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MatGPT was launched on March 22, 2023 and I am amazed at how many times it has been downloaded since then - close to 16,000 downloads in one year. When AI Chat Playground came out on MATLAB Central, I thought surely that people will stop using MatGPT. Boy I was wrong.
In early 2023 I was playing with the new shiny toy called ChatGPT like everyone else but instead of having it tell me jokes or haiku, I wanted to know how I can use it on MATLAB, and I started collecting the prompts that worked. Someone suggested I should turn that into an app, and MatGPT was born with help from other colleagues.
Here is the question - what should I do with it now? Some people suggested I could add other LLMs like Gemini or Claude, but I am more interested in learning how people actually use it.
If you are a MatGPT user, do you mind sharing how you use the app?
Let S be the closed surface composed of the hemisphere and the base Let be the electric field defined by . Find the electric flux through S. (Hint: Divide S into two parts and calculate ).
% Define the limits of integration for the hemisphere S1
theta_lim = [-pi/2, pi/2];
phi_lim = [0, pi/2];
% Perform the double integration over the spherical surface of the hemisphere S1
% Define the electric flux function for the hemisphere S1
flux_function_S1 = @(theta, phi) 2 * sin(phi);
electric_flux_S1 = integral2(flux_function_S1, theta_lim(1), theta_lim(2), phi_lim(1), phi_lim(2));
% For the base of the hemisphere S2, the electric flux is 0 since the electric
% field has no z-component at the base
electric_flux_S2 = 0;
% Calculate the total electric flux through the closed surface S
total_electric_flux = electric_flux_S1 + electric_flux_S2;
% Display the flux calculations
disp(['Electric flux through the hemisphere S1: ', num2str(electric_flux_S1)]);
disp(['Electric flux through the base of the hemisphere S2: ', num2str(electric_flux_S2)]);
disp(['Total electric flux through the closed surface S: ', num2str(total_electric_flux)]);
% Parameters for the plot
radius = 1; % Radius of the hemisphere
% Create a meshgrid for theta and phi for the plot
[theta, phi] = meshgrid(linspace(theta_lim(1), theta_lim(2), 20), linspace(phi_lim(1), phi_lim(2), 20));
% Calculate Cartesian coordinates for the points on the hemisphere
x = radius * sin(phi) .* cos(theta);
y = radius * sin(phi) .* sin(theta);
z = radius * cos(phi);
% Define the electric field components
Ex = 2 * x;
Ey = 2 * y;
Ez = 2 * z;
% Plot the hemisphere
figure;
surf(x, y, z, 'FaceAlpha', 0.5, 'EdgeColor', 'none');
hold on;
% Plot the electric field vectors
quiver3(x, y, z, Ex, Ey, Ez, 'r');
% Plot the base of the hemisphere
[x_base, y_base] = meshgrid(linspace(-radius, radius, 20), linspace(-radius, radius, 20));
z_base = zeros(size(x_base));
surf(x_base, y_base, z_base, 'FaceColor', 'cyan', 'FaceAlpha', 0.3);
% Additional plot settings
colormap('cool');
axis equal;
grid on;
xlabel('X');
ylabel('Y');
zlabel('Z');
title('Hemisphere and Electric Field');
David
David
Last activity 2024-4-2

I feel like no one at UC San Diego knows this page, let alone this server, is still live. For the younger generation, this is what the whole internet used to look like :)
In short: support varying color in at least the plot, plot3, fplot, and fplot3 functions.
This has been a thing that's come up quite a few times, and includes questions/requests by users, workarounds by the community, and workarounds presented by MathWorks -- examples of each below. It's a feature that exists in Python's Matplotlib library and Sympy. Anyways, given that there are myriads of workarounds, it appears to be one of the most common requests for Matlab plots (Matlab's plotting is, IMO, one of the best features of the product), the request precedes the 21st century, and competitive tools provide the functionality, it would seem to me that this might be the next great feature for Matlab plotting.
I'm curious to get the rest of the community's thoughts... what's everyone else think about this?
---
User questions/requests
User-provided workarounds
MathWorks-provided workarounds
David
David
Last activity 2024-4-1

I was in a meeting the other day and a coworker shared a smiley face they created using the AI Chat Playground. The image looked something like this:
And I suspect the prompt they used was something like this:
"Create a smiley face"
I imagine this output wasn't what my coworker had expected so he was left thinking that this was as good as it gets without manually editing the code, and that the AI Chat Playground couldn't do any better.
