Maxima

Maxima Manual
Maxima is a computer algebra system, implemented in Lisp.

Maxima is derived from the Macsyma system, developed at MIT in the years 1968
through 1982 as part of Project MAC. MIT turned over a copy of the Macsyma source code
to the Department of Energy in 1982; that version is now known as DOE Macsyma. A
copy of DOE Macsyma was maintained by Professor William F. Schelter of the University
of Texas from 1982 until his death in 2001. In 1998, Schelter obtained permission from the
Department of Energy to release the DOE Macsyma source code under the GNU Public
License, and in 2000 he initiated the Maxima project at SourceForge to maintain and
develop DOE Macsyma, now called Maxima.
2 Maxima Manual
Chapter 1: Introduction to Maxima 3
1 Introduction to Maxima
Start Maxima with the command "maxima". Maxima will display version information
and a prompt. End each Maxima command with a semicolon. End the session with the
command "quit();". Here’s a sample session:
[wfs@chromium]$ maxima
Maxima 5.9.1 http://maxima.sourceforge.net
Using Lisp CMU Common Lisp 19a
Distributed under the GNU Public License. See the file COPYING.
Dedicated to the memory of William Schelter.
This is a development version of Maxima. The function bug_report()
provides bug reporting information.
(%i1) factor(10!);
8 4 2
(%o1) 2 3 5 7
(%i2) expand ((x + y)^6);
6 5 2 4 3 3 4 2 5 6
(%o2) y + 6 x y + 15 x y + 20 x y + 15 x y + 6 x y + x
(%i3) factor (x^6 - 1);
2 2
(%o3) (x - 1) (x + 1) (x - x + 1) (x + x + 1)
(%i4) quit();
[wfs@chromium]$
Maxima can search the info pages. Use the describe command to show all the com-
mands and variables containing a string, and optionally their documentation. The question
mark ? is an abbreviation for describe:
(%i1) ? integ
0: (maxima.info)Introduction to Elliptic Functions and Integrals.

1: Definitions for Elliptic Integrals.
2: Integration.
3: Introduction to Integration.
4: Definitions for Integration.
5: askinteger :Definitions for Simplification.
6: integerp :Definitions for Miscellaneous Options.
7: integrate :Definitions for Integration.
8: integrate_use_rootsof :Definitions for Integration.
9: integration_constant_counter :Definitions for Integration.
Enter space-separated numbers, ‘all’ or ‘none’: 6 5
Info from file /usr/local/info/maxima.info:

- Function: integerp (<expr>)
Returns ‘true’ if <expr> is an integer, otherwise ‘false’.
- Function: askinteger (expr, integer)

- Function: askinteger (expr)
- Function: askinteger (expr, even)
4 Maxima Manual
- Function: askinteger (expr, odd)

‘askinteger (expr, integer)’ attempts to determine from the
‘assume’ database whether ‘expr’ is an integer. ‘askinteger’ will
ask the user if it cannot tell otherwise, and attempt to install
the information in the database if possible. ‘askinteger (expr)’
is equivalent to ‘askinteger (expr, integer)’.
‘askinteger (expr, even)’ and ‘askinteger (expr, odd)’ likewise

attempt to determine if ‘expr’ is an even integer or odd integer,
respectively.
(%o1) false
To use a result in later calculations, you can assign it to a variable or refer to it by its
automatically supplied label. In addition, % refers to the most recent calculated result:
(%i1) u: expand ((x + y)^6);
6 5 2 4 3 3 4 2 5 6
(%o1) y + 6 x y + 15 x y + 20 x y + 15 x y + 6 x y + x
(%i2) diff (u, x);
5 4 2 3 3 2 4 5
(%o2) 6 y + 30 x y + 60 x y + 60 x y + 30 x y + 6 x
(%i3) factor (%o2);
5
(%o3) 6 (y + x)
Maxima knows about complex numbers and numerical constants:
(%i1) cos(%pi);
(%o1) - 1
(%i2) exp(%i*%pi);
(%o2) - 1
Maxima can do differential and integral calculus:
(%i1) u: expand ((x + y)^6);
6 5 2 4 3 3 4 2 5 6
(%o1) y + 6 x y + 15 x y + 20 x y + 15 x y + 6 x y + x
(%i2) diff (%, x);
5 4 2 3 3 2 4 5
(%o2) 6 y + 30 x y + 60 x y + 60 x y + 30 x y + 6 x
(%i3) integrate (1/(1 + x^3), x);
2 x - 1
2 atan(-------)
log(x - x + 1) sqrt(3) log(x + 1)
(%o3) - --------------- + ------------- + ----------
6 sqrt(3) 3
Maxima can solve linear systems and cubic equations:
(%i1) linsolve ([3*x + 4*y = 7, 2*x + a*y = 13], [x, y]);
7 a - 52 25
(%o1) [x = --------, y = -------]
3 a - 8 3 a - 8
(%i2) solve (x^3 - 3*x^2 + 5*x = 15, x);
Chapter 1: Introduction to Maxima 5
(%o2) [x = - sqrt(5) %i, x = sqrt(5) %i, x = 3]

Maxima can solve nonlinear sets of equations. Note that if you don’t want a result
printed, you can finish your command with $ instead of ;.
(%i1) eq_1: x^2 + 3*x*y + y^2 = 0$
(%i2) eq_2: 3*x + y = 1$
(%i3) solve ([eq_1, eq_2]);
3 sqrt(5) + 7 sqrt(5) + 3
(%o3) [[y = - -------------, x = -----------],
2 2
3 sqrt(5) - 7 sqrt(5) - 3
[y = -------------, x = - -----------]]
2 2
Maxima can generate plots of one or more functions:
(%i1) eq_1: x^2 + 3*x*y + y^2 = 0$
(%i2) eq_2: 3*x + y = 1$
(%i3) solve ([eq_1, eq_2]);
3 sqrt(5) + 7 sqrt(5) + 3
(%o3) [[y = - -------------, x = -----------],
2 2
3 sqrt(5) - 7 sqrt(5) - 3
[y = -------------, x = - -----------]]
2 2
(%i4) kill(labels);
(%o0) done
(%i1) plot2d (sin(x)/x, [x, -20, 20]);
(%o1)
(%i2) plot2d ([atan(x), erf(x), tanh(x)], [x, -5, 5]);
(%o2)
(%i3) plot3d (sin(sqrt(x^2 + y^2))/sqrt(x^2 + y^2), [x, -12, 12], [y, -12, 12]);
(%o3)
6 Maxima Manual
Chapter 2: Bug Detection and Reporting 7
2 Bug Detection and Reporting
2.1 Introduction to Bug Detection and Reporting

Like all large programs, Maxima contains both known and unknown bugs. This chapter
describes the built-in facilities for running the Maxima test suite as well as reporting new
bugs.
2.2 Definitions for Bug Detection and Reporting
run testsuite () Function

run testsuite (boolean) Function
run testsuite (boolean, boolean) Function
Run the Maxima test suite. Tests producing the desired answer are considered
“passes,” as are tests that do not produce the desired answer, but are marked as
known bugs.
run_testsuite () displays only tests that do not pass.
run_testsuite (true) displays tests that are marked as known bugs, as well as
failures.
run_testsuite (true, true) displays all tests.
run_testsuite changes the Maxima environment. Typically a test script executes
kill to establish a known environment (namely one without user-defined functions
and variables) and then defines functions and variables appropriate to the test.
run_testsuite returns done.
bug report () Function

Prints out Maxima and Lisp version numbers, and gives a link to the Maxima project
bug report web page. The version information is the same as reported by build_info.
When a bug is reported, it is helpful to copy the Maxima and Lisp version information
into the bug report.
bug_report returns an empty string "".
build info () Function

Prints out a summary of the parameters of the Maxima build.
build_info returns an empty string "".
8 Maxima Manual
Chapter 3: Help 9
3 Help
3.1 Introduction to Help

The primary on-line help function is describe, which is typically invoked by the question
mark ? at the interactive prompt. ? foo (with a space between ? and foo) is equivalent
to describe ("foo"), where foo is the name or part of the name of a function or topic;
describe then finds all documented items which contain the string foo in their titles. If
there is more than one such item, Maxima asks the user to select an item or items to display.
(%i1) ? integ
2: Integration.
Info from file /use/local/maxima/doc/info/maxima.info:

- Function: integrate (expr, var)
- Function: integrate (expr, var, a, b)
Attempts to symbolically compute the integral of ‘expr’ with
respect to ‘var’. ‘integrate (expr, var)’ is an indefinite
integral, while ‘integrate (expr, var, a, b)’ is a definite
integral, [...]
In this example, items 7 and 8 were selected. All or none of the items could have been
selected by entering all or none, which can be abbreviated a or n, respectively.
3.2 Lisp and Maxima

Maxima is written in Lisp, and it is easy to access Lisp functions and variables from Max-
ima and vice versa. Lisp and Maxima symbols are distinguished by a naming convention.
A Lisp symbol which begins with a dollar sign $ corresponds to a Maxima symbol without
the dollar sign. A Maxima symbol which begins with a question mark ? corresponds to a
Lisp symbol without the question mark. For example, the Maxima symbol foo corresponds
to the Lisp symbol $foo. while the Maxima symbol ?foo corresponds to the Lisp symbol
foo, Note that ?foo is written without a space between ? and foo; otherwise it might be
mistaken for describe ("foo").
Lisp symbols appearing in Maxima code must follow the rules for Maxima identifiers
(apart from beginning with a question mark). In particular, symbols containing hyphen -
or other special characters cannot appear in Maxima code.
Lisp code may be executed from within a Maxima session. A single line of Lisp (con-
taining one or more forms) may be executed by the special command :lisp. For example,
10 Maxima Manual
(%i1) :lisp (foo $x $y)

calls the Lisp function foo with Maxima variables x and y as arguments. The :lisp
construct can appear at the interactive prompt or in a file processed by batch or demo, but
not in a file processed by load, batchload, translate_file, or compile_file.
The function to_lisp() opens an interactive Lisp session. Entering (to-maxima) closes
the Lisp session and returns to Maxima.
Lisp functions and variables which are to be visible in Maxima as functions and variables
with ordinary names (no special punctuation) must have Lisp names beginning with the
dollar sign $.
Maxima is case-sensitive, distinguishing between lowercase and uppercase letters in iden-
tifiers, while Lisp is not. There are some rules governing the translation of names between
Lisp and Maxima.
1. A Lisp identifier not enclosed in vertical bars corresponds to a Maxima identifier in
lowercase. Whether the Lisp identifier is uppercase, lowercase, or mixed case, is ignored.
E.g., Lisp $foo, $FOO, and $Foo all correspond to Maxima foo.
2. A Lisp identifier which is all uppercase or all lowercase and enclosed in vertical bars
corresponds to a Maxima identifier with case reversed. That is, uppercase is changed
to lowercase and lowercase to uppercase. E.g., Lisp |$FOO| and |$foo| correspond to
Maxima foo and FOO, respectively.
3. A Lisp identifier which is mixed uppercase and lowercase and enclosed in vertical bars
corresponds to a Maxima identifier with the same case. E.g., Lisp |$Foo| corresponds
to Maxima Foo.
The #$ Lisp macro allows the use of Maxima expressions in Lisp code. #$expr$ expands
to a Lisp expression equivalent to the Maxima expression expr.
(msetq $foo #$[x, y]$)
This has the same effect as entering
(%i1) foo: [x, y];
The Lisp function displa prints an expression in Maxima format.
(%i1) :lisp #$[x, y, z]$
((MLIST SIMP) $X $Y $Z)
(%i1) :lisp (displa ’((MLIST SIMP) $X $Y $Z))
[x, y, z]
NIL
Functions defined in Maxima are not ordinary Lisp functions. The Lisp function
mfuncall calls a Maxima function. For example:
(%i1) foo(x,y) := x*y$
(%i2) :lisp (mfuncall ’$foo ’a ’b)
((MTIMES SIMP) A B)
Some Lisp functions are shadowed in the Maxima package, namely the following.
complement, continue, //, float, functionp, array, exp, listen, signum, atan, asin,
acos, asinh, acosh, atanh, tanh, cosh, sinh, tan, break, and gcd.
Chapter 3: Help 11
3.3 Garbage Collection

Symbolic computation tends to create a good deal of garbage, and effective handling of
this can be crucial to successful completion of some programs.
Under GCL, on UNIX systems where the mprotect system call is available (including
SUN OS 4.0 and some variants of BSD) a stratified garbage collection is available. This
limits the collection to pages which have been recently written to. See the GCL documen-
tation under ALLOCATE and GBC. At the Lisp level doing (setq si::*notify-gbc* t) will
help you determine which areas might need more space.
3.4 Documentation
The Maxima on-line user’s manual can be viewed in different forms. From the Maxima
interactive prompt, the user’s manual is viewed as plain text by the ? command (i.e., the
describe function). The user’s manual is viewed as info hypertext by the info viewer
program and as a web page by any ordinary web browser.
example displays examples for many Maxima functions. For example,
(%i1) example (integrate);
yields
(%i2) test(f):=block([u],u:integrate(f,x),ratsimp(f-diff(u,x)))
(%o2) test(f) := block([u], u : integrate(f, x),
ratsimp(f - diff(u, x)))

(%i3) test(sin(x))
(%o3) 0
(%i4) test(1/(x+1))
(%o4) 0
(%i5) test(1/(x^2+1))
(%o5) 0
and additional output.
3.5 Definitions for Help
demo (filename) Function

Evaluates Maxima expressions in filename and displays the results. demo pauses after
evaluating each expression and continues after the user enters a carriage return. (If
running in Xmaxima, demo may need to see a semicolon ; followed by a carriage
return.)
demo searches the list of directories file_search_demo to find filename. If the file
has the suffix dem, the suffix may be omitted. See also file_search.
demo evaluates its argument. demo returns the name of the demonstration file.
Example:
(%i1) demo ("disol");
batching /home/wfs/maxima/share/simplification/disol.dem
12 Maxima Manual
At the _ prompt, type ’;’ followed by enter to get next demo

(%i2) load(disol)
_
(%i3) exp1 : a (e (g + f) + b (d + c))
(%o3) a (e (g + f) + b (d + c))
_
(%i4) disolate(exp1, a, b, e)
(%t4) d + c
(%t5) g + f
(%o5) a (%t5 e + %t4 b)
_
(%i5) demo ("rncomb");
batching /home/wfs/maxima/share/simplification/rncomb.dem
At the _ prompt, type ’;’ followed by enter to get next demo
(%i6) load(rncomb)
_
z x
(%i7) exp1 : ----- + ---------
y + x 2 (y + x)
z x
(%o7) ----- + ---------
y + x 2 (y + x)
_
(%i8) combine(exp1)
z x
(%o8) ----- + ---------
y + x 2 (y + x)
_
(%i9) rncombine(%)
2 z + x
(%o9) ---------
2 (y + x)
_
d c b a
(%i10) exp2 : - + - + - + -
3 3 2 2
d c b a
(%o10) - + - + - + -
3 3 2 2
Chapter 3: Help 13
_
(%i11) combine(exp2)
2 d + 2 c + 3 (b + a)
(%o11) ---------------------
6
_
(%i12) rncombine(exp2)
2 d + 2 c + 3 b + 3 a
(%o12) ---------------------
6
_
(%i13)
describe (string) Function

