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help for ^ridder^             [STB-17: ssi5.2; STB-19: ssi5.3; STB-24: ssi5.4]
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Equation solving by Ridders' Method
-----------------------------------


 ^ridder^ fcnmask ^=^ exp_y ^from^ exp_0 ^to^ exp_1 [^tol^ exp_t] [^ltol^ exp_l]


where exp_y, exp_0, exp_1, exp_t, and exp_l refer to expressions (but are 
typically specified as numbers) and where fcnmask is either:


	(1)    an expression containing ^X^

	(2)    progname [args] ^X^ [args] ^returns^ {^exp^|^macro^} name


If one of ^tol^ or ^ltol^ is omitted, ^ridder^ ignores that constraint.
^tol 1e-6^ is assumed if neither ^tol^ nor ^ltol^ is specified.




Description
----------- 


^ridder^ finds the value of X such that

		         f(X) = exp_y 

or, more precisely:

	|f(X) - exp_y| < e   and   |x - x_hat| < exp_t

where e = exp_y*max(|exp_y|,1).

The search is carried out over the range exp_0 <= X <= exp_1.  The function
f() may be specified on the command line (first syntax for fcnmask) or as a
user-written program (second sytnax).







Example 1
---------

Find the value of chi-square with 2 degrees of freedom that is just signif-
icant at the 5% level.

Solution:  Stata's ^chiprob(^d^,^x^)^ function returns the reverse cumulative for
chi-square value x with d degrees of freedom (e.g., ^chiprob(2,3)^ is .2231, 
meaning chi-square 2 with 3 degrees of freedom is significant at the 22.3%
percent level).  Thus, we want to find X such that ^chiprob(2,^X^)^=.05.  From
knowledge of the chi-square distribution, we know the answer lies between
3 and 20.  We type:

	. ^ridder chiprob(2,X)=.05 from 3 to 20^










Example 1, second solution
--------------------------

We define the following program:

	^program define mychi^
		^global S_1 = chiprob(`1',`2')^
	^end^

and then type 

	. ^ridder mychi 2 X returns macro S_1 =.05 from 3 to 8^

Alternatively, we define the program

	^program define mychi^
		^scalar answer = chiprob(`1',`2')^
	^end^

and then type 

	. ^ridder mychi 2 X returns exp answer =.05 from 3 to 8^


Example 2
---------

Given 
                       a
                        t-1              1.1       -2
	S   =  [ ( -----------   - 2 ) ( ------- ) ]
        t          sqrt(S   )             a
                         t-1               t

Let a[1] = 1.5 and a[2], a[3], ..., be 1.  Find S[1] such that S[19]=1/22^^2.

A program to calculate S[t], t=1,...,19 is given S[1] is:

	^program define simul^
		^drop _all^
		^set obs 19^
		^gen a = cond(_n==1,1.5,1)^
		^gen S = `1' in 1^
		^replace S=((a[_n-1]/sqrt(S[_n-1])-2)*(1.1/a))^^-2 in 2/l^
	^end

Typing "^simul .1^" would create the series based on S[1]=.1.

Example 2, continued
--------------------

We can find S[1] such that S[19]==1/22^^2 by typing:

	. ^ridder simul X returns exp S[19] =1/22^^2 from .001 to .75^

Deciphering:

"^simul X^" means ^ridder^ can calculate values of the function by issuing
the command ^simul^ followed by the number at which it wants the function 
evaluated.  ^X^ is a placeholder.

"^returns exp S[19]^" means simul returns the answer as the expression S[19],
meaning the 19th observation of the data variable S.

"^=1/22^^2^" means we want the answer to be 1/22^^2.

"^from .001 to .75^" means we want to search over the range .001 to .75 for
the solution.




Author
------

       Tim McGuire, Stata Corporation
       EMAIL  tech-support@@stata.com


Also see
--------

   STB:  ssi5.4 (STB-24), ssi5.3 (STB-19), ssi5.2 (STB-17), 
         ssi5 (STB-16), ssi5.1 (STB-16)
On-line:  ^help^ for @fcnplot@ (if ssi5.1 installed)