Numpy supports logical indexing, though it is a little different than what you are familiar in MATLAB. To get the results you want you can do the following:
a[b][:,b] # first brackets isolates the rows, second brackets isolate the columns
Out[27]:
array([[ 6, 8],
[14, 16]])
The more "numpy" method will be understood after you will understand what happend in your case.
b = np.array([False, True, False, True]) is similar to b=np.array([1,3]) and will be easier for me to explain. When writing a[[1,3],[1,3]] what happens is that numpy crates a (2,1) shape array, and places a[1,1] in the [0] location and a[3,3] in the second location. To create an output of shape (2,2), the indexing must have the same dimensionality. Therefore, the following will get your result:
a[[[1,1],[3,3]],[[1,3],[1,3]]]
Out[28]:
array([[ 6, 8],
[14, 16]])
Explanation:
The indexing arrays are:
temp_rows = np.array([[1,1],
[3,3]])
temp_cols = np.array([[1,3],
[1,3])
both arrays have dimensions of (2,2) and therefore, numpy will create an output of shape (2,2). Then, it places a[1,1] in location [0,0], a[1,3] in [0,1], a[3,1] in location [1,0] and a[3,3] in location [1,1]. This can be expanded to any shape but for your purposes, you wanted a shape of (2,2)
After figuring this out, you can make things even simpler by utilizing the fact you if you insert a (2,1) array in the 1st dimension and a (1,2) array in the 2nd dimension, numpy will perform the broadcasting, similar to the MATLAB operation. This means that by using:
temp_rows = np.array([[1],[3]])
temp_cols = np.array([1,3])
you can do:
a[[[1],[3]], [1,3])
Out[29]:
array([[ 6, 8],
[14, 16]])
a[b][:,b]?sub2ind(or something like that) to produce indices to the equivalent flattened matrix. The reverse is true fornumpy. Your[b,b]is selecting the pair; getting the block requires an extra step (easiest withnp.ix_)