Finds all documented items which contain string in their titles. If there is more than
one such item, Maxima asks the user to select an item or items to display. At the
interactive prompt, ? foo (with a space between ? and foo) is equivalent to describe
("foo").
describe ("") yields a list of all topics documented in the on-line manual.
describe quotes its argument. describe always returns false.
Example:
(%i1) ? integ
2: Integration.
Info from file /use/local/maxima/doc/info/maxima.info:

- Function: integrate (expr, var)
- Function: integrate (expr, var, a, b)
Attempts to symbolically compute the integral of ‘expr’ with
respect to ‘var’. ‘integrate (expr, var)’ is an indefinite
integral, while ‘integrate (expr, var, a, b)’ is a definite
integral, [...]
In this example, items 7 and 8 were selected. All or none of the items could have
been selected by entering all or none, which can be abbreviated a or n, respectively.
see Section 3.1 [Introduction to Help], page 9
14 Maxima Manual
example (topic) Function

example () Function
example (topic) displays some examples of topic, which is a symbol (not a string).
Most topics are function names. example () returns the list of all recognized topics.
The name of the file containing the examples is given by the global variable manual_
demo, which defaults to "manual.demo".
example quotes its argument. example returns done unless there is an error or there
is no argument, in which case example returns the list of all recognized topics.
Examples:
(%i1) example (append);
(%i2) append([x+y,0,-3.2],[2.5E+20,x])
(%o2) [y + x, 0, - 3.2, 2.5E+20, x]
(%o2) done
(%i3) example (coeff);
(%i4) coeff(b+tan(x)+2*a*tan(x) = 3+5*tan(x),tan(x))
(%o4) 2 a + 1 = 5
(%i5) coeff(1+x*%e^x+y,x,0)
(%o5) y + 1
(%o5) done
Chapter 4: Command Line 15
4 Command Line
4.1 Introduction to Command Line
"’" operator
The single quote operator ’ prevents evaluation.
E.g., ’(f(x)) means do not evaluate the expression f(x). ’f(x) (with the single
quote applied to f instead of f(x)) means return the noun form of f applied to [x].
The single quote does not prevent simplification.
"’’" operator
The ’’ (double single quotes) operator causes an extra evaluation to occur. E.g.,
’’%i4 will re-evaluate input line %i4. ’’(f(x)) means evaluate the expression f(x)
an extra time. ’’f(x) (with the double single quotes applied to f instead of f(x))
means return the verb form of f applied to [x].
4.2 Definitions for Command Line
alias (new name 1, old name 1, ..., new name n, old name n) Function
provides an alternate name for a (user or system) function, variable, array, etc. Any
even number of arguments may be used.
debugmode Variable
Default value: false
When a Maxima error occurs, Maxima will start the debugger if debugmode is true.
The user may enter commands to examine the call stack, set breakpoints, step through
Maxima code, and so on. See debugging for a list of debugger commands.
Enabling debugmode will not catch Lisp errors.
ev (expr, arg 1, ..., arg n) Function

Evaluates the expression expr in the environment specified by the arguments arg 1,
..., arg n. The arguments are switches (Boolean flags), assignments, equations, and
functions. ev returns the result (another expression) of the evaluation.
The evaluation is carried out in steps, as follows.
1. First the environment is set up by scanning the arguments which may be any or
all of the following.
• simp causes expr to be simplified regardless of the setting of the switch simp
which inhibits simplification if false.
• noeval supresses the evaluation phase of ev (see step (4) below). This is
useful in conjunction with the other switches and in causing expr to be
resimplified without being reevaluated.
• expand causes expansion.
16 Maxima Manual
• expand (m, n) causes expansion, setting the values of maxposex and

maxnegex to m and n respectively.
• detout causes any matrix inverses computed in expr to have their determi-
nant kept outside of the inverse rather than dividing through each element.
• diff causes all differentiations indicated in expr to be performed.
• derivlist (x, y, z, ...) causes only differentiations with respect to the
indicated variables.
• float causes non-integral rational numbers to be converted to floating point.
• numer causes some mathematical functions (including exponentiation) with
numerical arguments to be evaluated in floating point. It causes variables
in expr which have been given numervals to be replaced by their values. It
also sets the float switch on.
• pred causes predicates (expressions which evaluate to true or false) to be
evaluated.
• eval causes an extra post-evaluation of expr to occur. (See step (5) below.)
• A where A is an atom declared to be an evaluation flag (see evflag) causes
A to be bound to true during the evaluation of expr.
• V: expression (or alternately V=expression) causes V to be bound to the
value of expression during the evaluation of expr. Note that if V is a
Maxima option, then expression is used for its value during the evaluation
of expr. If more than one argument to ev is of this type then the binding is
done in parallel. If V is a non-atomic expression then a substitution rather
than a binding is performed.
• F where F, a function name, has been declared to be an evaluation function
(see evfun) causes F to be applied to expr.
• Any other function names (e.g., sum) cause evaluation of occurrences of those
names in expr as though they were verbs.
• In addition a function occurring in expr (say F(x)) may be defined locally
for the purpose of this evaluation of expr by giving F(x) := expression as
an argument to ev.
• If an atom not mentioned above or a subscripted variable or subscripted
expression was given as an argument, it is evaluated and if the result is an
equation or assignment then the indicated binding or substitution is per-
formed. If the result is a list then the members of the list are treated as if
they were additional arguments given to ev. This permits a list of equations
to be given (e.g. [X=1, Y=A**2]) or a list of names of equations (e.g., [%t1,
%t2] where %t1 and %t2 are equations) such as that returned by solve.
The arguments of ev may be given in any order with the exception of substi-
tution equations which are handled in sequence, left to right, and evaluation
functions which are composed, e.g., ev (expr, ratsimp, realpart) is handled
as realpart (ratsimp (expr)).
The simp, numer, float, and pred switches may also be set locally in a block,
or globally in Maxima so that they will remain in effect until being reset.
If expr is a canonical rational expression (CRE), then the expression returned by

ev is also a CRE, provided the numer and float switches are not both true.
2. During step (1), a list is made of the non-subscripted variables appearing on the
left side of equations in the arguments or in the value of some arguments if the
value is an equation. The variables (subscripted variables which do not have
associated array functions as well as non-subscripted variables) in the expression
expr are replaced by their global values, except for those appearing in this list.
Usually, expr is just a label or % (as in %i2 in the example below), so this step
simply retrieves the expression named by the label, so that ev may work on it.
3. If any substitutions are indicated by the arguments, they are carried out now.
4. The resulting expression is then re-evaluated (unless one of the arguments was
noeval) and simplified according to the arguments. Note that any function
calls in expr will be carried out after the variables in it are evaluated and that
ev(F(x)) thus may behave like F(ev(x)).
5. If one of the arguments was eval, steps (3) and (4) are repeated.
Examples
(%i1) sin(x) + cos(y) + (w+1)^2 + ’diff (sin(w), w);
d 2
(%o1) cos(y) + sin(x) + -- (sin(w)) + (w + 1)
dw
(%i2) ev (%, sin, expand, diff, x=2, y=1);
2
(%o2) cos(w) + w + 2 w + cos(1) + 1.909297426825682
An alternate top level syntax has been provided for ev, whereby one may just type
in its arguments, without the ev(). That is, one may write simply
expr, arg 1, ..., arg n
This is not permitted as part of another expression, e.g., in functions, blocks, etc.
Notice the parallel binding process in the following example.
(%i3) programmode: false;
(%o3) false
(%i4) x+y, x: a+y, y: 2;
(%o4) y + a + 2
(%i5) 2*x - 3*y = 3$
(%i6) -3*x + 2*y = -4$
(%i7) solve ([%o5, %o6]);
Solution
1
(%t7) y = - -
5
6
(%t8) x = -
5
(%o8) [[%t7, %t8]]
(%i8) %o6, %o8;
18 Maxima Manual
(%o8) - 4 = - 4
(%i9) x + 1/x > gamma (1/2);
1
(%o9) x + - > sqrt(%pi)
x
(%i10) %, numer, x=1/2;
(%o10) 2.5 > 1.772453850905516
(%i11) %, pred;
(%o11) true
evflag property
Some Boolean flags have the evflag property. ev treats such flags specially. A flag
with the evflag property will be bound to true during the execution of ev if it is
mentioned in the call to ev. For example, demoivre and ratfac are bound to true
during the call ev (%, demoivre, ratfac).
The flags which have the evflag property are: algebraic, cauchysum, demoivre,
dotscrules, %emode, %enumer, exponentialize, exptisolate, factorflag, float,
halfangles, infeval, isolate_wrt_times, keepfloat, letrat, listarith,
logabs, logarc, logexpand, lognegint, lognumer, m1pbranch, numer_pbranch,
programmode, radexpand, ratalgdenom, ratfac, ratmx, ratsimpexpons, simp,
simpsum, sumexpand, and trigexpand.
The construct :lisp (putprop ’|$foo| t ’evflag) gives the evflag property to the
variable foo, so foo is bound to true during the call ev (%, foo). Equivalently, ev
(%, foo:true) has the same effect.
evfun property
Some functions have the evfun property. ev treats such functions specially. A func-
tion with the evfun property will be applied during the execution of ev if it is men-
tioned in the call to ev. For example, ratsimp and radcan will be applied during the
call ev (%, ratsimp, radcan).
The functions which have the evfun property are: bfloat, factor, fullratsimp,
logcontract, polarform, radcan, ratexpand, ratsimp, rectform, rootscontract,
trigexpand, and trigreduce.
The construct :lisp (putprop ’|$foo| t ’evfun) gives the evfun property to the
function foo, so that foo is applied during the call ev (%, foo). Equivalently, foo
(ev (%)) has the same effect.
infeval special symbol

Enables "infinite evaluation" mode. ev repeatedly evaluates an expression until it
stops changing. To prevent a variable, say X, from being evaluated away in this
mode, simply include X=’X as an argument to ev. Of course expressions such as ev
(X, X=X+1, infeval) will generate an infinite loop.
kill (symbol 1, ..., symbol n) Function

kill (labels) Function
kill (clabels, dlabels, elabels) Function
kill (n) Function
kill ([m, n]) Function
kill (values, functions, arrays, ...) Function
kill (all) Function
kill (allbut (symbol 1, ..., symbol n)) Function
Removes all bindings (value, function, array, or rule) from the arguments symbol 1,
..., symbol n. An argument may be a single array element or subscripted function.
Several special arguments are recognized. Different kinds of arguments may be com-
bined, e.g., kill (clabels, functions, allbut (foo, bar)).
kill (labels) unbinds all input, output, and intermediate expression labels created
so far. kill (clabels) unbinds only input labels which begin with the current value
of inchar. Likewise, kill (dlabels) unbinds only output labels which begin with the
current value of outchar, and kill (elabels) unbinds only intermediate expression
labels which begin with the current value of linechar.
kill (n), where n is an integer, unbinds the n most recent input and output labels.
kill ([m, n]) unbinds input and output labels m through n.
kill (infolist), where infolist is any item in infolists (such as values, functions,
or arrays) unbinds all items in infolist. See also infolists.
kill (all) unbinds all items on all infolists.
kill (allbut (symbol 1, ..., symbol n)) unbinds all items on all infolists except
for symbol 1, ..., symbol n. kill (allbut (infolist)) unbinds all items except for the
ones on infolist, where infolist is values, functions, arrays, etc.
The memory taken up by a bound property is not released until all symbols are
unbound from it. In particular, to release the memory taken up by the value of
a symbol, one unbinds the output label which shows the bound value, as well as
unbinding the symbol itself.
kill quotes its arguments. The double single quotes operator, ’’, defeats the quo-
tation.
kill (symbol) unbinds all properties of symbol. In contrast, remvalue,
remfunction, remarray, and remrule unbind a specific property.
kill always returns done, even if an argument has no binding.
labels (symbol) Function

labels Variable
Returns the list of input, output, or intermediate expression labels which begin with
symbol. Typically symbol is the value of inchar, outchar, or linechar. The label
character may be given with or without a percent sign, so, for example, i and %i
yield the same result.
If no labels begin with symbol, labels returns an empty list.
The function labels quotes its argument. The double single quotes operator ’’
defeats quotation. For example, labels (’’inchar) returns the input labels which
begin with the current input label character.
20 Maxima Manual
The variable labels is the list of input, output, and intermediate expression labels,
including all previous labels if inchar, outchar, or linechar were redefined.
By default, Maxima displays the result of each user input expression, giving the result
an output label. The output display is suppressed by terminating the input with $
(dollar sign) instead of ; (semicolon). An output label is generated, but not displayed,
and the label may be referenced in the same way as displayed output labels. See also
%, %%, and %th.
Intermediate expression labels can be generated by some functions. The flag
programmode controls whether solve and some other functions generate intermediate
expression labels instead of returning a list of expressions. Some other functions,
such as ldisplay, always generate intermediate expression labels.
first (rest (labels (’’inchar))) returns the most recent input label.
See also inchar, outchar, linechar, and infolists.
linenum Variable
The line number of the current pair of input and output expressions.
myoptions Variable
Default value: []
myoptions is the list of all options ever reset by the user, whether or not they get
reset to their default value.
nolabels Variable
When nolabels is true, input and output labels are generated but not appended to
labels, the list of all input and output labels. kill (labels) kills the labels on the
labels list, but does not kill any labels generated since nolabels was assigned true.
It seems likely this behavior is simply broken.
See also batch, batchload, and labels.
optionset Variable
When optionset is true, Maxima prints out a message whenever a Maxima option
is reset. This is useful if the user is doubtful of the spelling of some option and wants
to make sure that the variable he assigned a value to was truly an option variable.
playback () Function
playback (n) Function
playback ([m, n]) Function
playback ([m]) Function
playback (input) Function
playback (slow) Function
playback (time) Function
playback (grind) Function
Displays input, output, and intermediate expressions, without recomputing them.
playback only displays the expressions bound to labels; any other output (such as
text printed by print or describe, or error messages) is not displayed. See also
labels.
playback quotes its arguments. The double single quotes operator, ’’, defeats quo-
tation. playback always returns done.
playback () (with no arguments) displays all input, output, and intermediate expres-
sions generated so far. An output expression is displayed even if it was suppressed by
the $ terminator when it was originally computed.
playback (n) displays the most recent n expressions. Each input, output, and inter-
mediate expression counts as one.
playback ([m, n]) displays input, output, and intermediate expressions with num-
bers from m through n, inclusive.
playback ([m]) is equivalent to playback ([m, m]); this usually prints one pair
of input and output expressions.
playback (input) displays all input expressions generated so far.
playback (slow) pauses between expressions and waits for the user to press enter.
This behavior is similar to demo. playback (slow) is useful in conjunction with
save or stringout when creating a secondary-storage file in order to pick out useful
expressions.
playback (time) displays the computation time for each expression.
playback (grind) displays input expressions in the same format as the grind func-
tion. Output expressions are not affected by the grind option. See grind.
Arguments may be combined, e.g., playback ([5, 10], grind, time, slow).
printprops (a, i) Function

printprops ([a 1, ..., a n], i) Function
printprops (all, i) Function
Displays the property with the indicator i associated with the atom a. a may also
be a list of atoms or the atom all in which case all of the atoms with the given
property will be used. For example, printprops ([f, g], atvalue). printprops
is for properties that cannot otherwise be displayed, i.e. for atvalue, atomgrad,
gradef, and matchdeclare.
prompt Variable
Default value: _
prompt is the prompt symbol of the demo function, playback (slow) mode, and the
Maxima break loop (as invoked by break).
quit () Function
Terminates the Maxima session. Note that the function must be invoked as quit();
or quit()$, not quit by itself.
To stop a lengthy computation, type control-C. The default action is to return to the
Maxima prompt. If *debugger-hook* is nil, control-C opens the Lisp debugger.
See also debugging.
22 Maxima Manual
remfunction (f 1, ..., f n) Function

remfunction (all) Function
Removes the user defined functions f 1, ..., f n from Maxima. remfunction (all)
removes all functions.
reset () Function
Resets many global variables and options, and some other variables, to their default
values.
reset processes the variables on the Lisp list *variable-initial-values*. The
Lisp macro defmvar puts variables on this list (among other actions). Many, but not
all, global variables and options are defined by defmvar, and some variables defined
by defmvar are not global variables or options.
showtime Variable
When showtime is true, the computation time and elapsed time is printed with each
output expression.
See also time, timer, and playback.
sstatus (feature, package) Function

