TropicalSemiring

This small package defines the tropical semi-ring with either the max or min convention. With the max convention this is the semi-ring (ℝ ∪ {-∞}, ⊕, ⊙) where ⊕ is the usual multiplication and ⊙ is the usual maximum. With the min convention this is the semi-ring (ℝ ∪ {∞}, ⊕, ⊙) where ⊕ is the usual multiplication and ⊙ is the usual minimum. This corresponding Julia type is

Trop{MM<:Union{Min, Max}, T<:Real} <: Number

For the tropical addition and multiplication the usual + and * are overloaded.

julia> Trop{Max}(2) + Trop{Max}(3) == Trop{Max}(3)
true
julia> Trop{Min}(2) + Trop{Min}(3) == Trop{Min}(2)
true
julia> Trop{Min}(2) * Trop{Min}(3) == Trop{Min}(5)
true
julia> Trop{Max}(2) * Trop{Max}(3) == Trop{Max}(5)
true

Note that by default we use the max convention, i.e.,

julia> Trop(2) + Trop(3)
3

You can construct ±∞ by using the inf method

julia> inf(Max) isa Trop{Max}
true
julia> Trop{Max}(2) + inf(Max)
-∞
julia> inf(Min) isa Trop{Min}
true
julia> Trop{Min}(2) + inf(Min)
∞
# By default we have again the max convention
julia> inf() isa Trop{Max}
true