Handling very small numbers in python

Question

I am currently working with very small numbers in my python program, e.g.

x = 200 + 2e-26

One solution is to work with logarithmic values which would increase the range of my float value. The problem is that I have to do a fft with these values, too, and therefore using the logarithmic approach is not usable (and using the Decimal-module neither). Is there another way to solve that problem?

Edit: My problem with the decimal module is: How can I handle imaginary values? I tried a = Decimal(1e-26)+Decimal(1e-26*1j) and a = Decimal(1e-26)+Decimal(1e-26)*1j, and both ways failed (error on request).

Answer 1

Consider trying out the mpmath package.

>>> from mpmath import mpf, mpc, mp
>>> mp.dps = 40
>>> mpf(200) + mpf(2e-26) + mpc(1j)
mpc(real='200.0000000000000000000000000200000000000007', imag='1.0')

Mostly accurate and can handle complex numbers, more details in the documentation.