Sets the status of feature in package. After sstatus (feature, package) is executed,
status (feature, package) returns true. This can be useful for package writers, to
keep track of what features they have loaded in.
to lisp () Function
Enters the Lisp system under Maxima. (to-maxima) returns to Maxima.
values Variable
Initial value: []
values is a list of all bound user variables (not Maxima options or switches). The
list comprises symbols bound by : , ::, or :=.
Chapter 5: Operators 23
5 Operators
5.1 nary
An nary operator is used to denote a function of any number of arguments, each of
which is separated by an occurrence of the operator, e.g. A+B or A+B+C. The nary("x")
function is a syntax extension function to declare x to be an nary operator. Functions may
be declared to be nary. If declare(j,nary); is done, this tells the simplifier to simplify,
e.g. j(j(a,b),j(c,d)) to j(a, b, c, d).
See also syntax.
5.2 nofix
nofix operators are used to denote functions of no arguments. The mere presence of
such an operator in a command will cause the corresponding function to be evaluated. For
example, when one types "exit;" to exit from a Maxima break, "exit" is behaving similar to
a nofix operator. The function nofix("x") is a syntax extension function which declares
x to be a nofix operator.
See also syntax.
5.3 operator
See operators.
5.4 postfix
postfix operators like the prefix variety denote functions of a single argument, but
in this case the argument immediately precedes an occurrence of the operator in the input
string, e.g. 3! . The postfix("x") function is a syntax extension function to declare x to
be a postfix operator.
See also syntax.
5.5 prefix
A prefix operator is one which signifies a function of one argument, which argument
immediately follows an occurrence of the operator. prefix("x") is a syntax extension
function to declare x to be a prefix operator.
See also syntax.
24 Maxima Manual
5.6 Definitions for Operators
"!" operator
The factorial operator. For any complex number x (including integer, rational, and
real numbers) except for negative integers, x! is defined as gamma(x+1).
For an integer x, x! simplifies to the product of the integers from 1 to x inclusive.
0! simplifies to 1. For a floating point number x, x! simplifies to the value of gamma
(x+1). For x equal to n/2 where n is an odd integer, x! simplifies to a rational factor
times sqrt (%pi) (since gamma (1/2) is equal to sqrt (%pi)). If x is anything else,
x! is not simplified.
The variables factlim, minfactorial, and factcomb control the simplification of
expressions containing factorials.
The functions gamma, bffac, and cbffac are varieties of the gamma function.
makegamma substitutes gamma for factorials and related functions.
See also binomial.
• The factorial of an integer, half-integer, or floating point argument is simplified
unless the operand is greater than factlim.
(%i1) factlim: 10$
(%i2) [0!, (7/2)!, 4.77!, 8!, 20!];
105 sqrt(%pi)
(%o2) [1, -------------, 81.44668037931193, 40320, 20!]
16
• The factorial of a complex number, known constant, or general expression is not
simplified. Even so it may be possible simplify the factorial after evaluating the
operand.
(%i1) [(%i + 1)!, %pi!, %e!, (cos(1) + sin(1))!];
(%o1) [(%i + 1)!, %pi!, %e!, (sin(1) + cos(1))!]
(%i2) ev (%, numer, %enumer);
(%o2) [(%i + 1)!, 7.188082728976031, 4.260820476357003,
1.227580202486819]
• The factorial of an unbound symbol is not simplified.
(%i1) kill (foo)$
(%i2) foo!;
(%o2) foo!
• Factorials are simplified, not evaluated. Thus x! may be replaced even in a
quoted expression.
(%i1) ’([0!, (7/2)!, 4.77!, 8!, 20!]);
105 sqrt(%pi)
(%o1) [1, -------------, 81.44668037931193, 40320, 20!]
16
"!!" operator
The double factorial operator.
For an integer, float, or rational number n, n!! evaluates to the product n (n-2) (n-
4) (n-6) ... (n - 2 (k-1)) where k is equal to entier (n/2), that is, the largest
integer less than or equal to n/2. Note that this definition does not coincide with
other published definitions for arguments which are not integers.
For an even (or odd) integer n, n!! evaluates to the product of all the consecutive
even (or odd) integers from 2 (or 1) through n inclusive.
For an argument n which is not an integer, float, or rational, n!! yields a noun form
genfact (n, n/2, 2).
"#" operator
The logical operator "Not equals".
"." operator
The dot operator, for matrix (non-commutative) multiplication. When "." is used in
this way, spaces should be left on both sides of it, e.g. A . B. This distinguishes it
plainly from a decimal point in a floating point number.
See also dot, dot0nscsimp, dot0simp, dot1simp, dotassoc, dotconstrules,
dotdistrib, dotexptsimp, dotident, and dotscrules.
":" operator
The assignment operator. E.g. A:3 sets the variable A to 3.
"::" operator
Assignment operator. :: assigns the value of the expression on its right to the value
of the quantity on its left, which must evaluate to an atomic variable or subscripted
variable.
"::=" operator
The "::=" is used instead of ":=" to indicate that what follows is a macro definition,
rather than an ordinary functional definition. See macros.
":=" operator
The function definition operator. E.g. f(x):=sin(x) defines a function f.
"=" operator
denotes an equation to Maxima. To the pattern matcher in Maxima it denotes a
total relation that holds between two expressions if and only if the expressions are
syntactically identical.
and operator
The logical conjunction operator. and is an n-ary infix operator; its operands are
Boolean expressions, and its result is a Boolean value.
and forces evaluation (like is) of one or more operands, and may force evaluation of
all operands.
26 Maxima Manual
Operands are evaluated in the order in which they appear. and evaluates only as
many of its operands as necessary to determine the result. If any operand is false,
the result is false and no further operands are evaluated.
The global flag prederror governs the behavior of and when an evaluated operand
cannot be determined to be true or false. and prints an error message when
prederror is true. Otherwise, and returns unknown.
and is not commutative: a and b might not be equal to b and a due to the treatment
of indeterminate operands.
or operator
The logical disjunction operator. or is an n-ary infix operator; its operands are
Boolean expressions, and its result is a Boolean value.
or forces evaluation (like is) of one or more operands, and may force evaluation of
all operands.
Operands are evaluated in the order in which they appear. or evaluates only as many
of its operands as necessary to determine the result. If any operand is true, the result
is true and no further operands are evaluated.
The global flag prederror governs the behavior of or when an evaluated operand can-
not be determined to be true or false. or prints an error message when prederror
is true. Otherwise, or returns unknown.
or is not commutative: a or b might not be equal to b or a due to the treatment of
indeterminate operands.
not operator
The logical negation operator. not is a prefix operator; its operand is a Boolean
expression, and its result is a Boolean value.
not forces evaluation (like is) of its operand.
The global flag prederror governs the behavior of not when its operand cannot be
determined to be true or false. not prints an error message when prederror is
true. Otherwise, not returns unknown.
abs (expr) Function

Returns the absolute value expr. If expr is complex, returns the complex modulus of
expr.
additive special symbol

If declare(f,additive) has been executed, then:
(1) If f is univariate, whenever the simplifier encounters f applied to a sum, f will be
distributed over that sum. I.e. f(y+x) will simplify to f(y)+f(x).
(2) If f is a function of 2 or more arguments, additivity is defined as additivity in
the first argument to f, as in the case of sum or integrate, i.e. f(h(x)+g(x),x)
will simplify to f(h(x),x)+f(g(x),x). This simplification does not occur when f is
applied to expressions of the form sum(x[i],i,lower-limit,upper-limit).
allbut keyword
works with the part commands (i.e. part, inpart, substpart, substinpart, dpart,
and lpart). For example,
(%i1) expr: e+d+c+b+a$
(%i2) part (expr, [2, 5]);
(%o2) d + a
while
(%i3) part (expr, allbut (2, 5));
(%o3) e + c + b
It also works with the kill command,
kill (allbut (name_1, ..., name_k))
will do a kill (all) except it will not kill the names specified. Note: name_i
means a name such as function name such as u, f, foo, or g, not an infolist such as
functions.
antisymmetric declaration
If declare(h,antisymmetric) is done, this tells the simplifier that h is antisymmet-
ric. E.g. h(x,z,y) will simplify to - h(x, y, z). That is, it will give (-1)^n times the
result given by symmetric or commutative, where n is the number of interchanges of
two arguments necessary to convert it to that form.
cabs (expr) Function

Returns the complex absolute value (the complex modulus) of expr.
commutative declaration
If declare(h,commutative) is done, this tells the simplifier that h is a commutative
function. E.g. h(x,z,y) will simplify to h(x, y, z). This is the same as symmetric.
entier (x) Function

Returns the largest integer less than or equal to x where x is numeric. fix (as in
fixnum) is a synonym for this, so fix(x) is precisely the same.
equal (expr 1, expr 2) Function

Used with an is, returns true (or false) if and only if expr 1 and expr 2 are equal
(or not equal) for all possible values of their variables (as determined by ratsimp).
Thus is (equal ((x + 1)^2, x^2 + 2*x + 1)) returns true whereas if x is unbound
is ((x + 1)^2 = x^2 + 2*x + 1) returns false. Note also that is(rat(0)=0) yields
false but is (equal (rat(0), 0)) yields true.
If a determination can’t be made, then is (equal (a, b)) returns a simplified but
equivalent expression, whereas is (a=b) always returns either true or false.
All variables occurring in expr 1 and expr 2 are presumed to be real valued.
ev (expr, pred) is equivalent to is (expr).
28 Maxima Manual
(%i1) is (x^2 >= 2*x - 1);

(%o1) true
(%i2) assume (a > 1);
(%o2) [a > 1]
(%i3) is (log (log (a+1) + 1) > 0 and a^2 + 1 > 2*a);
(%o3) true
eval operator
As an argument in a call to ev (expr), eval causes an extra evaluation of expr. See
ev.
evenp (expr) Function

Returns true if expr is an even integer. false is returned in all other cases.
fix (x) Function

A synonym for entier (x).
fullmap (f, expr 1, ...) Function

Similar to map, but fullmap keeps mapping down all subexpressions until the main
operators are no longer the same.
fullmap is used by the Maxima simplifier for certain matrix manipulations; thus,
Maxima sometimes generates an error message concerning fullmap even though
fullmap was not explicitly called by the user.
(%i1) a + b*c$
(%i2) fullmap (g, %);
(%o2) g(b) g(c) + g(a)
(%i3) map (g, %th(2));
(%o3) g(b c) + g(a)
fullmapl (f, list 1, ...) Function

Similar to fullmap, but fullmapl only maps onto lists and matrices.
(%i1) fullmapl ("+", [3, [4, 5]], [[a, 1], [0, -1.5]]);
(%o1) [[a + 3, 4], [4, 3.5]]
is (expr) Function
Attempts to determine whether expr (which must evaluate to a predicate) is provable
from the facts in the current data base. is returns true if the predicate is true for all
values of its variables consistent with the data base and returns false if it is false for
all such values. Otherwise, its action depends on the setting of the switch prederror.
is errs out if the value of prederror is true and returns unknown if prederror is
false.
isqrt (x) Function

Returns the "integer square root" of the absolute value of x, which is an integer.
max (x 1, x 2, ...) Function

Returns the maximum of its arguments (or returns a simplified form if some of its
arguments are non-numeric).
min (x 1, x 2, ...) Function

Returns the minimum of its arguments (or returns a simplified form if some of its
arguments are non-numeric).
mod (p) Function

mod (p, m) Function
Converts the polynomial p to a modular representation with respect to the current
modulus which is the value of the variable modulus.
mod (p, m) specifies a modulus m to be used instead of the current value of modulus.
See modulus.
oddp (expr) Function

is true if expr is an odd integer. false is returned in all other cases.
pred operator
As an argument in a call to ev (expr), pred causes predicates (expressions which
evaluate to true or false) to be evaluated. See ev.
make random state (n) Function

make random state (s) Function
make random state (true) Function
make random state (false) Function
A random state object represents the state of the random number generator. The
state comprises 627 32-bit words.
make_random_state (n) returns a new random state object created from an integer
seed value equal to n modulo 2^32. n may be negative.
make_random_state (s) returns a copy of the random state s.
make_random_state (true) returns a new random state object, using the current
computer clock time as the seed.
make_random_state (false) returns a copy of the current state of the random num-
ber generator.
set random state (s) Function

Copies s to the random number generator state.
set_random_state always returns done.
random (x) Function

Returns a pseudorandom number. If x is an integer, random (x) returns an integer
from 0 through x - 1 inclusive. If x is a floating point number, random (x) returns
a nonnegative floating point number less than x. random complains with an error if
x is neither an integer nor a float, or if x is not positive.
30 Maxima Manual
The functions make_random_state and set_random_state maintain the state of the

random number generator.
The Maxima random number generator is an implementation of the Mersenne twister
MT 19937.
Examples:
(%i1) s1: make_random_state (654321)$
(%i2) set_random_state (s1);
(%o2) done
(%i3) random (1000);
(%o3) 768
(%i4) random (9573684);
(%o4) 7657880
(%i5) random (2^75);
(%o5) 11804491615036831636390
(%i6) s2: make_random_state (false)$
(%i7) random (1.0);
(%o7) .2310127244107132
(%i8) random (10.0);
(%o8) 4.394553645870825
(%i9) random (100.0);
(%o9) 32.28666704056853
(%i10) set_random_state (s2);
(%o10) done
(%i11) random (1.0);
(%o11) .2310127244107132
(%i12) random (10.0);
(%o12) 4.394553645870825
(%i13) random (100.0);
(%o13) 32.28666704056853
sign (expr) Function

Attempts to determine the sign of expr on the basis of the facts in the current data
base. It returns one of the following answers: pos (positive), neg (negative), zero, pz
(positive or zero), nz (negative or zero), pn (positive or negative), or pnz (positive,
negative, or zero, i.e. nothing known).
signum (x) Function

For numeric x, returns 0 if x is 0, otherwise returns -1 or +1 as x is less than or greater
than 0, respectively.
If x is not numeric then a simplified but equivalent form is returned. For example,
signum(-x) gives -signum(x).
sort (list, p) Function

sort (list) Function
Sorts list according to a predicate p of two arguments, such as "<" or orderlessp.
sort (list) sorts list according to Maxima’s built-in ordering.
list may contain numeric or nonnumeric items, or both.
sqrt (x) Function

The square root of x. It is represented internally by x^(1/2). See also
rootscontract.
radexpand if true will cause nth roots of factors of a product which are powers of
n to be pulled outside of the radical, e.g. sqrt(16*x^2) will become 4*x only if
radexpand is true.
sqrtdispflag Variable
Default value: true
When sqrtdispflag is false, causes sqrt to display with exponent 1/2.
sublis (list, expr) Function

