agent quite liked her engaging me,
but Lady Gascoyne insisted that I was just the person she wanted,
and here I am.”
She smiled contentedly. She evidently considered herself an
extremely fortunate young woman.
 She attracted me enormously without in any way usurping the
place of the two women who already counted for so much in my life.
All too soon I was obliged to leave her and hurry back to Lord
Gascoyne, whom I found waiting for me.
It was the first opportunity I had had of really impressing him, and
I did not waste my time. I took such an absorbing interest in
everything about me that I fancy he was surprised to find himself
talking so much and so intimately.
I was perfectly ready to enter into the subjects which interested
him most. He was evidently deeply imbued with a belief in the divine
right of aristocracy, and with no superficial sense of its
responsibilities. He was above all things a serious man, with little
sense of humour. I imagined that Lady Gascoyne must find him dull,
but his qualities were essentially those which command women’s
respect and hold them with a certain kind of fear.
As is the case with his class—a class which the popular organs
are fond of describing as irresponsible and brainless—his knowledge
and grasp of life were very extensive. His individual sympathies may
not have been very great, but he had a general sense of justice
which marked him out as an administrator, from many who were
perhaps much his intellectual superiors. What he knew was of use to
him.
I was surprised at my own capacity for conciliating him. I
accompanied him with ease into the region of politics. He was
evidently impressed, and it was satisfactory to feel him gradually
treating me with less and less formality.
“Your race gave us one of our greatest statesmen,” he said, “for I
do not believe that anyone has understood real statesmanship better
than Disraeli.”
“Some people seem to think he was insincere,” I replied, “but I
don’t believe it. His cynicism was simply the complement of a mind
with a singularly large outlook.”
So subtle an appreciation impressed the man whose own nature
was all in a straight line. The curves of a less direct character
appealed to him as insight.
In listening to him, however, I could not help reflecting that his
kind, whatever the moralist may pretend, is far more vulgar than the
abnormal. The orchid is the most fascinating of flowers in all its
varieties, but it is rare; or do we only call that type normal which
prevails for the moment? Which is the more moral man—he who by
reason of a lack of imagination ranges himself as the mercenary of
tradition and convention, or he who rebels and finds himself
wounded and struck at wherever he turns? Not that I can claim to be
a martyr to moral restlessness, although at one time I sincerely
believe I had in me the makings of a reformer. Nevertheless, there is
always something a little vulgar about the man who ranges himself
definitely on one side.
We returned to the castle on very good terms indeed. The rest of
the party were at tea in the long picture-gallery. I like, even at this
unpleasant crisis, to linger over the memory of the picture-gallery at
Hammerton on that Sunday afternoon in midwinter. The long,
straight windows through which the frosty sunset flushed the gilded
frames and old tapestries, the firelight playing on the silver of the
tea-table drawn up before Lady Gascoyne—for there were no
servants to desecrate the most convivial of all meals—made up a
delightful picture, whilst the child Walter Chard, in his sailor clothes,
ran from one group to the other as happy and unconscious as if he
had a prescriptive right to the enchantment of the castle.
I was delighted on our assembling for dinner to find that Esther
Lane was of the party. She was dressed simply in gray, with a couple
of blush roses at her bosom. Lady Enid was talking to her when I
came in.
It fell to my lot to take her in to dinner, and we thoroughly enjoyed
ourselves. She was quite unconscious amongst these great folk, and
unaffectedly joyous. I almost fancied that Lady Gascoyne looked at
me once or twice with the faintest sign of surprise. I sincerely hoped
she would not inform Miss Lane of the fact that I was engaged,
although it was more than probable. Esther Lane was one of those
women who are, to a certain extent, lacking in the natural defences
of their sex as a result of their own honesty and simplicity. That she
was prepared to be interested in me was obvious, and I made the
most of my time. After dinner she played to us. It was not a brilliant
performance, but she was accurate and had feeling, and she
touched the keys wooingly and caressingly, making the piano sing, a
gift rare even among some so-called finished performers. If people
cannot make instruments sing they had better leave them alone.
Afterwards I played and sang, and she declared herself ashamed of
her own performance. Music had the advantage of giving us an
excuse for remaining at the piano together, and later, when
everybody else settled down to cards some way off, we were left
trying over one song after the other. When I murmured that it
seemed as if we had known each other all our lives she blushed.
Later, in the smoking-room, Sir Cheveley said he was quite
astonished to find how pretty she was. It was a fact which he
declared had grown on him gradually.
