infinity

Taking 0 to the power of any negative exponent equals infinity. In Max, this yields the unique float value inf. In cases where you want to avoid getting inf, and would prefer to get 0, you can simply make a special case for a 0 input, and pass it on directly, avoiding the pow object. On the left is an example of how to use routepass to force Max to output 0 when it would otherwise calculate infinity, such as when using a pow -1 object.