I thought I could get a better result using the Playground so I tried a more detailed prompt using a multi-step technique like this:
"Follow these instructions:
- Create code that plots a circle
- Create two smaller circles as eyes within the first circle
- Create an arc that looks like a smile in the lower part of the first circle"
The output of this prompt was better in my opinion.
These queries/prompts are examples of 'zero-shot' prompts, the expectation being a good result with just one query. As opposed to a back-and-forth chat session working towards a desired outcome.
I wonder how many attempts everyone tries before they decide they can't anything more from the AI/LLM. There are times I'll send dozens of chat queries if I feel like I'm getting close to my goal, while other times I'll try just one or two. One thing I always find useful is seeing how others interact with AI models, which is what inspired me to share this.
Does anyone have examples of techniques that work well? I find multi-step instructions often produces good results.
The line integral , where C is the boundary of the square oriented counterclockwise, can be evaluated in two ways:
Using the definition of the line integral:
% Initialize the integral sum
integral_sum = 0;
% Segment C1: x = -1, y goes from -1 to 1
y = linspace(-1, 1);
x = -1 * ones(size(y));
dy = diff(y);
integral_sum = integral_sum + sum(-x(1:end-1) .* dy);
% Segment C2: y = 1, x goes from -1 to 1
x = linspace(-1, 1);
y = ones(size(x));
dx = diff(x);
integral_sum = integral_sum + sum(y(1:end-1).^2 .* dx);
% Segment C3: x = 1, y goes from 1 to -1
y = linspace(1, -1);
x = ones(size(y));
dy = diff(y);
integral_sum = integral_sum + sum(-x(1:end-1) .* dy);
% Segment C4: y = -1, x goes from 1 to -1
x = linspace(1, -1);
y = -1 * ones(size(x));
dx = diff(x);
integral_sum = integral_sum + sum(y(1:end-1).^2 .* dx);
disp(['Direct Method Integral: ', num2str(integral_sum)]);
Plotting the square path
% Define the square's vertices
vertices = [-1 -1; -1 1; 1 1; 1 -1; -1 -1];
% Plot the square
figure;
plot(vertices(:,1), vertices(:,2), '-o');
title('Square Path for Line Integral');
xlabel('x');
ylabel('y');
grid on;
axis equal;
% Add arrows to indicate the path direction (counterclockwise)
hold on;
for i = 1:size(vertices,1)-1
% Calculate direction
dx = vertices(i+1,1) - vertices(i,1);
dy = vertices(i+1,2) - vertices(i,2);
% Reduce the length of the arrow for better visibility
scale = 0.2;
dx = scale * dx;
dy = scale * dy;
% Calculate the start point of the arrow
startx = vertices(i,1) + (1 - scale) * dx;
starty = vertices(i,2) + (1 - scale) * dy;
% Plot the arrow
quiver(startx, starty, dx, dy, 'MaxHeadSize', 0.5, 'Color', 'r', 'AutoScale', 'off');
end
hold off;
Apply Green's Theorem for the line integral
% Define the partial derivatives of P and Q
f = @(x, y) -1 - 2*y; % derivative of -x with respect to x is -1, and derivative of y^2 with respect to y is 2y
% Compute the double integral over the square [-1,1]x[-1,1]
integral_value = integral2(f, -1, 1, 1, -1);
disp(['Green''s Theorem Integral: ', num2str(integral_value)]);
Plotting the vector field related to Green’s theorem
% Define the grid for the vector field
[x, y] = meshgrid(linspace(-2, 2, 20), linspace(-2 ,2, 20));
% Define the vector field components
P = y.^2; % y^2 component
Q = -x; % -x component
% Plot the vector field
figure;
quiver(x, y, P, Q, 'b');
hold on; % Hold on to plot the square on the same figure
% Define the square's vertices
vertices = [-1 -1; -1 1; 1 1; 1 -1; -1 -1];
% Plot the square path
plot(vertices(:,1), vertices(:,2), '-o', 'Color', 'k'); % 'k' for black color
title('Vector Field (P = y^2, Q = -x) with Square Path');
xlabel('x');
ylabel('y');
axis equal;
% Add arrows to indicate the path direction (counterclockwise)
for i = 1:size(vertices,1)-1
% Calculate direction
dx = vertices(i+1,1) - vertices(i,1);
dy = vertices(i+1,2) - vertices(i,2);
% Reduce the length of the arrow for better visibility
scale = 0.2;
dx = scale * dx;
dy = scale * dy;
% Calculate the start point of the arrow
startx = vertices(i,1) + (1 - scale) * dx;
starty = vertices(i,2) + (1 - scale) * dy;
% Plot the arrow
quiver(startx, starty, dx, dy, 'MaxHeadSize', 0.5, 'Color', 'r', 'AutoScale', 'off');
end
hold off;
To solve a surface integral for example the over the sphere easily in MATLAB, you can leverage the symbolic toolbox for a direct and clear solution. Here is a tip to simplify the process:
  1. Use Symbolic Variables and Functions: Define your variables symbolically, including the parameters of your spherical coordinates θ and ϕ and the radius r . This allows MATLAB to handle the expressions symbolically, making it easier to manipulate and integrate them.