The next morning I returned to town, but I had made such good
use of my time that I carried with me an invitation to return in a
fortnight, and it was Lord Gascoyne who brought it me from his wife.
He had made quite a friend of me. It was not probable that he
had ever had a friend with anything of the bizarre about him before.
 Chapter XXII
The time passed slowly, but in a fortnight I found myself again at
Hammerton sleeping beneath the same roof as Esther Lane. I met
her again on the terrace on Sunday morning, as I had expected. I
could quite follow the workings of her mind. Because she was
possessed of great self-respect, she had determined not to be on the
terrace that morning, but because she was very much in love she
was there after all. Before many moments had passed I saw that she
was aware of my engagement. There was a look of suffering in her
eyes as she turned them on me. She had the most wonderful way of
suddenly subjecting the person to whom she was speaking to their
full glance. If she could suffer because I was engaged to another
woman, she had enough sentimental interest in me to excuse my
going far. She was the character to appreciate the simulation of
agony born of a struggle between duty and affection, and I was
ready to ring up the curtain on the comedy. She was fully conscious
that I loved her. Yes, I loved her quite passionately, and yet it was not
altogether passion. It is one of the presumptuous platitudes of
conventional moralists to describe a man’s love when it ceases to be
concentrated on one individual as lust and base passion. Side by
side with this contention they will declare that the highest morality is
to love your neighbour as yourself, so little are they given to their
own boasted virtue of consistency.
I talked to her for some time about the most ordinary matters, but
I could see that she was trembling.
“I have thought of you a good deal,” I ventured.
She ignored the question, but without a show of indifference.
“I think Walter and I ought to go in.” She moved away a little
awkwardly.
“I suppose I ought to go in too.” I went to breakfast, leaving the
impression I had intended.
 In the afternoon I saw her again, and before I was quite aware of
it, I had told her I loved her beyond all women in the world, and
having done so was compelled to anticipate the scene which I had
been mentally preparing.
I assured her passionately that I was not the fickle person I might
seem to be, that directly I saw her I knew that I had made a mistake,
and that I could never be happy with anyone but her.
She was too much in love to do more than make a pretence of
forbidding me to speak on the subject.
She walked straight into the carefully-hidden trap, and found
herself being made love to without the question of my engagement
being discussed, and once she had thrown down the barriers of
reserve, with the enemy actually in her camp, it was impossible to
replace them. She accused herself vehemently, however, of being
unworthy of her trust. She would resign her position. She could
never, she asserted, remain, and be guilty of duplicity. I beat down
her poor little attempts at self-defence at once. If she threw up such
a position I should never forgive myself. I would go away and never
see her again. The threat appeared to terrify her. I persisted that the
view of such affairs taken by most people was entirely wrong. I
showed that, on the contrary, it was wrong to lie and say you do not
love a person when you do, that it was quite possible to talk of our
love, to cherish it, and to welcome its influences for good, without
allowing it to get the upper hand. All of which the poor fluttering little
morsel of sentiment drank in with greedy ears, because it was just
what she wanted to believe.
The child found us dull, and cried out that he wanted to play, so I
left her and returned to keep an appointment with Lord Gascoyne.
Esther Lane was included in the dinner-party that evening, and I
again took her in. The arrangement was not so pleasant as on the
previous occasion, for there was a distinct feeling of strain between
us. I surmounted it with ease; but she was without experience, and
she suffered. I could see that she had been crying.
“You must not let yourself be wretched,” I said, as we stood a little
apart from the others waiting for the move towards the dining-room.
“It hurts me.”
“I had intended to remain in my room,” she murmured.
 “Why?”
“I feel as if everyone must see that I am an impostor.”
I was about to reply lightly, but checked myself, remembering that
the heroine of the comedy was an ingénue.
“If you were not so good you would not have a sense of guilt
where there is no guilt.”
We went in to dinner.
I talked to her incessantly, and inasmuch as her happiness lay in
being with me, she was prepared to be charmed out of her misery for
however brief a period.
I was myself somewhat astonished at the hold I had secured over
her so soon. I suppose in her inmost heart she was dreaming
dreams in which all would come right. But even if I were safely
ensconced as Earl Gascoyne I could not have made such a sacrifice
as to marry her. Besides, in the sense of a mate, to take my name
and reign with me, I would not have changed Edith Gascoyne for
anyone in the world, not even for Sibella.
There is among modern English ballads one which has always
struck me as having a claim to live because of its simplicity and the
heart-throb in it. It is called ‘For ever and for ever.’ It possesses a
perfect blending of music and idea, unpretentious, but full of feeling.