Makes multiple parallel substitutions into an expression.
The variable sublis_apply_lambda controls simplification after sublis.
Example:
(%i1) sublis ([a=b, b=a], sin(a) + cos(b));
(%o1) sin(b) + cos(a)
sublist (list, p) Function

Returns the list of elements of list for which the predicate p returns true.
Example:
(%i1) L: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]$
(%i2) sublist (L, evenp);
(%o2) [2, 4, 6]
sublis apply lambda Variable

default: true - controls whether lambda’s substituted are applied in simplification
after sublis is used or whether you have to do an ev to get things to apply. true
means do the application.
subst (a, b, c) Function

Substitutes a for b in c. b must be an atom or a complete subexpression of c.
For example, x+y+z is a complete subexpression of 2*(x+y+z)/w while x+y is not.
When b does not have these characteristics, one may sometimes use substpart or
ratsubst (see below). Alternatively, if b is of the form e/f then one could use subst
(a*f, e, c) while if b is of the form e^(1/f) then one could use subst (a^f, e,
c). The subst command also discerns the x^y in x^-y so that subst (a, sqrt(x),
1/sqrt(x)) yields 1/a. a and b may also be operators of an expression enclosed in
double-quotes " or they may be function names. If one wishes to substitute for the
independent variable in derivative forms then the at function (see below) should be
used.
subst is an alias for substitute.
subst (eq 1, expr) or subst ([eq 1, ..., eq k], expr) are other permissible
forms. The eq i are equations indicating substitutions to be made. For each
equation, the right side will be substituted for the left in the expression expr.
32 Maxima Manual
exptsubst if true permits substitutions like y for %e^x in %e^(a*x) to take place.
When opsubst is false, subst will not attempt to substitute into the operator of an
expression. E.g. (opsubst: false, subst (x^2, r, r+r[0])) will work.
Examples:
(%i1) subst (a, x+y, x + (x+y)^2 + y);
2
(%o1) y + x + a
(%i2) subst (-%i, %i, a + b*%i);
(%o2) a - %i b
For further examples, do example (subst).
substinpart (x, expr, n 1, ..., n k) Function

Similar to substpart, but substinpart works on the internal representation of expr.
(%i1) x . ’diff (f(x), x, 2);
2
D
(%o1) x . --- (f(x))
2
dx
(%i2) substinpart (d^2, %, 2);
2
(%o2) x . d
(%i3) substinpart (f1, f[1](x+1), 0);
(%o3) f1(x + 1)
If the last argument to a part function is a list of indices then several subexpressions
are picked out, each one corresponding to an index of the list. Thus
(%i1) part (x+y+z, [1, 3]);
(%o1) z + x
piece holds the value of the last expression selected when using the part functions. It
is set during the execution of the function and thus may be referred to in the function
itself as shown below. If partswitch is set to true then end is returned when a
selected part of an expression doesn’t exist, otherwise an error message is given.
(%i1) expr: 27*y^3 + 54*x*y^2 + 36*x^2*y + y + 8*x^3 + x + 1;
3 2 2 3
(%o1) 27 y + 54 x y + 36 x y + y + 8 x + x + 1
(%i2) part (expr, 2, [1, 3]);
2
(%o2) 54 y
(%i3) sqrt (piece/54);
(%o3) abs(y)
(%i4) substpart (factor (piece), expr, [1, 2, 3, 5]);
3
(%o4) (3 y + 2 x) + y + x + 1
(%i5) expr: 1/x + y/x - 1/z;
1 y 1
(%o5) - - + - + -
z x x
(%i6) substpart (xthru (piece), expr, [2, 3]);
y + 1 1
(%o6) ----- - -
x z
Also, setting the option inflag to true and calling part or substpart is the same
as calling inpart or substinpart.
substpart (x, expr, n 1, ..., n k) Function

Substitutes x for the subexpression picked out by the rest of the arguments as in
part. It returns the new value of expr. x may be some operator to be substituted
for an operator of expr. In some cases x needs to be enclosed in double-quotes " (e.g.
substpart ("+", a*b, 0) yields b + a).
(%i1) 1/(x^2 + 2);
1
(%o1) ------
2
x + 2
(%i2) substpart (3/2, %, 2, 1, 2);
1
(%o2) --------
3/2
x + 2
(%i3) a*x + f (b, y);
(%o3) a x + f(b, y)
(%i4) substpart ("+", %, 1, 0);
(%o4) x + f(b, y) + a
Also, setting the option inflag to true and calling part or substpart is the same
as calling inpart or substinpart.
subvarp (expr) Function

Returns true if expr is a subscripted variable, for example a[i].
symbolp (expr) Function

Returns true if expr is a symbol, else false. In effect, symbolp(x) is equivalent to
the predicate atom(x) and not numberp(x).
unorder () Function
Disables the aliasing created by the last use of the ordering commands ordergreat
and orderless. ordergreat and orderless may not be used more than one time
each without calling unorder. See also ordergreat and orderless.
(%i1) unorder();
(%o1) []
(%i2) b*x + a^2;
2
(%o2) b x + a
(%i3) ordergreat (a);
34 Maxima Manual
(%o3) done
(%i4) b*x + a^2;
2
(%o4) a + b x
(%i5) %th(1) - %th(3);
2 2
(%o5) a - a
(%i6) unorder();
(%o6) [a]
vectorpotential (givencurl) Function

Returns the vector potential of a given curl vector, in the current coordinate system.
potentialzeroloc has a similar role as for potential, but the order of the left-hand
sides of the equations must be a cyclic permutation of the coordinate variables.
xthru (expr) Function

Combines all terms of expr (which should be a sum) over a common denominator
without expanding products and exponentiated sums as ratsimp does. xthru cancels
common factors in the numerator and denominator of rational expressions but only
if the factors are explicit.
Sometimes it is better to use xthru before ratsimping an expression in order to
cause explicit factors of the gcd of the numerator and denominator to be canceled
thus simplifying the expression to be ratsimped.
(%i1) ((x+2)^20 - 2*y)/(x+y)^20 + (x+y)^(-19) - x/(x+y)^20;
20
1 (x + 2) - 2 y x
(%o1) --------- + --------------- - ---------
19 20 20
(y + x) (y + x) (y + x)
(%i2) xthru (%);
20
(x + 2) - y
(%o2) -------------
20
(y + x)
zeroequiv (expr, v) Function

Tests whether the expression expr in the variable v is equivalent to zero, returning
true, false, or dontknow.
zeroequiv has these restrictions:
1. Do not use functions that Maxima does not know how to differentiate and eval-
uate.
2. If the expression has poles on the real line, there may be errors in the result (but
this is unlikely to occur).
3. If the expression contains functions which are not solutions to first order differ-
ential equations (e.g. Bessel functions) there may be incorrect results.
4. The algorithm uses evaluation at randomly chosen points for carefully selected
subexpressions. This is always a somewhat hazardous business, although the
algorithm tries to minimize the potential for error.
For example zeroequiv (sin(2*x) - 2*sin(x)*cos(x), x) returns true and
zeroequiv (%e^x + x, x) returns false. On the other hand zeroequiv (log(a*b)
- log(a) - log(b), a) returns dontknow because of the presence of an extra
parameter b.
36 Maxima Manual
Chapter 6: Expressions 37
6 Expressions
6.1 Introduction to Expressions

There are a number of reserved words which cannot be used as variable names. Their
use would cause a possibly cryptic syntax error.
integrate next from diff
in at limit sum
for and elseif then
else do or if
unless product while thru
step
Most things in Maxima are expressions. A sequence of expressions can be made into an
expression by separating them by commas and putting parentheses around them. This is
similar to the C comma expression.
(%i1) x: 3$
(%i2) (x: x+1, x: x^2);
(%o2) 16
(%i3) (if (x > 17) then 2 else 4);
(%o3) 4
(%i4) (if (x > 17) then x: 2 else y: 4, y+x);
(%o4) 20
Even loops in Maxima are expressions, although the value they return is the not too
useful done.
(%i1) y: (x: 1, for i from 1 thru 10 do (x: x*i))$
(%i2) y;
(%o2) done
whereas what you really want is probably to include a third term in the comma expression
which actually gives back the value.
(%i3) y: (x: 1, for i from 1 thru 10 do (x: x*i), x)$
(%i4) y;
(%o4) 3628800
6.2 Assignment
There are two assignment operators in Maxima, : and ::. E.g., a: 3 sets the variable a
to 3. :: assigns the value of the expression on its right to the value of the quantity on its
left, which must evaluate to an atomic variable or subscripted variable.
6.3 Complex
A complex expression is specified in Maxima by adding the real part of the expression
to %i times the imaginary part. Thus the roots of the equation x^2 - 4*x + 13 = 0 are 2
+ 3*%I and 2 - 3*%i. Note that simplification of products of complex expressions can be
effected by expanding the product. Simplification of quotients, roots, and other functions
38 Maxima Manual
of complex expressions can usually be accomplished by using the realpart, imagpart,

rectform, polarform, abs, carg functions.
6.4 Inequality
Maxima has the usual inequality operators:
less than: <
greater than: >
greater than or equal to: >=
less than or equal to: <=
6.5 Syntax
It is possible to add new operators to Maxima (infix, prefix, postfix, unary, or matchfix
with given precedences), to remove existing operators, or to redefine the precedence of exist-
ing operators. While Maxima’s syntax should be adequate for most ordinary applications,
it is possible to define new operators or eliminate predefined ones that get in the user’s
way. The extension mechanism is rather straightforward and should be evident from the
examples below.
(%i1) prefix ("ddx")$
(%i2) ddx y$ /* equivalent to "ddx"(y) */
(%i3) infix ("<-")$
(%i4) a <- ddx y$ /* equivalent to "<-"(a, "ddx"(y)) */
For each of the types of operator except special, there is a corresponding creation
function that will give the lexeme specified the corresponding parsing properties. Thus
prefix ("ddx") will make ddx a prefix operator just like - or not. Of course, certain
extension functions require additional information such as the matching keyword for a
matchfix operator. In addition, binding powers and parts of speech must be specified for all
keywords defined. This is done by passing additional arguments to the extension functions.
If a user does not specify these additional parameters, Maxima will assign default values.
The six extension functions with binding powers and parts of speech defaults (enclosed in
brackets) are summarized below.
prefix (operator, rbp[180], rpos[any], pos[any])
postfix (operator, lbp[180], lpos[any], pos[any])
infix (operator, lbp[180], rbp[180], lpos[any], rpos[any], pos[any])
nary (operator, bp[180], argpos[any], pos[any])
nofix (operator, pos[any])
matchfix (operator, match, argpos[any], pos[any])
The defaults have been provided so that a user who does not wish to concern himself
with parts of speech or binding powers may simply omit those arguments to the extension
functions. Thus the following are all equivalent.
prefix ("ddx", 180, any, any)$
prefix ("ddx", 180)$
prefix ("ddx")$
It is also possible to remove the syntax properties of an operator by using the functions
remove or kill. Specifically, remove ("ddx", op) or kill ("ddx") will return ddx to
operand status; but in the second case all the other properties of ddx will also be removed.
(%i1) prefix ("ddx", 180, any, any)$

(%i2) ddx yz;
(%o2) yz + 4
(%i3) "ddx"(u) := u+4;
(%o3) ddx u := u + 4
(%i4) ddx 8;
(%o4) 12
6.6 Definitions for Expressions
at (expr, list) Function

Evaluates expr (which may be any expression) with the variables assuming the values
as specified for them in the list of equations or the single equation similar to that
given to the atvalue function. If a subexpression depends on any of the variables in
list but it hasn’t had an atvalue specified and it can’t be evaluated then a noun form
of the at will be returned which will display in a two-dimensional form. example
("at") displays some examples of at.
box (expr) Function

box (expr, label) Function
Returns expr enclosed in a box. The box is actually part of the expression. box
(expr, label) encloses expr in a labelled box. label is a name which will be truncated
in display if it is too long.
boxchar is the character used to draw the box in this and in the dpart and lpart
functions.
boxchar Variable
Default value: "
boxchar is the character used to draw the box in the box and in the dpart and lpart
functions.
carg (z) Function

Returns the complex argument of z. The complex argument is an angle theta in
[-%pi, %pi] such that r exp (theta %i) = z where r is the magnitude of z.
See also abs (complex magnitude), polarform, rectform, realpart, and imagpart.
constant special operator

Makes ai a constant as is %pi.
constantp (expr) Function

Returns true if expr is a constant (i.e. composed of numbers and %pi, %e, %i or
any variables bound to a constant or declared constant by declare) else false. Any
function whose arguments are constant is also considered to be a constant.
40 Maxima Manual
declare (a 1, f 1, a 2, f 2, ...) Function

Assigns the atom a i the flag f i. The a i’s and f i’s may also be lists of atoms and
flags respectively in which case each of the atoms gets all of the properties.
The possible flags and their meanings are:
constant makes a i a constant as is %pi.
mainvar makes a i a mainvar. The ordering scale for atoms: numbers < constants
(e.g. %e, %pi) < scalars < other variables < mainvars.
scalar makes a i a scalar.
nonscalar makes a i behave as does a list or matrix with respect to the dot operator.
noun makes the function a i a noun so that it won’t be evaluated automatically.
evfun makes a i known to the ev function so that it will get applied if its name is
mentioned. See evfun.
evflag makes a i known to the ev function so that it will be bound to true during
the execution of ev if it is mentioned. See evflag.
bindtest causes a i to signal an error if it ever is used in a computation unbound.
Maxima currently recognizes and uses the following features of objects:
even, odd, integer, rational, irrational, real, imaginary,
and complex
The useful features of functions include:
increasing,
decreasing, oddfun (odd function), evenfun (even function),
commutative (or symmetric), antisymmetric, lassociative and
rassociative
The a i and f i may also be lists of objects or features. featurep (object, feature)
determines if an object has been declared to have feature. See also features.
disolate (expr, x 1, ..., x n) Function

is similar to isolate (expr, x) except that it enables the user to isolate more than
one variable simultaneously. This might be useful, for example, if one were at-
tempting to change variables in a multiple integration, and that variable change
involved two or more of the integration variables. This function is autoloaded from
‘simplification/disol.mac’. A demo is available by demo("disol")$.
dispform (expr) Function

Returns the external representation of expr with respect to its main operator. This
should be useful in conjunction with part which also deals with the external repre-
sentation. Suppose expr is -A . Then the internal representation of expr is "*"(-1,A),
while the external representation is "-"(A). dispform (expr, all) converts the en-
tire expression (not just the top-level) to external format. For example, if expr: sin
(sqrt (x)), then freeof (sqrt, expr) and freeof (sqrt, dispform (expr)) give
true, while freeof (sqrt, dispform (expr, all)) gives false.
distrib (expr) Function

Distributes sums over products. It differs from expand in that it works at only the
top level of an expression, i.e., it doesn’t recurse and it is faster than expand. It
differs from multthru in that it expands all sums at that level.
Examples:
(%i1) distrib ((a+b) * (c+d));
(%o1) b d + a d + b c + a c
(%i2) multthru ((a+b) * (c+d));
(%o2) (b + a) d + (b + a) c
(%i3) distrib (1/((a+b) * (c+d)));
1
(%o3) ---------------
(b + a) (d + c)
(%i4) expand (1/((a+b) * (c+d)), 1, 0);
1
(%o4) ---------------------
b d + a d + b c + a c
dpart (expr, n 1, ..., n k) Function

