Problem with derivatives of power function at point zero

There is currently a problem with the derivatives of the power function f(x)=x^p^ at the point x=0.

The power function f(x)=x^p^ well defined for x>0 and for any p, since f(x)=e^p*ln(x)^.

The domain of definition of this function can be extended to x=0 with the following rules when p>0:

• f(0)=0
• f is differentiable k times at x=0, where k is the integer part of p, and f'^k^=0

And when p is an strictly positive integer, the function is differentiable at any order, and its derivative at zero is zero.

When p is a constant, the preprocessor computes the right value of the derivatives at x=0, using simplifications rules.

But when p is a parameter, the preprocessor will not give the right value for integer values of p.

Currently the derivation rule is applied by the preprocessor, the k-th derivative of f(x) is equal to: p_(p-1)...(p-k+1)_x^p-k^

So when p is an integer, the (p+1)-th derivative computed at x=0 will give a NaN (0 times infinity), while it ought to be zero.

This problem typically arises in models with adjustment costs where the curvature (the exponent) of the cost is a integer parameter, and the cost is zero at steady state.

The solution is probably to create, in the preprocessor, a new operator called "derivative of power function at order k". This operator would output a code like that in the M-file:

dxp=deriv(x,p,k) % The k-th derivative of x^p

if abs(x) < 1e-12 && (p > 0) && (abs(p - round(p)) < 1e-12 && k >= p dxp = 0; else dxp = x^(p-k); for i=1:k-1 dxp = dxp*p; p = p-1; end end