As before, we spent the evening at the piano, and I sang this
song to her almost under my breath:

“I would, alas! it were not so

For ever and for ever.”

I could see that the tears were raining down her cheeks as she
listened. She held a fan so as to conceal her face from the others in
the room.
“We shall see each other again soon,” I murmured, as I said
good-night.
Lord Gascoyne and I were the last to leave the smoking-room,
and he parted from me at the foot of the stairs that led to the
bachelors’ quarters. My bedroom was half-way down a long corridor,
at the end of which there was a solid door, which gave on to the
battlements. It was bolted inside, but not locked, and I had more than
once used it to take an evening stroll when the inhabitants of
Hammerton Castle were asleep. This evening I opened the door
noiselessly and walked out on to the walls. It was a clear starlight
night and bitterly cold. I did not mind this, for I had on a thick fur coat.
I strolled along, thinking deeply, when suddenly I was brought to a
standstill by a ray of light that fell right across my path.
I looked in the direction from whence it came, and was
astonished to see Esther Lane leaning out of a window a few feet
from me. The terrace at this point took an abrupt turn, and a
comparatively new part of the castle had been built out at a tangent.
She had not noticed my approach, for I wore house-shoes, which
made no noise.
She was looking at the stars as if their ceaseless splendour might
be symbolic of an inevitable dawn of happiness somewhere. They
could not have been completely reassuring, for she was weeping,
and as I stood and watched, a convulsive sob broke from her. The
picture of the forlorn little dependent, a frail white figure in the patch
of light, with the gloomy towers and battlements of Hammerton
looming round her, affected me strangely. I leant forward over the
low wall and murmured her name.
“Esther!”
She started and looked round, drawing back quickly as she saw
me clearly defined in the moonlight.
“You must not cry. It breaks my heart.”
At the moment I fully believed what I said.
Her eyes, full of tears, were turned upon me, and, with a strange
look of fear, which haunts me to this hour, she said:
“I thought I should never see you again.”
“You were going away?”
She saw that she had betrayed her intention, and tried to excuse
herself.
“It will be better.”
“Why? If you go away I shall never come here again.”
I was upon the low wall, the ground full sixty feet below me.
“Oh, go back! you will fall.”
But I had my hand on her window-sill and one foot on a ledge a
short distance below it, whilst the other remained on the wall. She
was helpless; to have attempted to stay me would have been to
send me in all probability to certain death. She clasped her hands
and held her breath. The next moment I was in the room and by her
side.
“Don’t be afraid; only I must speak to you. We must understand
each other.”
“Oh, go away, please.”
She hid her face in her hands, utterly shamed by the presence of
a man in her room.
Poor Esther! I think she was happier. I verily believe that every
woman is happier for love fulfilled. I knew that once having chosen
her path she would follow it unflinchingly, and that she would be true
as steel. I had discerned from the first that she was capable of
martyrdom. From that day she never mentioned the word marriage.
She declared ever afterwards that it was her fault, that she should
have closed her window on me, that she had accepted the position
of mistress, and that she could not complain.
At the same time, however, it was no easy task to persuade her
to remain at Hammerton. She implored me to let her come away to
London. She vowed that she would not be an encumbrance, not
even an expense. She was sure that she could get work to do,
sufficient to keep herself; but I was firm. I had at one time some idea
of letting her live at Clapham in my deserted house, but I had always
had a superstition about allowing anyone else to live in it, otherwise I
should have sold it long before. Besides, I did not see what excuse
she was to give Lady Gascoyne for wishing to leave her, and the
latter had grown so fond of her that it was not likely she would accept
her resignation without a great deal of inquiry. Esther declared that
living a lie made her feel miserable, that she was unworthy of her
charge, and ought to resign it.
 Chapter XXIII
I had still made no plans as regards Lord Gascoyne and his heir.
I must confess that I had qualms about the child, which shows how
illogical and unreasoning sentiment is. It is surely a greater crime to
kill a grown individual who has a place in the practical work of the
world, and who would be missed by hundreds, than to remove an
infant whose loss could only affect his parents. It was not easy for
me to inflict pain on a child, as my fondness for children is
exceptional. The means would have to be sudden and violent, and
they were difficult to think of. It might have been made to appear that
his death had been caused through some apparent negligence of the
nurse, had not the latter been a careful old lady through whose
hands two former generations of the Hammertons had passed. I had,
unperceived, followed her in her walks with the Gascoyne heir, and I
was afraid it would be impossible to find her careless.