  2. Express in Spherical Coordinates Directly: Since you already know the sphere's equation and the relationship in spherical coordinates, define x, y, and z in terms of r , θ and ϕ directly.
  3. Perform Symbolic Integration: Use MATLAB's `int` function to integrate symbolically. Since the sphere and the function are symmetric, you can exploit these symmetries to simplify the calculation.
Here’s how you can apply this tip in MATLAB code:
% Include the symbolic math toolbox
syms theta phi
% Define the limits for theta and phi
theta_limits = [0, pi];
phi_limits = [0, 2*pi];
% Define the integrand function symbolically
integrand = 16 * sin(theta)^3 * cos(phi)^2;
% Perform the symbolic integral for the surface integral
surface_integral = int(int(integrand, theta, theta_limits(1), theta_limits(2)), phi, phi_limits(1), phi_limits(2));
% Display the result of the surface integral symbolically
disp(['The surface integral of x^2 over the sphere is ', char(surface_integral)]);
% Number of points for plotting
num_points = 100;
% Define theta and phi for the sphere's surface
[theta_mesh, phi_mesh] = meshgrid(linspace(double(theta_limits(1)), double(theta_limits(2)), num_points), ...
linspace(double(phi_limits(1)), double(phi_limits(2)), num_points));
% Spherical to Cartesian conversion for plotting
r = 2; % radius of the sphere
x = r * sin(theta_mesh) .* cos(phi_mesh);
y = r * sin(theta_mesh) .* sin(phi_mesh);
z = r * cos(theta_mesh);
% Plot the sphere
figure;
surf(x, y, z, 'FaceColor', 'interp', 'EdgeColor', 'none');
colormap('jet'); % Color scheme
shading interp; % Smooth shading
camlight headlight; % Add headlight-type lighting
lighting gouraud; % Use Gouraud shading for smooth color transitions
title('Sphere: x^2 + y^2 + z^2 = 4');
xlabel('x-axis');
ylabel('y-axis');
zlabel('z-axis');
colorbar; % Add color bar to indicate height values
axis square; % Maintain aspect ratio to be square
view([-30, 20]); % Set a nice viewing angle
I am often talking to new MATLAB users. I have put together one script. If you know how this script works, why, and what each line means, you will be well on your way on your MATLAB learning journey.
% Clear existing variables and close figures
clear;
close all;
% Print to the Command Window
disp('Hello, welcome to MATLAB!');
% Create a simple vector and matrix
vector = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
matrix = [1, 2, 3; 4, 5, 6; 7, 8, 9];
% Display the created vector and matrix
disp('Created vector:');
disp(vector);
disp('Created matrix:');
disp(matrix);
% Perform element-wise multiplication
result = vector .* 2;
% Display the result of the operation
disp('Result of element-wise multiplication of the vector by 2:');
disp(result);
% Create plot
x = 0:0.1:2*pi; % Generate values from 0 to 2*pi
y = sin(x); % Calculate the sine of these values
% Plotting
figure; % Create a new figure window
plot(x, y); % Plot x vs. y
title('Simple Plot of sin(x)'); % Give the plot a title
xlabel('x'); % Label the x-axis
ylabel('sin(x)'); % Label the y-axis
grid on; % Turn on the grid
disp('This is the end of the script. Explore MATLAB further to learn more!');
Hannah
Hannah
Last activity 2024-4-1

Although, I think I will only get to see a partial eclipse (April 8th!) from where I am at in the U.S. I will always have MATLAB to make my own solar eclipse. Just as good as the real thing.