Selects the same subexpression as part, but instead of just returning that subex-
pression as its value, it returns the whole expression with the selected subexpression
displayed inside a box. The box is actually part of the expression.
(%i1) dpart (x+y/z^2, 1, 2, 1);
y
(%o1) ---- + x
2
"""
"z"
"""
exp (x) Function

The exponential function. Instances of exp (x) in input are simplified to %e^x; exp
does not appear in simplified expressions.
demoivre if true will cause %e^(a + b %i) to become %e^(a (cos(b) + %i sin(b)))
if b is free of %i. See demoivre.
%emode, when true, causes %e^(%pi %i x) to be simplified. See %emode.
%enumer, when true will cause %e to be replaced by 2.718... whenever numer is true.
See %enumer.
%emode Variable
Default value: true
When %emode is true, %e^(%pi %i x) is simplified as follows: it is expressed as cos
(%pi x) + %i sin (%pi x) if x is an integer or a multiple of 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, or 1/6,
and thus further simplified. For other numerical x, it is expressed as %e^(%pi %i y)
where y is x - 2 k for some integer k such that abs(y) < 1.
When %emode is false, no special simplification of %e^(%pi %i x) is carried out.
42 Maxima Manual
%enumer Variable
When %enumer is true, %e is replaced by its numeric value 2.718... whenever numer
is true.
When %enumer is false, this substitution is carried out only if the exponent in %e^x
evaluates to a number.
See also ev and numer.
exptisolate Variable
When exptisolate is true, will cause isolate (expr, var) to examine exponents
of atoms (like %e) which contain var.
exptsubst Variable
When exptsubst is true, permits substitutions such as y for %e^x in %e^(a x) to
take place.
freeof (x 1, ..., x n, expr) Function

freeof (x 1, expr) returns true if no subexpression of expr is equal to x 1 or if x 1
occurs only as a dummy variable in expr, and returns false otherwise.
freeof (x 1, ..., x n, expr) is equivalent to freeof (x 1, expr) and ... and
freeof (x n, expr).
The arguments x 1, ..., x n may be names of functions and variables, subscripted
names, operators (enclosed in double quotes), or general expressions. freeof evalu-
ates its arguments.
freeof operates only on expr as it stands (after simplification and evaluation) and
does not attempt to determine if some equivalent expression would give a different
result. In particular, simplification may yield an equivalent but different expression
which comprises some different elements than the original form of expr.
A variable is a dummy variable in an expression if it has no binding outside of the
expression. Dummy variables recognized by freeof are the index of a sum or product,
the limit variable in limit, the integration variable in the definite integral form of
integrate, the original variable in laplace, formal variables in at expressions, and
arguments in lambda expressions. Local variables in block are not recognized by
freeof as dummy variables; this is a bug.
The indefinite form of integrate is not free of its variable of integration.
• Arguments are names of functions, variables, subscripted names, operators,
and expressions. freeof (a, b, expr) is equivalent to freeof (a, expr) and
freeof (b, expr).
(%i1) expr: z^3 * cos (a[1]) * b^(c+d);
d + c 3
(%o1) cos(a ) b z
1
(%i2) freeof (z, expr);

(%o2) false
(%i3) freeof (cos, expr);
(%o3) false
(%i4) freeof (a[1], expr);
(%o4) false
(%i5) freeof (cos (a[1]), expr);
(%o5) false
(%i6) freeof (b^(c+d), expr);
(%o6) false
(%i7) freeof ("^", expr);
(%o7) false
(%i8) freeof (w, sin, a[2], sin (a[2]), b*(c+d), expr);
(%o8) true
• freeof evaluates its arguments.
(%i1) expr: (a+b)^5$
(%i2) c: a$
(%i3) freeof (c, expr);
(%o3) false
• freeof does not consider equivalent expressions. Simplification may yield an
equivalent but different expression.
(%i1) expr: (a+b)^5$
(%i2) expand (expr);
5 4 2 3 3 2 4 5
(%o2) b + 5 a b + 10 a b + 10 a b + 5 a b + a
(%i3) freeof (a+b, %);
(%o3) true
(%i4) freeof (a+b, expr);
(%o4) false
(%i5) exp (x);
x
(%o5) %e
(%i6) freeof (exp, exp (x));
(%o6) true
• A summation or definite integral is free of its dummy variable. An indefinite
integral is not free of its variable of integration.
(%i1) freeof (i, ’sum (f(i), i, 0, n));
(%o1) true
(%i2) freeof (x, ’integrate (x^2, x, 0, 1));
(%o2) true
(%i3) freeof (x, ’integrate (x^2, x));
(%o3) false
genfact (x, y, z) Function

Returns the generalized factorial, defined as x (x-z) (x - 2 z) ... (x - (y - 1) z).
Thus, for integral x, genfact (x, x, 1) = x! and genfact (x, x/2, 2) = x!!.
44 Maxima Manual
imagpart (expr) Function

Returns the imaginary part of the expression expr.
indices (expr) Function

Returns a list of two elements. The first is a list of the free indices in expr (those that
occur only once); the second is the list of dummy indices in expr (those that occur
exactly twice).
infix (op) Function

infix (op, lbp, rbp) Function
infix (op, lbp, rbp, lpos, rpos, pos) Function
Declares op to be an infix operator. An infix operator is a function of two arguments,
with the name of the function written between the arguments. For example, the
subtraction operator - is an infix operator.
infix (op) declares op to be an infix operator with default binding powers (left and
right both equal to 180) and parts of speech (left and right both equal to any).
infix (op, lbp, rbp) declares op to be an infix operator with stated left and right
binding powers and default parts of speech (left and right both equal to any).
infix (op, lbp, rbp, lpos, rpos, pos) declares op to be an infix operator with
stated left and right binding powers and parts of speech.
The precedence of op with respect to other operators derives from the left and right
binding powers of the operators in question. If the left and right binding powers of
op are both greater the left and right binding powers of some other operator, then op
takes precedence over the other operator. If the binding powers are not both greater
or less, some more complicated relation holds.
The associativity of op depends on its binding powers. Greater left binding power
(lbp) implies an instance of op is evaluated before other operators to its left in an
expression, while greater right binding power (rbp) implies an instance of op is eval-
uated before other operators to its right in an expression. Thus greater lbp makes op
right-associative, while greater rbp makes op left-associative. If lbp is equal to rbp,
op is left-associative.
See also Syntax.
Examples:
• If the left and right binding powers of op are both greater the left and right
binding powers of some other operator, then op takes precedence over the other
operator.
(%i1) "@"(a, b) := sconcat("(", a, ",", b, ")")$
(%i2) :lisp (get ’$+ ’lbp)
100
(%i2) :lisp (get ’$+ ’rbp)
100
(%i2) infix ("@", 101, 101)$
(%i3) 1 + a@b + 2;
(%o3) (a,b) + 3
(%i4) infix ("@", 99, 99)$
(%i5) 1 + a@b + 2;
(%o5) (a+1,b+2)
• Greater lbp makes op right-associative, while greater rbp makes op
left-associative.
(%i1) "@"(a, b) := sconcat("(", a, ",", b, ")")$
(%i2) infix ("@", 100, 99)$
(%i3) foo @ bar @ baz;
(%o3) (foo,(bar,baz))
(%i4) infix ("@", 100, 101)$
(%i5) foo @ bar @ baz;
(%o5) ((foo,bar),baz)
inflag Variable
When inflag is true, the functions for part extraction will look at the internal
form of expr. Note that the simplifier re-orders expressions. Thus first (x+y) will
be x if inflag is true and Y if inflag is false. (first (y+x) gives the same
results). Also, setting inflag to true and calling part/substpart is the same as
calling inpart/substinpart. Functions affected by the setting of inflag are: part,
substpart, first, rest, last, length, the for ... in construct, map, fullmap,
maplist, reveal and pickapart.
inpart (expr, n 1, ..., n k) Function

is similar to part but works on the internal representation of the expression rather
than the displayed form and thus may be faster since no formatting is done. Care
should be taken with respect to the order of subexpressions in sums and products
(since the order of variables in the internal form is often different from that in the
displayed form) and in dealing with unary minus, subtraction, and division (since
these operators are removed from the expression). part (x+y, 0) or inpart (x+y,
0) yield +, though in order to refer to the operator it must be enclosed in "s. For
example ... if inpart (%o9,0) = "+" then ....
Examples:
(%i1) x + y + w*z;
(%o1) w z + y + x
(%i2) inpart (%, 3, 2);
(%o2) z
(%i3) part (%th (2), 1, 2);
(%o3) z
(%i4) ’limit (f(x)^g(x+1), x, 0, minus);
g(x + 1)
(%o4) limit f(x)
x -> 0-
(%i5) inpart (%, 1, 2);
(%o5) g(x + 1)
46 Maxima Manual
isolate (expr, x) Function

Returns expr with subexpressions which are sums and which do not contain var
replaced by intermediate expression labels (these being atomic symbols like %t1, %t2,
...). This is often useful to avoid unnecessary expansion of subexpressions which
don’t contain the variable of interest. Since the intermediate labels are bound to the
subexpressions they can all be substituted back by evaluating the expression in which
they occur.
exptisolate (default value: false) if true will cause isolate to examine exponents
of atoms (like %e) which contain var.
isolate_wrt_times if true, then isolate will also isolate wrt products. See
isolate_wrt_times.
Do example (isolate) for examples.
isolate wrt times Variable

When isolate_wrt_times is true, isolate will also isolate wrt products. E.g.
compare both settings of the switch on
(%i1) isolate_wrt_times: true$
(%i2) isolate (expand ((a+b+c)^2), c);
(%t2) 2 a
(%t3) 2 b
2 2
(%t4) b + 2 a b + a
2
(%o4) c + %t3 c + %t2 c + %t4
(%i4) isolate_wrt_times: false$
(%i5) isolate (expand ((a+b+c)^2), c);
2
(%o5) c + 2 b c + 2 a c + %t4
listconstvars Variable
When listconstvars is true, it will cause listofvars to include %e, %pi, %i, and
any variables declared constant in the list it returns if they appear in the expression
listofvars is called on. The default is to omit these.
listdummyvars Variable
Default value: true
When listdummyvars is false, "dummy variables" in the expression will not be
included in the list returned by listofvars. (The meaning of "dummy variables" is
as given in freeof. "Dummy variables" are mathematical things like the index of a
sum or product, the limit variable, and the definite integration variable.) Example:
(%i1) listdummyvars: true$
(%i2) listofvars (’sum(f(i), i, 0, n));
(%o2) [i, n]
(%i3) listdummyvars: false$
(%i4) listofvars (’sum(f(i), i, 0, n));
(%o4) [n]
listofvars (expr) Function

Returns a list of the variables in expr.
listconstvars if true causes listofvars to include %e, %pi, %i, and any variables
declared constant in the list it returns if they appear in expr. The default is to omit
these.
(%i1) listofvars (f (x[1]+y) / g^(2+a));
(%o1) [g, a, x , y]
1
lfreeof (list, expr) Function

For each member m of list, calls freeof (m, expr). It returns false if any call to
freeof does and true otherwise.
lopow (expr, x) Function

Returns the lowest exponent of x which explicitly appears in expr. Thus
(%i1) lopow ((x+y)^2 + (x+y)â, x+y);
(%o1) min(a, 2)
lpart (label, expr, n 1, ..., n k) Function

is similar to dpart but uses a labelled box. A labelled box is similar to the one
produced by dpart but it has a name in the top line.
multthru (expr) Function

multthru (expr 1, expr 2) Function
Multiplies a factor (which should be a sum) of expr by the other factors of expr. That
is, expr is f 1 f 2 ... f n where at least one factor, say f i, is a sum of terms. Each
term in that sum is multiplied by the other factors in the product. (Namely all the
factors except f i). multthru does not expand exponentiated sums. This function is
the fastest way to distribute products (commutative or noncommutative) over sums.
Since quotients are represented as products multthru can be used to divide sums by
products as well.
multthru (expr 1, expr 2) multiplies each term in expr 2 (which should be a sum
or an equation) by expr 1. If expr 1 is not itself a sum then this form is equivalent
to multthru (expr 1*expr 2).
(%i1) x/(x-y)^2 - 1/(x-y) - f(x)/(x-y)^3;
1 x f(x)
(%o1) - ----- + -------- - --------
48 Maxima Manual
x - y 2 3
(x - y) (x - y)
(%i2) multthru ((x-y)^3, %);
2
(%o2) - (x - y) + x (x - y) - f(x)
(%i3) ratexpand (%);
2
(%o3) - y + x y - f(x)
(%i4) ((a+b)^10*s^2 + 2*a*b*s + (a*b)^2)/(a*b*s^2);
10 2 2 2
(b + a) s + 2 a b s + a b
(%o4) ------------------------------
2
a b s
(%i5) multthru (%); /* note that this does not expand (b+a)^10 */
10
2 a b (b + a)
(%o5) - + --- + ---------
s 2 a b
s
(%i6) multthru (a.(b+c.(d+e)+f));
(%o6) a . f + a . c . (e + d) + a . b
(%i7) expand (a.(b+c.(d+e)+f));
(%o7) a . f + a . c . e + a . c . d + a . b
nounify (f ) Function
Returns the noun form of the function name f. This is needed if one wishes to refer
to the name of a verb function as if it were a noun. Note that some verb functions
will return their noun forms if they can’t be evaluated for certain arguments. This is
also the form returned if a function call is preceded by a quote.
nterms (expr) Function

Returns the number of terms that expr would have if it were fully expanded out
and no cancellations or combination of terms occurred. Note that expressions like
sin (expr), sqrt (expr), exp (expr), etc. count as just one term regardless of how
many terms expr has (if it is a sum).
op (expr) Function
Returns the operator of the expression, and functions the same way as part (expr,
0). It observes the setting of the inpart flag.
operatorp (expr, op) Function

operatorp (expr, [op 1, ..., op n]) Function
operatorp (expr, op) returns true if op is equal to the operator of expr.
operatorp (expr, [op 1, ..., op n]) returns true if some element op 1, ..., op n
is equal to the operator of expr.
optimize (expr) Function

Returns an expression that produces the same value and side effects as expr but
does so more efficiently by avoiding the recomputation of common subexpressions.
optimize also has the side effect of "collapsing" its argument so that all common
subexpressions are shared. Do example (optimize) for examples.
optimprefix Variable
Default value: %
optimprefix is the prefix used for generated symbols by the optimize command.
ordergreat (v 1, ..., v n) Function

Sets up aliases for the variables v 1, ..., v n such that v 1 > v 2 > ... > v n, and v n
> any other variable not mentioned as an argument.
See also orderless.
ordergreatp (expr 1, expr 2) Function

Returns true if expr 2 precedes expr 1 in the ordering set up with the ordergreat
function.
orderless (v 1, ..., v n) Function

Sets up aliases for the variables v 1, ..., v n such that v 1 < v 2 < ... < v n, and v n
< any other variable not mentioned as an argument.
Thus the complete ordering scale is: numerical constants < declared constants <
declared scalars < first argument to orderless < ... < last argument to orderless <
variables which begin with A < ... < variables which begin with Z < last argument to
ordergreat < ... < first argument to ordergreat < declared mainvars.
See also ordergreat and mainvar.
orderlessp (expr 1, expr 2) Function