I was prepared to make away with father or child first; whichever
event came most readily to hand would have to take place. A novice
might have been impatient, but experience had taught me that one
had only to watch and wait, and the opportunity would come at the
most unexpected moment.
It was nearly time for Miss Gascoyne and her uncle and aunt to
return to town. I was wondering whether they would be asked down
with me to Hammerton. It would be somewhat awkward, but I had
infinite belief in my own powers of dissimulation and tact.
In the meantime I concentrated my thoughts on little Lord
Hammerton. I had read of a child being smothered by a cat going to
sleep over its mouth. For a time the somewhat impracticable idea
possessed me of obtaining a gutta-percha baby, which I would fill
with hot water and arrange so that it could breathe mechanically, and
then train a cat to lie upon it. The weirdness and humour of the idea
commended itself to me. The far-fetched nature of the scheme,
however, became more apparent the more I considered it.
I thought I might become a proficient with the catapult, and aim at
the child unseen. In such a case the blame would probably fall on a
village boy. This, too, seemed rather far-fetched.
I had seen Hammerton’s nursery, or rather nurseries. Even a
child of his rank seldom has such a suite of apartments:—a night
and day nursery of lofty proportions, with rooms for the head-nurse
and her assistant opening off. It was the size and loftiness of the
rooms that were exceptional. Lady Gascoyne was a great enthusiast
on hygiene, and declared that fresh air was the best food a child
could have. In fact, I was not likely to be spared my unpleasant task
through any neglect of the little Viscount’s health.
My objection to inflicting pain upon a child gradually grew weaker.
Something had to be done.
I was seriously considering the matter when Providence put a
weapon into my hand.
I arrived one Saturday evening to find Lady Gascoyne somewhat
uneasy. Walter Chard was not well. Something quite trifling, no
doubt, but he was feverish.
I asked if I might go and see him, but Lady Gascoyne said that
she would rather I did not. It was always difficult to say how these
childish ailments would develop. It might be something infectious,
and she had Hammerton to think of. If anything happened to him
Lord Gascoyne would be broken-hearted.
“Miss Lane is with him,” went on Lady Gascoyne. “She absolutely
declines to allow anyone else to nurse him.”
I wondered whether Esther Lane had known that her undertaking
to nurse the child would prevent her from seeing me. For the
moment I was a little annoyed, as even the most supercilious man
will be when he imagines the woman he is thinking of very much at
the moment has found a duty which she places above her love.

‘I could not love thee, dear, so much,

Loved I not honour more,’
is very trash in the case of both sexes. People who say they cannot
love where they cannot respect are talking nonsense. Affection is
independent of and survives prejudice, which I should surmise is an
added terror in the lives of good people.
“You are not afraid of infection, are you?” asked Lady Gascoyne.
“Oh dear no, but what makes you think it is something
infectious?”
“I don’t know. I had a sort of instinct that it was so directly I looked
at Walter.”
I thought nothing more of Walter Chard during my visit except to
ask how he was.
“The doctor says he cannot decide for a few hours what is the
matter with him,” replied Lady Gascoyne.
On Monday morning, however, the Castle was thrown into a state
of the greatest consternation. The doctor pronounced him to be
suffering from scarlet fever, and Lord and Lady Gascoyne were filled
with alarm for the safety of their own child.
Walter Chard had been constantly with him, and any moment
little Lord Hammerton might develop the complaint.
The sick child was immediately secluded at the extreme end of
the castle, and a trained nurse was sent for. From the moment I
heard that it was scarlet fever my mind was at work. Supposing
Hammerton did not develop the complaint, would it be possible to
convey the infection to him?
If I could get near Walter Chard in the convalescent stage it
would be easy enough.
Of course, it did not follow that even if Lord Hammerton took the
infection he would die, but there was the chance that he might.
Lady Gascoyne talked of removing him from the castle at once,
but the doctor decided that it was not necessary.
“Our patient is too far away to do any mischief. He is for practical
purposes quite isolated, and if you disinfect the rooms he has been
living in you need not be in the least alarmed.”
On my return to town I waited a week, and then wrote to Lady
Gascoyne, saying that I hoped Lord Hammerton showed no signs of
having caught the infection. I displayed so exactly the right amount
of solicitude that on meeting Lord Gascoyne in town he greeted me,
for him, almost effusively.
“My wife was quite touched, Rank. Naturally, we were alarmed,
but I fancy it’s all right. The other little chap will soon be on the road
to recovery. Come down with me to-morrow if you are not afraid.”
