[R] slightly off-topic re prcomp()

[Laura Quinn]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could tell me why prcomp() will "Invent" modes
of variation in a PCA on identical replicates of data? I would have
expected 50 (or whatever number) of identical replicates to return a null
score in such an analysis (or at the least, all variables would share the
same PC score). This is not the case and I was wondering could someone
point me in the direction of some literature to explain the reason behind
this?

Laura Quinn
Institute of Atmospheric Science
School of Earth and Environment
University of Leeds
Leeds
LS2 9JT

tel: +44 113 343 1596
fax: +44 113 343 6716
mail: laura at env.leeds.ac.uk