Returns true if expr 1 precedes expr 2 in the ordering set up by the orderless
command.
part (expr, n 1, ..., n k) Function

Returns parts of the displayed form of expr. It obtains the part of expr as specified
by the indices n 1, ..., n k. First part n 1 of expr is obtained, then part n 2 of that,
etc. The result is part n k of ... part n 2 of part n 1 of expr.
part can be used to obtain an element of a list, a row of a matrix, etc.
If the last argument to a part function is a list of indices then several subexpressions
are picked out, each one corresponding to an index of the list. Thus part (x + y +
z, [1, 3]) is z+x.
piece holds the last expression selected when using the part functions. It is set
during the execution of the function and thus may be referred to in the function itself
as shown below.
If partswitch is set to true then end is returned when a selected part of an expression
doesn’t exist, otherwise an error message is given.
50 Maxima Manual
Example: part (z+2*y, 2, 1) yields 2.

example (part) displays additional examples.
partition (expr, x) Function

Returns a list of two expressions. They are (1) the factors of expr (if it is a product),
the terms of expr (if it is a sum), or the list (if it is a list) which don’t contain var
and, (2) the factors, terms, or list which do.
(%i1) partition (2*a*x*f(x), x);
(%o1) [2 a, x f(x)]
(%i2) partition (a+b, x);
(%o2) [b + a, 0]
(%i3) partition ([a, b, f(a), c], a);
(%o3) [[b, c], [a, f(a)]]
partswitch Variable
When partswitch is true, end is returned when a selected part of an expression
doesn’t exist, otherwise an error message is given.
pickapart (expr, n) Function

Assigns intermediate expression labels to subexpressions of expr at depth n, an in-
teger. Subexpressions at greater or lesser depths are not assigned labels. pickapart
returns an expression in terms of intermediate expressions equivalent to the original
expression expr.
See also part, dpart, lpart, inpart, and reveal.
Examples:
(%i1) expr: (a+b)/2 + sin (x^2)/3 - log (1 + sqrt(x+1));
2
sin(x ) b + a
(%o1) - log(sqrt(x + 1) + 1) + ------- + -----
3 2
(%i2) pickapart (expr, 0);
2
sin(x ) b + a
(%t2) - log(sqrt(x + 1) + 1) + ------- + -----
3 2
(%o2) %t2
(%t3) - log(sqrt(x + 1) + 1)
2
sin(x )
(%t4) -------
b + a
(%t5) -----
2
(%o5) %t5 + %t4 + %t3

(%t6) log(sqrt(x + 1) + 1)
2
(%t7) sin(x )
(%t8) b + a
%t8 %t7
(%o8) --- + --- - %t6
2 3
(%t9) sqrt(x + 1) + 1
2
(%t10) x
b + a sin(%t10)
(%o10) ----- - log(%t9) + ---------
2 3
(%t11) sqrt(x + 1)
2
sin(x ) b + a
(%o11) ------- + ----- - log(%t11 + 1)
3 2
(%t12) x + 1
2
sin(x ) b + a
(%o12) ------- + ----- - log(sqrt(%t12) + 1)
3 2
52 Maxima Manual

2
sin(x ) b + a
(%o12) ------- + ----- - log(sqrt(x + 1) + 1)
3 2
piece Variable
Holds the last expression selected when using the part functions. It is set during the
execution of the function and thus may be referred to in the function itself.
polarform (expr) Function

Returns an expression r %e^(%i theta) equivalent to expr, such that r and theta
are purely real.
powers (expr, x) Function

Gives the powers of x occuring in expr.
load (powers) loads this function.
product (expr, i, i 0, i 1) Function

Returns the product of the values of expr as the index i varies from i 0 to i 1. The
evaluation is similar to that of sum.
If i 1 is one less than i 0, the product is an "empty product" and product returns 1
rather than reporting an error. See also prodhack.
Maxima does not simplify products.
Example:
(%i1) product (x + i*(i+1)/2, i, 1, 4);
(%o1) (x + 1) (x + 3) (x + 6) (x + 10)
realpart (expr) Function

Returns the real part of expr. realpart and imagpart will work on expressions
involving trigonometic and hyperbolic functions, as well as square root, logarithm,
and exponentiation.
rectform (expr) Function

Returns an expression a + b %i equivalent to expr, such that a and b are purely real.
rembox (expr, unlabelled) Function

rembox (expr, label) Function
rembox (expr) Function
Removes boxes from expr.
rembox (expr, unlabelled) removes all unlabelled boxes from expr.
rembox (expr, label) removes only boxes bearing label.
rembox (expr) removes all boxes, labelled and unlabelled.
sum (expr, i, i 0, i 1) Function

Represents a summation of the values of expr as the index i varies from i 0 to i 1. If
the upper and lower limits differ by an integer then each term in the sum is evaluated
and added together. Otherwise, if the simpsum is true the result is simplified. This
simplification may sometimes be able to produce a closed form. Sums may be differ-
entiated, added, subtracted, or multiplied with some automatic simplification being
performed.
If simpsum is false or if ’sum is used, the value is a sum noun form which is a
representation of the sigma notation used in mathematics.
If i 1 is one less than i 0, the sum is an "empty sum" and sum returns 0 rather than
reporting an error. See also sumhack.
cauchysum when true causes the Cauchy product to be used when multiplying sums
together rather than the usual product. In the Cauchy product the index of the
inner summation is a function of the index of the outer one rather than varying
independently.
genindex is the alphabetic prefix used to generate the next variable of summation.
gensumnum is the numeric suffix used to generate the next variable of summation. If
it is set to false then the index will consist only of genindex with no numeric suffix.
See also sumcontract, intosum, bashindices, and niceindices.
example (sum) displays some examples.
lsum (expr, i, list) Function

Represents the sum of expr for each element i in list.
(%i1) lsum (xî, i, [1, 2, 7]);
7 2
(%o1) x + x + x
If the last element list argument does not evaluate, or does not evaluate to a Maxima
list then the answer is left in noun form
(%i2) lsum (i^2, i, rootsof (x^3-1));
====
\ 2
(%o2) > i
/
====
3
i in rootsof(x - 1)
verb special symbol

verb is the opposite of "noun", i.e., a function form which "does something" ("action"
- for most functions the usual case). E.g. integrate integrates a function, unless it
is declared to be a "noun", in which case it represents the integral of the function.
See also noun, nounify, verbify.
verbify (f ) Function
Returns the function name f in its verb form.
See also verb, noun, and nounify.
54 Maxima Manual
Chapter 7: Simplification 55
7 Simplification
7.1 Definitions for Simplification
askexp Variable
When asksign is called, askexp is the expression asksign is testing.
At one time, it was possible for a user to inspect askexp by entering a Maxima break
with control-A.
askinteger (expr, integer) Function

askinteger (expr) Function
askinteger (expr, even) Function
askinteger (expr, odd) Function
askinteger (expr, integer) attempts to determine from the assume database
whether expr is an integer. askinteger prompts the user if it cannot tell otherwise,
and attempt to install the information in the database if possible. askinteger
(expr) is equivalent to askinteger (expr, integer).
askinteger (expr, even) and askinteger (expr, odd) likewise attempt to deter-
mine if expr is an even integer or odd integer, respectively.
asksign (expr) Function

First attempts to determine whether the specified expression is positive, negative, or
zero. If it cannot, it asks the user the necessary questions to complete its deduc-
tion. The user’s answer is recorded in the data base for the duration of the current
computation. The return value of asksign is one of pos, neg, or zero.
demoivre (expr) Function

demoivre Variable
The function demoivre (expr) converts one expression without setting the global
variable demoivre.
When the variable demoivre is true, complex exponentials are converted into equiv-
alent expressions in terms of circular functions: exp (a + b*%i) simplifies to %eâ *
(cos(b) + %i*sin(b)) if b is free of %i. a and b are not expanded.
The default value of demoivre is false.
exponentialize converts circular and hyperbolic functions to exponential form.
demoivre and exponentialize cannot both be true at the same time.
domain Variable
Default value: real
When domain is set to complex, sqrt (x^2) will remain sqrt (x^2) instead of re-
turning abs(x).
56 Maxima Manual
expand (expr) Function

expand (expr, p, n) Function
Expand expression expr. Products of sums and exponentiated sums are multiplied
out, numerators of rational expressions which are sums are split into their respective
terms, and multiplication (commutative and non-commutative) are distributed over
addition at all levels of expr.
For polynomials one should usually use ratexpand which uses a more efficient algo-
rithm.
maxnegex and maxposex control the maximum negative and positive exponents, re-
spectively, which will expand.
expand (expr, p, n) expands expr, using p for maxposex and n for maxnegex. This
is useful in order to expand part but not all of an expression.
expon - the exponent of the largest negative power which is automatically expanded
(independent of calls to expand). For example if expon is 4 then (x+1)^(-5) will not
be automatically expanded.
expop - the highest positive exponent which is automatically expanded. Thus
(x+1)^3, when typed, will be automatically expanded only if expop is greater than
or equal to 3. If it is desired to have (x+1)^n expanded where n is greater than
expop then executing expand ((x+1)^n) will work only if maxposex is not less than
n.
The expand flag used with ev causes expansion.
The file ‘simplification/facexp.mac’ contains several related functions (in
particular facsum, factorfacsum and collectterms, which are autoloaded) and
variables (nextlayerfactor and facsum_combine) that provide the user with the
ability to structure expressions by controlled expansion. Brief function descriptions
are available in ‘simplification/facexp.usg’. A demo is available by doing
demo("facexp").
expandwrt (expr, x 1, ..., x n) Function

Expands expression expr with respect to the variables x 1, ..., x n. All products
involving the variables appear explicitly. The form returned will be free of products
of sums of expressions that are not free of the variables. x 1, ..., x n may be variables,
operators, or expressions.
By default, denominators are not expanded, but this can be controlled by means of
the switch expandwrt_denom.
This function is autoloaded from ‘simplification/stopex.mac’.
expandwrt denom Variable

expandwrt_denom controls the treatment of rational expressions by expandwrt. If
true, then both the numerator and denominator of the expression will be expanded
according to the arguments of expandwrt, but if expandwrt_denom is false, then
only the numerator will be expanded in that way.
expandwrt factored (expr, x 1, ..., x n) Function

is similar to expandwrt, but treats expressions that are products somewhat differently.
expandwrt_factored expands only on those factors of expr that contain the variables
x 1, ..., x n.
This function is autoloaded from ‘simplification/stopex.mac’.
expon Variable
Default value: 0
expon is the exponent of the largest negative power which is automatically expanded
(independent of calls to expand). For example, if expon is 4 then (x+1)^(-5) will
not be automatically expanded.
exponentialize (expr) Function

exponentialize Variable
The function exponentialize (expr) converts circular and hyperbolic functions in
expr to exponentials, without setting the global variable exponentialize.
When the variable exponentialize is true, all circular and hyperbolic functions are
converted to exponential form. The default value is false.
demoivre converts complex exponentials into circular functions. exponentialize
and demoivre cannot both be true at the same time.
expop Variable
Default value: 0
expop is the highest positive exponent which is automatically expanded. Thus (x +
1)^3, when typed, will be automatically expanded only if expop is greater than or
equal to 3. If it is desired to have (x + 1)^n expanded where n is greater than expop
then executing expand ((x + 1)^n) will work only if maxposex is not less than n.
factlim Variable
Default value: -1
factlim specifies the highest factorial which is automatically expanded. If it is -1
then all integers are expanded.
intosum (expr) Function

Moves multiplicative factors outside a summation to inside. If the index is used in the
outside expression, then the function tries to find a reasonable index, the same as it
does for sumcontract. This is essentially the reverse idea of the outative property
of summations, but note that it does not remove this property, it only bypasses it.
In some cases, a scanmap (multthru, expr) may be necessary before the intosum.
lassociative declaration
declare (g, lassociative) tells the Maxima simplifier that g is left-associative.
E.g., g (g (a, b), g (c, d)) will simplify to g (g (g (a, b), c), d).
58 Maxima Manual
linear declaration
One of Maxima’s operator properties. For univariate f so declared, "expansion" f(x
+ y) yields f(x) + f(y), f(a*x) yields a*f(x) takes place where a is a "constant".
For functions of two or more arguments, "linearity" is defined to be as in the case of
sum or integrate, i.e., f (a*x + b, x) yields a*f(x,x) + b*f(1,x) for a and b free
of x.
linear is equivalent to additive and outative. See also opproperties.
mainvar declaration
You may declare variables to be mainvar. The ordering scale for atoms is essentially:
numbers < constants (e.g., %e, %pi) < scalars < other variables < mainvars. E.g., com-
pare expand ((X+Y)^4) with (declare (x, mainvar), expand ((x+y)^4)). (Note:
Care should be taken if you elect to use the above feature. E.g., if you subtract an
expression in which x is a mainvar from one in which x isn’t a mainvar, resimplifica-
tion e.g. with ev (expr, simp) may be necessary if cancellation is to occur. Also, if
you save an expression in which x is a mainvar, you probably should also save x.)
maxapplydepth Variable
Default value: 10000
maxapplydepth is the maximum depth to which apply1 and apply2 will delve.
maxapplyheight Variable
maxapplyheight is the maximum height to which applyb1 will reach before giving
up.
maxnegex Variable
Default value: 1000
maxnegex is the largest negative exponent which will be expanded by the expand
command (see also maxposex).
maxposex Variable
Default value: 1000
maxposex is the largest exponent which will be expanded with the expand command
(see also maxnegex).
multiplicative declaration
declare (f, multiplicative) tells the Maxima simplifier that f is multiplicative.
1. If f is univariate, whenever the simplifier encounters f applied to a product, f
distributes over that product. E.g., f(x*y) simplifies to f(x)*f(y).
2. If f is a function of 2 or more arguments, multiplicativity is defined as multiplica-
tivity in the first argument to f, e.g., f (g(x) * h(x), x) simplifies to f (g(x)
,x) * f (h(x), x).
This simplification does not occur when f is applied to expressions of the form product
(x[i], i, m, n).
negdistrib Variable
Default value: true
When negdistrib is true, -1 distributes over an expression. E.g., -(x + y) becomes
- y - x. Setting it to false will allow - (x + y) to be displayed like that. This is
sometimes useful but be very careful: like the simp flag, this is one flag you do not
want to set to false as a matter of course or necessarily for other than local use in
your Maxima.
negsumdispflag Variable
Default value: true
When negsumdispflag is true, x - y displays as x - y instead of as - y + x. Setting
it to false causes the special check in display for the difference of two expressions
to not be done. One application is that thus a + %i*b and a - %i*b may both be
displayed the same way.
noeval special symbol

noeval suppresses the evaluation phase of ev. This is useful in conjunction with other
switches and in causing expressions to be resimplified without being reevaluated.
noun declaration
noun is one of the options of the declare command. It makes a function so declared
a "noun", meaning that it won’t be evaluated automatically.
noundisp Variable
When noundisp is true, nouns display with a single quote. This switch is always
true when displaying function definitions.
nouns special symbol

nouns is an evflag. When used as an option to the ev command, nouns converts all
"noun" forms occurring in the expression being ev’d to "verbs", i.e., evaluates them.
See also noun, nounify, verb, and verbify.
numer special symbol

numer causes some mathematical functions (including exponentiation) with numerical
arguments to be evaluated in floating point. It causes variables in expr which have
been given numervals to be replaced by their values. It also sets the float switch on.
numerval (x 1, expr 1, ..., var n, expr n) Function