It was exactly what I wanted. The chance might not again offer
itself to carry out my design. I met Lord Gascoyne at Waterloo, and
we travelled down together. It was the sort of travelling that suited
me to perfection; a saloon carriage had been reserved for us, and all
along the line we were treated like royalty.
I had been a little surprised that when he and Lady Gascoyne
attended anything in the shape of a function in the neighbourhood of
Hammerton they rode in a chariot with outriders. The effect was
singularly picturesque, and appealed to my Jewish love of colour. I
determined that if ever I succeeded I would retain the custom.
When we reached Hammerton we found Lady Gascoyne at the
station, quite radiant. Notwithstanding that the patient was at the
most infectious stage, there was very little danger, owing to the
complete way in which he had been isolated.
I was the only guest, and we retired early. I had, of course, seen
nothing of Esther Lane. As I walked on the terrace and smoked my
cigar I wondered if she were thinking of me. I paused at a spot which
was at the extreme end of one of the horns of a semicircle. At the
end opposite to me were the rooms in which she was nursing her
invalid. I stood looking at them thoughtfully. I was thinking of what
Lady Gascoyne had said as to the disease now being at its most
infectious stage. Contact, or the use of the same article, such as a
towel or a handkerchief, might convey the infection. I might be doing
something to advance my cause instead of idly puffing at my cigar.
The invalid’s rooms were several hundred feet away, and to reach
them I should have to scale a parapet some ten feet in height, but it
was no more than I could manage. I walked slowly round the
semicircle. The night was strangely mild, and it was not improbable
that the windows would be open.
I knew the apartments. They had once been occupied by a mad
Earl Gascoyne, and had in his day been securely barred.
 These bars had, however, long since been removed, and I
remembered thinking the rooms almost the pleasantest in the castle.
They were some distance from the rest of the living part. When I
reached the terrace I saw that there was a narrow stone staircase
which I had not before noticed. At the top of this was an iron gate
which would have to be climbed. Just then I heard steps on the
terrace above me, and I had hardly time to draw into the shadow of a
buttress when Esther Lane appeared, leaning over the low wall
above my head. I threw down my cigar and stamped on it, for it
might have been its scent borne on the night air which had attracted
her.
She looked about her for a few seconds and went back. I waited
for an hour or so until the lights were turned down for the night. I
wondered which of the two women was watching by the bedside of
the invalid.
After a time I ascended the staircase and surveyed the iron gate
at the top. It looked rickety, and it would be difficult to climb over it
without making a noise. If the trained nurse found me it would not be
easy to explain my presence.
I climbed over the gate and dropped on to the other side. In the
still night air it rattled horribly, but no one seemed to have heard. I
had on house-shoes, and stole cautiously forward. I knew that the
temporary hospital was a large room with three windows opening to
the ground. Danger being almost out of the question here, the
windows had been left partly open. I stole cautiously forward and
looked in. By the dim light I saw the sick child lying on a bed well out
in the middle of the room. On a long, low chair by the fire lay Esther
Lane, in a white dressing-gown. I thought she looked exceedingly
beautiful, if a little worn with watching. Crossing to the window
furthest from where she lay, and having quite assured myself that
she was asleep, I entered cautiously and looked round. I went first to
the door that I knew gave on to the corridor. Luckily, the key was on
the inside, and I locked it. There was another door leading to an
inner room, which made me a little anxious, as I concluded that it
was occupied by the nurse. It had no key, and I quietly placed a chair
in front of it. Noiselessly I stole towards the bed. The child’s flushed
face was resting on his hand, in which was clasped a handkerchief.
This was the very thing I wanted, and with infinite care I managed to
unclasp the little fingers and draw it forth without waking him.
Wrapping it in my own handkerchief, I thrust them both into my
pocket.
I had just finished and was turning away when I became aware
that Esther Lane’s eyes were slowly opening upon me.
Luckily she did not cry out, but rose quickly with a half-smothered
exclamation. As I went swiftly but silently to her I heard the boy stir in
the bed behind me, and we both stood waiting in suspense to see if
he would wake. Luckily he only murmured once or twice, and sank to
sleep again. I was near the light, however, and ready to extinguish it
at once should he show the least sign of waking. When his regular
breathing had reassured me I drew her on to the terrace.
“I was obliged to come,” I murmured passionately. “I had to see
you.”
“You should not have done it,” she said helplessly.—“you should
not have done it.”
“I am very sorry.”
