protected boolean checkSmallStep() {
		double max = Math.max(stp, stprev);
		return( Math.abs(stp - stprev)/max < tolStep );
	}
protected boolean checkSmallStep ( ) { double max = Math . max ( stp , stprev ) ; return ( Math . abs ( stp - stprev ) / max < tolStep ) ; }
Checks to see if alpha is changing by a significant amount.  If it change is too small
it can get stuck in a loop\