Code (found on the @MATLAB instagram)
a=716;
v=255;
X=linspace(-10,10,a);
[~,r]=cart2pol(X,X');
colormap(gray.*[1 .78 .3]);
[t,g]=cart2pol(X+2.6,X'+1.4);
image(rescale(-1*(2*sin(t*10)+60*g.^.2),0,v))
hold on
h=exp(-(r-3)).*abs(ifft2(r.^-1.8.*cos(7*rand(a))));
h(r<3)=0;
image(v*ones(a),'AlphaData',rescale(h,0,1))
camva(3.8)
One of the privileges of working at MathWorks is that I get to hang out with some really amazing people. Steve Eddins, of ‘Steve on Image Processing’ fame is one of those people. He recently announced his retirement and before his final day, I got the chance to interview him. See what he had to say over at The MATLAB Blog The Steve Eddins Interview: 30 years of MathWorking
Before we begin, you will need to make sure you have 'sir_age_model.m' installed. Once you've downloaded this folder into your working directory, which can be located at your current folder. If you can see this file in your current folder, then it's safe to use it. If you choose to use MATLAB online or MATLAB Mobile, you may upload this to your MATLAB Drive.
This is the code for the SIR model stratified into 2 age groups (children and adults). For a detailed explanation of how to derive the force of infection by age group.
% Main script to run the SIR model simulation
% Initial state values
initial_state_values = [200000; 1; 0; 800000; 0; 0]; % [S1; I1; R1; S2; I2; R2]
% Parameters
parameters = [0.05; 7; 6; 1; 10; 1/5]; % [b; c_11; c_12; c_21; c_22; gamma]
% Time span for the simulation (3 months, with daily steps)
tspan = [0 90];
% Solve the ODE
[t, y] = ode45(@(t, y) sir_age_model(t, y, parameters), tspan, initial_state_values);
% Plotting the results
plot(t, y);
xlabel('Time (days)');
ylabel('Number of people');
legend('S1', 'I1', 'R1', 'S2', 'I2', 'R2');
title('SIR Model with Age Structure');
What was the cumulative incidence of infection during this epidemic? What proportion of those infections occurred in children?
In the SIR model, the cumulative incidence of infection is simply the decline in susceptibility.
% Assuming 'y' contains the simulation results from the ode45 function
% and 't' contains the time points
% Total cumulative incidence
total_cumulative_incidence = (y(1,1) - y(end,1)) + (y(1,4) - y(end,4));
fprintf('Total cumulative incidence: %f\n', total_cumulative_incidence);
% Cumulative incidence in children
cumulative_incidence_children = (y(1,1) - y(end,1));
% Proportion of infections in children
proportion_infections_children = cumulative_incidence_children / total_cumulative_incidence;
fprintf('Proportion of infections in children: %f\n', proportion_infections_children);
927,447 people became infected during this epidemic, 20.5% of which were children.
Which age group was most affected by the epidemic?
To answer this, we can calculate the proportion of children and adults that became infected.
% Assuming 'y' contains the simulation results from the ode45 function
% and 't' contains the time points
% Proportion of children that became infected
initial_children = 200000; % initial number of susceptible children
final_susceptible_children = y(end,1); % final number of susceptible children
proportion_infected_children = (initial_children - final_susceptible_children) / initial_children;
fprintf('Proportion of children that became infected: %f\n', proportion_infected_children);
% Proportion of adults that became infected
initial_adults = 800000; % initial number of susceptible adults
final_susceptible_adults = y(end,4); % final number of susceptible adults
proportion_infected_adults = (initial_adults - final_susceptible_adults) / initial_adults;
fprintf('Proportion of adults that became infected: %f\n', proportion_infected_adults);
Throughout this epidemic, 95% of all children and 92% of all adults were infected. Children were therefore slightly more affected in proportion to their population size, even though the majority of infections occurred in adults.
Are you going to be in the path of totality? How can you predict, track, and simulate the solar eclipse using MATLAB?
I would like to propose the creation of MATLAB EduHub, a dedicated channel within the MathWorks community where educators, students, and professionals can share and access a wealth of educational material that utilizes MATLAB. This platform would act as a central repository for articles, teaching notes, and interactive learning modules that integrate MATLAB into the teaching and learning of various scientific fields.
Key Features:
1. Resource Sharing: Users will be able to upload and share their own educational materials, such as articles, tutorials, code snippets, and datasets.
2. Categorization and Search: Materials can be categorized for easy searching by subject area, difficulty level, and MATLAB version..
3. Community Engagement: Features for comments, ratings, and discussions to encourage community interaction.
4. Support for Educators: Special sections for educators to share teaching materials and track engagement.
Benefits:
- Enhanced Educational Experience: The platform will enrich the learning experience through access to quality materials.
- Collaboration and Networking: It will promote collaboration and networking within the MATLAB community.
- Accessibility of Resources: It will make educational materials available to a wider audience.
By establishing MATLAB EduHub, I propose a space where knowledge and experience can be freely shared, enhancing the educational process and the MATLAB community as a whole.