I took my cue and passed into the mood of the reckless, love-sick
youth. I knew that to feel a passion is the only way to be convincing.
“It is dangerous, and most dangerous now.” She began to weep;
she was evidently unstrung from watching. I drew her away into a
sheltered corner of the battlements, where the moon made it almost
as light as day.
I told her that I was only happy when I was with her, and that all
my days in London were given up to thinking of her. The poor child
believed me. It appeared that she had been attempting to make
some expiation for what she considered the betrayal of Lady
Gascoyne’s confidence by her devotion to Walter Chard during his
illness.
I held her in my arms, and we remained perfectly happy and in
silence for a long time. She certainly stirred my blood to an
extraordinary degree.
She was terrified lest my visit should convey infection to the rest
of the household. I reassured her. At the same time, her having seen
me was very awkward. Hers was a character which, impelled by
conscience, might be capable of all sorts of extraordinary things,
great renunciations and burning sacrifices. I held out a vague
promise of taking her to London and allowing her to a certain extent
to share in my life. This filled her with a guilty delight, and she clung
to me with a sigh. Love in its fierce, personal aspect meant more to
her than to any woman I have ever met.
The poor little soul went back and procured some strong stuff
with which she instructed me to disinfect my clothing.
I returned to my room almost laughing with glee at having the
handkerchief from the sick boy’s bed with me.
When I reached my bedroom I packed the two handkerchiefs
carefully up in several layers of paper and then went to bed. Of
course, I had to reckon with the fact that I might take the infection,
but I will do myself the justice to say that at no time during my career
have I been much affected by a consideration for my own safety. It
has always appeared to me that an absolute disregard for my life
was the only method on which to proceed.
The next morning I excused myself from accompanying Lord and
Lady Gascoyne to church. Lady Gascoyne quite sympathised with
me.
“A gallop will do you much more good.”
I thanked her, but said I preferred a tramp.
As soon as they had walked over to the church I made my way to
Lord Hammerton’s nursery. I was no stranger to it, and was a
favourite with the nurses. The little viscount knew me quite well, and
crowed directly I appeared.
Old Mrs. Howick looked at me indulgently as I took the child in
my arms. After a time she went into the inner room, leaving me in
possession for a few minutes. I hastily took out of my pocket the
handkerchief, which was still wrapped in my own, and let it fall
across the child’s face. He clutched it with two little fat hands, and I
allowed him to play with it, and then thrust it in between his frock and
his chest and left it there. I had previously taken good care to
ascertain that it was unmarked, and was not likely to be recognised.
When the nurse came back I was still playing with the child, and
she took him from me and dressed him for his morning’s outing
without discovering the presence of the handkerchief.
 I then went for a long tramp through the woods, laughing at
myself for what I could not help feeling to be a piece of absurdity. On
my return to the house I went again to the nursery. The little viscount
was asleep, and I managed to extract the handkerchief and lay it
where the air he was breathing must pass over it. Then I removed it,
and congratulated myself that I had left no foolish clue whereby my
action might be identified. Mrs. Howick was delighted at my
attentions, and told Lady Gascoyne that she never had seen his
lordship take to anyone as he had taken to me. Inwardly I hoped that
he might take to the infection with even greater ardour.
There was still the question of Esther Lane to be dealt with, if it
were possible to deal with it at all. If the child should fall ill she would
be sure to think of me and find out whether I had been to visit him.
As is always the case, my romantic susceptibilities had landed me in
a position of danger which all my other intrigues had not done. If
Esther Lane should tell the truth, my entire house of cards would fall
to the ground. The telling of the truth would involve a general
exposure. It would mean farewell to Miss Gascoyne, and also the
shutting of the gates of Hammerton Castle in my face, which would
be a far more fatal obstacle to my success.
I did not bless the day on which I had met Esther Lane, and
further cursed my own weakness. This is a habit of men when they
have obtained their desire.
I should have remembered the dictum of a celebrated
countryman of my own, which prophesies material doom for those
who are unable to control their affections. He should perhaps have
substituted another word for affections.
There were no measures for self-protection to be taken as far as I
could see. My strongest card was Esther’s love for me, and if that
were not strong enough to prevent her betraying me, nothing would.
I had wit enough to see that it was likely to prove a still stronger
weapon if I kept away from her.
I waited some days, and read one morning in a halfpenny paper
which deals in such tittle-tattle that Lord and Lady Gascoyne were in
the greatest anxiety about their only child, the heir to the title, who
was suffering from a severe attack of scarlet fever.
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