Declares the variables x_1, ..., x n to have numeric values equal to expr_1, ..., expr_n.
The numeric value is is evaluated and substituted for the variable in any expressions
in which the variable occurs if the numer flag is true. See also ev.
The expressions expr_1, ..., expr_n can be any expressions, not necessarily numeric.
60 Maxima Manual
opproperties Variable
opproperties is the list of the special operator properties recognized by the Max-
ima simplifier: linear, additive, multiplicative, outative, evenfun, oddfun,
commutative, symmetric, antisymmetric, nary, lassociative, rassociative.
opsubst Variable
Default value: true
When opsubst is false, subst does not attempt to substitute into the operator of
an expression. E.g., (opsubst: false, subst (x^2, r, r+r[0])) will work.
outative declaration
declare (f, outative) tells the Maxima simplifier that constant factors in the ar-
gument of f can be pulled out.
1. If f is univariate, whenever the simplifier encounters f applied to a product, that
product will be partitioned into factors that are constant and factors that are not
and the constant factors will be pulled out. E.g., f(a*x) will simplify to a*f(x)
where a is a constant. Non-atomic constant factors will not be pulled out.
2. If f is a function of 2 or more arguments, outativity is defined as in the case of
sum or integrate, i.e., f (a*g(x), x) will simplify to a * f(g(x), x) for a free
of x.
sum, integrate, and limit are all outative.
posfun declaration
declare (f, posfun) declares f to be a positive function. is (f(x) > 0) yields true.
prodhack Variable
When prodhack is true, the identity product (f(i), i, a, b) = 1/product (f(i),
i, b+1, a-1) is applied if a is greater than b. For example, product (f(i), i, 3,
1) yields 1/f(2).
radcan (expr) Function

Simplifies expr, which can contain logs, exponentials, and radicals, by converting it
into a form which is canonical over a large class of expressions and a given ordering
of variables; that is, all functionally equivalent forms are mapped into a unique form.
For a somewhat larger class of expressions, radcan produces a regular form. Two
equivalent expressions in this class do not necessarily have the same appearance, but
their difference can be simplified by radcan to zero.
For some expressions radcan is quite time consuming. This is the cost of exploring
certain relationships among the components of the expression for simplifications based
on factoring and partial-fraction expansions of exponents.
When %e_to_numlog is true, %e^(r*log(expr)) simplifies to expr^r if r is a rational
number.
When radexpand is false, certain transformations are inhibited. radcan (sqrt (1-
x)) remains sqrt (1-x) and is not simplified to %i sqrt (x-1). radcan (sqrt (x^2
- 2*x + 11)) remains sqrt (x^2 - 2*x + 1) and is not simplified to x - 1.
example (radcan) displays some examples.
radexpand Variable
Default value: true
radexpand controls some simplifications of radicals.
When radexpand is all, causes nth roots of factors of a product which are powers
of n to be pulled outside of the radical. E.g. if radexpand is all, sqrt (16*x^2)
simplifies to 4*x.
More particularly, consider sqrt (x^2).
• If radexpand is all or assume (x > 0) has been executed, sqrt(x^2) simplifies
to x.
• If radexpand is true and domain is real (its default), sqrt(x^2) simplifies to
abs(x).
• If radexpand is false, or radexpand is true and domain is complex, sqrt(x^2)
is not simplified.
Note that domain only matters when radexpand is true.
radsubstflag Variable
radsubstflag, if true, permits ratsubst to make substitutions such as u for sqrt
(x) in x.
rassociative declaration
declare (g, rassociative) tells the Maxima simplifier that g is right-associative.
E.g., g(g(a, b), g(c, d)) simplifies to g(a, g(b, g(c, d))).
scsimp (expr, rule 1, ..., rule n) Function

Sequential Comparative Simplification (method due to Stoute). scsimp attempts
to simplify expr according to the rules rule 1, ..., rule n. If a smaller expression is
obtained, the process repeats. Otherwise after all simplifications are tried, it returns
the original answer.
example (scsimp) displays some examples.
simpsum Variable
When simpsum is true, the result of a sum is simplified. This simplification may
sometimes be able to produce a closed form. If simpsum is false or if the quoted
form ’sum is used, the value is a sum noun form which is a representation of the sigma
notation used in mathematics.
62 Maxima Manual
sumcontract (expr) Function

Combines all sums of an addition that have upper and lower bounds that differ by
constants. The result is an expression containing one summation for each set of such
summations added to all appropriate extra terms that had to be extracted to form
this sum. sumcontract combines all compatible sums and uses one of the indices
from one of the sums if it can, and then try to form a reasonable index if it cannot
use any supplied.
It may be necessary to do an intosum (expr) before the sumcontract.
sumexpand Variable
When sumexpand is true, products of sums and exponentiated sums simplify to nested
sums.
See also cauchysum.
Examples:
(%i1) sumexpand: true$
(%i2) sum (f (i), i, 0, m) * sum (g (j), j, 0, n);
m n
==== ====
\ \
(%o2) > > f(i1) g(i2)
/ /
==== ====
i1 = 0 i2 = 0
(%i3) sum (f (i), i, 0, m)^2;
m m
==== ====
\ \
(%o3) > > f(i3) f(i4)
/ /
==== ====
i3 = 0 i4 = 0
sumhack Variable
When sumhack is true, the identity sum (f(i), i, a, b) = - sum (f(i), i, b+1,
a-1) is applied if a is greater than b. For example, (sumhack: true, sum (f(i), i,
3, 1)) yields -f(2).
sumsplitfact Variable
Default value: true
When sumsplitfact is false, minfactorial is applied after a factcomb.
symmetric declaration
declare (h, symmetric) tells the Maxima simplifier that h is a symmetric function.
E.g., h (x, z, y) simplifies to h (x, y, z).
commutative is synonymous with symmetric.
unknown (expr) Function

Returns true if and only if expr contains an operator or function not recognized by
the Maxima simplifier.
64 Maxima Manual
Chapter 8: Plotting 65
8 Plotting
8.1 Definitions for Plotting
in netmath Variable
When in_netmath is true, plot3d prints OpenMath output to the console if plot_
format is openmath; otherwise in_netmath (even if true) has no effect.
in_netmath has no effect on plot2d.
openplot curves (list, rest options) Function

Takes a list of curves such as
[[x1, y1, x2, y2, ...], [u1, v1, u2, v2, ...], ..]
or
[[[x1, y1], [x2, y2], ...], ...]
and plots them. This is similar to xgraph curves, but uses the open plot routines.
Addtional symbol arguments may be given such as "{xrange -3 4}" The following
plots two curves, using big points, labeling the first one jim and the second one jane.
openplot_curves ([["{plotpoints 1} {pointsize 6} {label jim}
{text {xaxislabel {joe is nice}}}"],
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8],
["{label jane} {color pink }"], [3, 1, 4, 2, 5, 7]]);
Some other special keywords are xfun, color, plotpoints, linecolors, pointsize,
nolines, bargraph, labelposition, xaxislabel, and yaxislabel.
plot2d (expr, range, ..., options, ...) Function

plot2d (parametric expr) Function
plot2d ([expr 1, ..., expr n], x range, y range) Function
plot2d ([expr 1, ..., expr n], x range) Function
plot2d (expr, x range, y range) Function
plot2d (expr, x range) Function
Displays a plot of one or more expressions as a function of one variable.
In all cases, expr is an expression to be plotted on the vertical axis as a function of
one variable. x range, the range of the horizontal axis, is a list of the form [variable,
min, max], where variable is a variable which appears in expr. y range, the range
of the vertical axis, is a list of the form [y, min, max].
plot2d (expr, x range) plots expr as a function of the variable named in x range,
over the range specified in x range. If the vertical range is not otherwise specified
by set_plot_options, it is chosen automatically. All options are assumed to have
default values unless otherwise specified by set_plot_options.
plot2d (expr, x range, y range) plots expr as a function of the variable named in
x range, over the range specified in x range. The vertical range is set to y range. All
66 Maxima Manual
options are assumed to have default values unless otherwise specified by set_plot_
options.
plot2d ([expr 1, ..., expr n], x range) plots expr 1, ..., expr n as a function of
the variable named in x range, over the range specified in x range. If the vertical
range is not otherwise specified by set_plot_options, it is chosen automatically. All
options are assumed to have default values unless otherwise specified by set_plot_
options.
plot2d ([expr 1, ..., expr n], x range, y range) plots expr 1, ..., expr n as a
function of the variable named in x range, over the range specified in x range. The
vertical range is set to y range. All options are assumed to have default values unless
otherwise specified by set_plot_options.
Examples:
(%i1) plot2d (sin(x), [x, -5, 5])$
(%i2) plot2d (sec(x), [x, -2, 2], [y, -20, 20], [nticks, 200])$
Anywhere there may be an ordinary expression, there may be a parametric expres-
sion: parametric expr is a list of the form [parametric, x expr, y expr, t range,
options]. Here x expr and y expr are expressions of 1 variable var which is the first
element of the range trange. The plot is of the path traced out by the pair [x expr,
y expr] as var varies in trange.
In the following example, we plot a circle, then we do the plot with only a few points
used, so that we get a star, and finally we plot this together with an ordinary function
of X.
Examples:
• Plot a circle with a parametric plot.
(%i1) plot2d ([parametric, cos(t), sin(t), [t, -%pi*2, %pi*2],
[nticks, 80]])$
• Plot a star: join eight points on the circumference of a circle.
(%i2) plot2d ([parametric, cos(t), sin(t), [t, -%pi*2, %pi*2],
[nticks, 8]])$
• Plot a cubic polynomial with an ordinary plot and a circle with a parametric
plot.
(%i3) plot2d ([x^3 + 2, [parametric, cos(t), sin(t), [t, -5, 5],
[nticks, 80]]], [x, -3, 3])$
See also plot_options, which describes plotting options and has more examples.
xgraph curves (list) Function

graphs the list of ‘point sets’ given in list by using xgraph.
A point set may be of the form
[x0, y0, x1, y1, x2, y2, ...]
or
[[x0, y0], [x1, y1], ...]
A point set may also contain symbols which give labels or other information.
xgraph_curves ([pt_set1, pt_set2, pt_set3]);

graph the three point sets as three curves.
pt_set: append (["NoLines: True", "LargePixels: true"], [x0, y0, x1, y1, ...]);
would make the point set [and subsequent ones], have no lines between points, and
to use large pixels. See the man page on xgraph for more options to specify.
pt_set: append ([concat ("\"", "x^2+y")], [x0, y0, x1, y1, ...]);
would make there be a "label" of "x^2+y" for this particular point set. The " at the
beginning is what tells xgraph this is a label.
pt_set: append ([concat ("TitleText: Sample Data")], [x0, ...])$
would make the main title of the plot be "Sample Data" instead of "Maxima Plot".
To make a bar graph with bars which are 0.2 units wide, and to plot two possibly
different such bar graphs:
xgraph_curves ([append (["BarGraph: true", "NoLines: true", "BarWidth: .2"],
create_list ([i - .2, i^2], i, 1, 3)),
append (["BarGraph: true", "NoLines: true", "BarWidth: .2"],
create_list ([i + .2, .7*i^2], i, 1, 3))]);
A temporary file ‘xgraph-out’ is used.
plot options Variable

Elements of this list state the default options for plotting. If an option is present in a
plot2d or plot3d call, that value takes precedence over the default option. Otherwise,
the value in plot_options is used. Default options are assigned by set_plot_option.
Each element of plot_options is a list of two or more items. The first item is the
name of an option, and the remainder comprises the value or values assigned to the
option. In some cases the, the assigned value is a list, which may comprise several
items.
The plot options which are recognized by plot2d and plot3d are the following:
• Option: plot_format determines which plotting package is used by plot2d and
plot3d.
• Default value: gnuplot Gnuplot is the default, and most advanced, plotting
package. It requires an external gnuplot installation.
• Value: mgnuplot Mgnuplot is a Tk-based wrapper around gnuplot. It is
included in the Maxima distribution. Mgnuplot offers a rudimentary GUI
for gnuplot, but has fewer overall features than the plain gnuplot interface.
Mgnuplot requires an external gnuplot installation and Tcl/Tk.
• Value: openmath Openmath is a Tcl/Tk GUI plotting program. It is in-
cluded in the Maxima distribution.
• Value: ps Generates simple PostScript files directly from Maxima. Much
more sophisticated PostScript output can be generated from gnuplot, by
leaving the option plot_format unspecified (to accept the default), and
setting the option gnuplot_term to ps.
• Option: run_viewer controls whether or not the appropriate viewer for the plot
format should be run.
68 Maxima Manual
• Default value: true Execute the viewer program.

• Value: false Do not execute the viewer program.
• gnuplot_term Sets the output terminal type for gnuplot.
• Default value: default Gnuplot output is displayed in a separate graphical
window.
• Value: dumb Gnuplot output is displayed in the Maxima console by an
"ASCII art" approximation to graphics.
• Value: ps Gnuplot generates commands in the PostScript page description
language. If the option gnuplot_out_file is set to filename, gnuplot writes
the PostScript commands to filename. Otherwise, the commands are printed
to the Maxima console.
• Option: gnuplot_out_file Write gnuplot output to a file.
• Default value: false No output file specified.
• Value: filename Example: [gnuplot_out_file, "myplot.ps"] This exam-
ple sends PostScript output to the file myplot.ps when used in conjunction
with the PostScript gnuplot terminal.
• Option: x The default horizontal range.
[x, - 3, 3]
Sets the horizontal range to [-3, 3].
• Option: y The default vertical range.
[y, - 3, 3]
Sets the vertical range to [-3, 3].
• Option: t The default range for the parameter in parametric plots.
[t, 0, 10]
Sets the parametric variable range to [0, 10].
• Option: nticks Initial number of points used by the adaptive plotting routine.
[nticks, 20]
The default for nticks is 10.
• Option: adapt_depth The maximum number of splittings used by the adaptive
plotting routine.
[adapt_depth, 5]
The default for adapt_depth is 10.
• Option: grid Sets the number of grid points to use in the x- and y-directions for
three-dimensional plotting.
[grid, 50, 50]
sets the grid to 50 by 50 points. The default grid is 30 by 30.
• Option: transform_xy Allows transformations to be applied to three-
dimensional plots.
[transform_xy, false]
The default transform_xy is false. If it is not false, it should be the output
of
make_transform ([x, y, z], f1(x, y, z), f2(x, y, z), f3(x, y, z))$