In one line of MATLAB code, compute how far you can see at the seashore. In otherwords, how far away is the horizon from your eyes? You can assume you know your height and the diameter or radius of the earth.
Adam Danz
Adam Danz
Last activity 2024-3-22

Me at the beginning of every meeting
David
David
Last activity 2024-3-26

A bit late. Compliments to Chris for sharing.
The latest release is pretty much upon us. Official annoucements will be coming soon and the eagle-eyed among you will have started to notice some things shifting around on the MathWorks website as we ready for this.
The pre-release has been available for a while. Maybe you've played with it? I have...I've even been quietly using it to write some of my latest blog posts...and I have several queued up for publication after MathWorks officially drops the release.
At the time of writing, this page points to the pre-release highlights. Prerelease Release Highlights - MATLAB & Simulink (mathworks.com)
What excites you about this release? why?
The stationary solutions of the Klein-Gordon equation refer to solutions that are time-independent, meaning they remain constant over time. For the non-linear Klein-Gordon equation you are discussing:
Stationary solutions arise when the time derivative term, , is zero, meaning the motion of the system does not change over time. This leads to a static differential equation:
This equation describes how particles in the lattice interact with each other and how non-linearity affects the steady state of the system.
The solutions to this equation correspond to the various possible stable equilibrium states of the system, where each represents different static distribution patterns of displacements . The specific form of these stationary solutions depends on the system parameters, such as κ , ω, and β , as well as the initial and boundary conditions of the problem.
To find these solutions in a more specific form, one might need to solve the equation using analytical or numerical methods, considering the different cases that could arise in such a non-linear system.
By interpreting the equation in this way, we can relate the dynamics described by the discrete Klein - Gordon equation to the behavior of DNA molecules within a biological system . This analogy allows us to understand the behavior of DNA in terms of concepts from physics and mathematical modeling .
% Parameters
numBases = 100; % Number of spatial points
omegaD = 0.2; % Common parameter for the equation
% Preallocate the array for the function handles
equations = cell(numBases, 1);
% Initial guess for the solution
initialGuess = 0.01 * ones(numBases, 1);
% Parameter sets for kappa and beta
paramSets = [0.1, 0.05; 0.5, 0.05; 0.1, 0.2];
% Prepare figure for subplot
figure;
set(gcf, 'Position', [100, 100, 1200, 400]); % Set figure size
% Newton-Raphson method parameters
maxIterations = 1000;
tolerance = 1e-10;
% Set options for fsolve to use the 'levenberg-marquardt' algorithm
options = optimoptions('fsolve', 'Algorithm', 'levenberg-marquardt', 'MaxIterations', maxIterations, 'FunctionTolerance', tolerance);
for i = 1:size(paramSets, 1)
kappa = paramSets(i, 1);
beta = paramSets(i, 2);
% Define the equations using a function
for n = 2:numBases-1
equations{n} = @(x) -kappa * (x(n+1) - 2 * x(n) + x(n-1)) - omegaD^2 * (x(n) - beta * x(n)^3);
end
% Boundary conditions with specified fixed values
someFixedValue1 = 10; % Replace with actual value if needed
someFixedValue2 = 10; % Replace with actual value if needed
equations{1} = @(x) x(1) - someFixedValue1;
equations{numBases} = @(x) x(numBases) - someFixedValue2;
% Combine all equations into a single function
F = @(x) cell2mat(cellfun(@(f) f(x), equations, 'UniformOutput', false));
% Solve the system of equations using fsolve with the specified options
x_solution = fsolve(F, initialGuess, options);
norm(F(x_solution))
% Plot the solution in a subplot
subplot(1, 3, i);
plot(x_solution, 'o-', 'LineWidth', 2);
grid on;
xlabel('n', 'FontSize', 12);
ylabel('x[n]', 'FontSize', 12);
title(sprintf('\\kappa = %.2f, \\beta = %.2f', kappa, beta), 'FontSize', 14);
end
% Improve overall aesthetics
sgtitle('Stationary States for Different \kappa and \beta Values', 'FontSize', 16); % Super title for the figure
In the second plot, the elasticity constant κis increased to 0.5, representing a system with greater stiffness . This parameter influences how resistant the system is to deformation, implying that a higher κ makes the system more resilient to changes . By increasing κ, we are essentially tightening the interactions between adjacent units in the model, which could represent, for instance, stronger bonding forces in a physical or biological system .
In the third plot the nonlinearity coefficient β is increased to 0.2 . This adjustment enhances the nonlinear interactions within the system, which can lead to more complex dynamic behaviors, especially in systems exhibiting bifurcations or chaos under certain conditions .
can you relate?
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