The polar_xy transformation is built in. It gives the same transformation as
make_transform ([r, th, z], r*cos(th), r*sin(th), z)$
• Option: colour_z is specific to the ps plot format.
[colour_z, true]
The default value for colour_z is false.
• Option: view_direction Specific to the ps plot format.
[view_direction, 1, 1, 1]
The default view_direction is [1, 1, 1].
There are several plot options specific to gnuplot. All of these options (except
gnuplot_pm3d) are raw gnuplot commands, specified as strings. Refer to the gnuplot
documentation for more details.
• Option: gnuplot_pm3d Controls the usage PM3D mode, which has advanced 3D
features. PM3D is only available in gnuplot versions after 3.7. The default value
for gnuplot_pm3d is false.
Example:
[gnuplot_pm3d, true]
• Option: gnuplot_preamble Inserts gnuplot commands before the plot is drawn.
Any valid gnuplot commands may be used. Multiple commands should be sep-
arated with a semi-colon. The example shown produces a log scale plot. The
default value for gnuplot_preamble is the empty string "".
Example:
[gnuplot_preamble, "set log y"]
• Option: gnuplot_curve_titles Controls the titles given in the plot key. The
default value is default, which automatically sets the title of each curve to
the function plotted. If not default, gnuplot_curve_titles should contain a
list of strings. (To disable the plot key entirely, add "set nokey" to gnuplot_
preamble.)
Example:
[gnuplot_curve_titles, ["my first function", "my second function"]]
• Option: gnuplot_curve_styles A list of strings controlling the appearance of
curves, i.e., color, width, dashing, etc., to be sent to the gnuplot plot command.
The default value is ["with lines 3", "with lines 1", "with lines 2",
"with lines 5", "with lines 4", "with lines 6", "with lines 7"], which
cycles through different colors. See the gnuplot documentation for plot for
more information.
Example:
[gnuplot_curve_styles, ["with lines 7", "with lines 2"]]
• Option: gnuplot_default_term_command The gnuplot command to set the ter-
minal type for the default terminal. The default value is the empty string "",
i.e., use gnuplot’s default.
Example:
70 Maxima Manual
[gnuplot_default_term_command, "set term x11"]

• Option: gnuplot_dumb_term_command The gnuplot command to set the terminal
type for the dumb terminal. The default value is "set term dumb 79 22", which
makes the text output 79 characters by 22 characters.
Example:
[gnuplot_dumb_term_command, "set term dumb 132 50"]
• Option: gnuplot_ps_term_command The gnuplot command to set the terminal
type for the PostScript terminal. The default value is "set size 1.5, 1.5;set
term postscript eps enhanced color solid 24", which sets the size to 1.5
times gnuplot’s default, and the font size to 24, among other things. See the
gnuplot documentation for set term postscript for more information.
Example:
[gnuplot_ps_term_command, "set term postscript eps enhanced color solid 18"
Examples:
• Saves a plot of sin(x) to the file sin.eps.
plot2d (sin(x), [x, 0, 2*%pi], [gnuplot_term, ps], [gnuplot_out_file, "sin.eps"
• Uses the y option to chop off singularities and the gnuplot preamble option to
put the key at the bottom of the plot instead of the top.
plot2d ([gamma(x), 1/gamma(x)], [x, -4.5, 5], [y, -10, 10], [gnuplot_preamble,
• Uses a very complicated gnuplot_preamble to produce fancy x-axis labels. (Note
that the gnuplot_preamble string must be entered without any line breaks.)
my_preamble: "set xzeroaxis; set xtics (’-2pi’ -6.283, ’-3pi/2’ -4.712, ’-pi’ -
plot2d ([cos(x), sin(x), tan(x), cot(x)], [x, -2*%pi, 2*%pi],
[y, -2, 2], [gnuplot_preamble, my_preamble]);
• Uses a very complicated gnuplot_preamble to produce fancy x-axis labels, and
produces PostScript output that takes advantage of the advanced text formatting
available in gnuplot. (Note that the gnuplot_preamble string must be entered
without any line breaks.)
my_preamble: "set xzeroaxis; set xtics (’-2{/Symbol p}’ -6.283, ’-3{/Symbol p}/
plot2d ([cos(x), sin(x), tan(x)], [x, -2*%pi, 2*%pi], [y, -2, 2],
[gnuplot_preamble, my_preamble], [gnuplot_term, ps], [gnuplot_out_file, "tr
• A three-dimensional plot using the gnuplot pm3d terminal.
plot3d (atan (-x^2 + y^3/4), [x, -4, 4], [y, -4, 4], [grid, 50, 50], [gnuplot_p
• A three-dimensional plot without a mesh and with contours projected on the
bottom plane.
my_preamble: "set pm3d at s;unset surface;set contour;set cntrparam levels 20;u
plot3d (atan (-x^2 + y^3/4), [x, -4, 4], [y, -4, 4], [grid, 50, 50],
[gnuplot_pm3d, true], [gnuplot_preamble, my_preamble])$
• A plot where the z-axis is represented by color only. (Note that the gnuplot_
preamble string must be entered without any line breaks.)
plot3d (cos (-x^2 + y^3/4), [x, -4, 4], [y, -4, 4],
[gnuplot_preamble, "set view map; unset surface"], [gnuplot_pm3d, true], [g
plot3d (expr, x range, y range, ..., options, ...) Function

plot3d ([expr 1, expr 2, expr 3], x range, y range, ..., options, ...) Function
plot3d (2^(-u^2 + v^2), [u, -5, 5], [v, -7, 7]);
plots z = 2^(-u^2+v^2) with u and v varying in [-5,5] and [-7,7] respectively, and
with u on the x axis, and v on the y axis.
An example of the second pattern of arguments is
plot3d ([cos(x)*(3 + y*cos(x/2)), sin(x)*(3 + y*cos(x/2)), y*sin(x/2)],
[x, -%pi, %pi], [y, -1, 1], [’grid, 50, 15]);
which plots a Moebius band, parametrized by the three expressions given as the first
argument to plot3d. An additional optional argument [’grid, 50, 15] gives the
grid number of rectangles in the x direction and y direction.
This example shows a plot of the real part of z^1/3.
plot3d (r^.33*cos(th/3), [r, 0, 1], [th, 0, 6*%pi],
[’grid, 12, 80], [’plot_format, ps],
[’transform_xy, polar_to_xy], [’view_direction, 1, 1, 1.4],
[’colour_z, true]);
Here the view_direction option indicates the direction from which we take a pro-
jection. We actually do this from infinitely far away, but parallel to the line from
view_direction to the origin. This is currently only used in ps plot format, since
the other viewers allow interactive rotating of the object.
Another example is a Klein bottle:
expr_1: 5*cos(x)*(cos(x/2)*cos(y) + sin(x/2)*sin(2*y) + 3.0) - 10.0;
expr_2: -5*sin(x)*(cos(x/2)*cos(y) + sin(x/2)*sin(2*y) + 3.0);
expr_3: 5*(-sin(x/2)*cos(y) + cos(x/2)*sin(2*y));
plot3d ([expr_1, expr_2, expr_3], [x, -%pi, %pi], [y, -%pi, %pi], [’grid, 40, 4
or a torus
expr_1: cos(y)*(10.0+6*cos(x));
expr_2: sin(y)*(10.0+6*cos(x));
expr_3: -6*sin(x);
plot3d ([expr_1, expr_2, expr_3], [x, 0, 2*%pi], [y, 0, 2*%pi], [’grid, 40, 40]
We can output to gnuplot too:
plot3d (2^(x^2 - y^2), [x, -1, 1], [y, -2, 2], [plot_format, gnuplot]);
Sometimes you may need to define a function to plot the expression. All the arguments
to plot3d are evaluated before being passed to plot3d, and so trying to make an
expression which does just what you want may be difficult, and it is just easier to
make a function.
M: matrix([1, 2, 3, 4], [1, 2, 3, 2], [1, 2, 3, 4], [1, 2, 3, 3])$
f(x, y) := float (M [?round(x), ?round(y)])$
plot3d (f, [x, 1, 4], [y, 1, 4], [’grid, 4, 4])$
See plot_options for more examples.
72 Maxima Manual
make transform (vars, fx, fy, fz) Function

Returns a function suitable for the transform function in plot3d. Use with the plot
option transform_xy.
make_transform ([r, th, z], r*cos(th), r*sin(th), z)$
is a transformation to polar coordinates.
plot2d ps (expr, range) Function

Writes to pstream a sequence of PostScript commands which plot expr over range.
expr is an expression. range is a list of the form [x, min, max] in which x is a
variable which appears in expr.
See also closeps.
closeps () Function
This should usually becalled at the end of a sequence of plotting commands. It closes
the current output stream pstream, and sets it to nil. It also may be called at the start
of a plot, to ensure pstream is closed if it was open. All commands which write to
pstream, open it if necessary. closeps is separate from the other plotting commands,
since we may want to plot 2 ranges or superimpose several plots, and so must keep
the stream open.
set plot option (option) Function

option is of the format of one of the elements of the plot_options list. Thus set_
plot_option ([grid, 30, 40]) would change the default grid used by plot3d. Note
that if the symbol grid has a value, then you should quote it here: set_plot_option
([’grid, 30, 40]) so that the value will not be substituted.
psdraw curve (ptlist) Function

Draws a curve connecting the points in ptlist. The latter may be of the form [x0,
y0, x1, y1, ...] or [[x0, y0], [x1, y1], ...]
The function join is handy for taking a list of x’s and a list of y’s and splicing them
together.
psdraw curve simply invokes the more primitive function pscurve. Here is the defini-
tion:
(defun $psdraw_curve (lis)
(p "newpath")
($pscurve lis)
(p "stroke"))
pscom (cmd) Function

cmd is inserted in the PostScript file. Example:
pscom ("4.5 72 mul 5.5 72 mul translate 14 14 scale");
Chapter 9: Input and Output 73
9 Input and Output
9.1 Introduction to Input and Output
9.2 Files
A file is simply an area on a particular storage device which contains data or text. Files
on the disks are figuratively grouped into "directories". A directory is just a list of files.
Commands which deal with files are: save, load, loadfile, stringout, batch, demo,
writefile, closefile, and appendfile.
9.3 Definitions for Input and Output
% Variable
% is the output expression (e.g., %o1, %o2, %o3, ...) most recently computed by
Maxima, whether or not it was displayed. See also %% and %th.
%% Variable
In a compound statement comprising two or more statements, %% is the value of the
previous statement. For example,
block (integrate (x^5, x), ev (%%, x=2) - ev (%%, x=1));
block ([prev], prev: integrate (x^5, x), ev (prev, x=2) - ev (prev, x=1));
yield the same result, namely 21/2.
A compound statement may comprise other compound statements. Whether a state-
ment be simple or compound, %% is the value of the previous statement. For example,
block (block (a^n, %%*42), %%/6)
yields 7*a^n.
Within a compound statement, the value of %% may be inspected at a break prompt,
which is opened by executing the break function. For example, at the break prompt
opened by
block (a: 42, break ())$
entering %%; yields 42.
At the first statement in a compound statement, or outside of a compound statement,
%% is undefined.
%edispflag Variable
When %edispflag is true, Maxima displays %e to a negative exponent as a quotient.
For example, %e^-x is displayed as 1/%e^x.
74 Maxima Manual
%th (i) Function

The value of the i’th previous output expression. That is, if the next expression to
be computed is the n’th output, %th (m) is the (n - m)’th output.
%th is useful in batch files or for referring to a group of output expressions. For
example,
block (s: 0, for i:1 thru 10 do s: s + %th (i))$
sets s to the sum of the last ten output expressions.
"?" special symbol

As prefix to a function or variable name, ? signifies that the name is a Lisp name,
not a Maxima name. For example, ?round is a Lisp function.
The notation ? word (a question mark followed a word, separated by whitespace) is
equivalent to describe ("word").
absboxchar Variable
Default value: !
absboxchar is the character used to draw absolute value signs around expressions
which are more than one line tall.
appendfile (filename) Function

Appends a console transcript to filename. appendfile is the same as writefile,
except that the transcript file, if it exists, is always appended.
closefile closes the transcript file opened by appendfile or writefile.
batch (filename) Function

Reads Maxima expressions from filename and evaluates them. batch searches for
filename in the list file_search_maxima. See file_search.
filename comprises a sequence of Maxima expressions, each terminated with ; or $.
The special variable % and the function %th refer to previous results within the file.
The file may include :lisp constructs. Spaces, tabs, and newlines in the file are
ignored. A suitable input file may be created by a text editor or by the stringout
function.
batch reads each input expression from filename, displays the input to the console,
computes the corresponding output expression, and displays the output expression.
Input labels are assigned to the input expressions and output labels are assigned to
the output expressions. batch evaluates every input expression in the file unless there
is an error. If user input is requested (by asksign or askinteger, for example) batch
pauses to collect the requisite input and then continue.
It may be possible to halt batch by typing control-C at the console. The effect of
control-C depends on the underlying Lisp implementation.
batch has several uses, such as to provide a reservoir for working command lines, to
give error-free demonstrations, or to help organize one’s thinking in solving complex
problems.
batch evaluates its argument. batch has no return value.
See also load, batchload, and demo.
batchload (filename) Function

Reads Maxima expressions from filename and evaluates them, without displaying
the input or output expressions and without assigning labels to output expressions.
Printed output (such as produced by print or describe) is displayed, however.
The special variable % and the function %th refer to previous results from the interac-
tive interpreter, not results within the file. The file cannot include :lisp constructs.
batchload returns the path of filename, as a string. batchload evaluates its argu-
ment.
See also batch and load.
closefile () Function
Closes the transcript file opened by writefile or appendfile.
collapse (expr) Function

Collapses expr by causing all of its common (i.e., equal) subexpressions to share (i.e.,
use the same cells), thereby saving space. (collapse is a subroutine used by the
optimize command.) Thus, calling collapse may be useful after loading in a save
file. You can collapse several expressions together by using collapse ([expr 1, ...,
expr n]). Similarly, you can collapse the elements of the array A by doing collapse
(listarray (’A)).
concat (arg 1, arg 2, ...) Function

Concatenates its arguments. The arguments must evaluate to atoms. The return
value is a symbol if the first argument is a symbol and a Maxima string otherwise.
concat evaluates its arguments. The single quote ’ prevents evaluation.
(%i1) y: 7$
(%i2) z: 88$
(%i3) concat (y, z/2);
(%o3) 744
(%i4) concat (’y, z/2);
(%o4) y44
A symbol constructed by concat may be assigned a value and appear in expressions.
The :: (double colon) assignment operator evaluates its left-hand side.
(%i5) a: concat (’y, z/2);
(%o5) y44
(%i6) a:: 123;
(%o6) 123
(%i7) y44;
(%o7) 123
(%i8) bâ;
y44
(%o8) b
(%i9) %, numer;
123
(%o9) b
Note that although concat (1, 2) looks like a number, it is a Maxima string.
76 Maxima Manual
(%i10) concat (1, 2) + 3;

(%o10) 12 + 3
sconcat (arg 1, arg 2, ...) Function

Concatenates its arguments into a string. Unlike concat, the arguments do not need
to be atoms.
The result is a Lisp string.
(%i1) sconcat ("xx[", 3, "]:", expand ((x+y)^3));
(%o1) xx[3]:y^3+3*x*y^2+3*x^2*y+x^3
disp (expr 1, expr 2, ...) Function

is like display but only the value of the arguments are displayed rather than equa-
tions. This is useful for complicated arguments which don’t have names or where only
the value of the argument is of interest and not the name.
dispcon (tensor 1, tensor 2, ...) Function

dispcon (all) Function
Displays the contraction properties of its arguments as were given to defcon. dispcon
(all) displays all the contraction properties which were defined.
display (expr 1, expr 2, ...) Function

Displays equations whose left side is expr i unevaluated, and whose right side is the
value of the expression centered on the line. This function is useful in blocks and
for statements in order to have intermediate results displayed. The arguments to
display are usually atoms, subscripted variables, or function calls. See also disp.
(%i1) display(B[1,2]);
2
B = X - X
1, 2
(%o1) done
display2d Variable
Default value: true
When display2d is false, the console display is a string (1-dimensional) form rather
than a display (2-dimensional) form.
display format internal Variable

When display_format_internal is true, expressions are displayed without being
transformed in ways that hide the internal mathematical representation. The display
then corresponds to what inpart returns rather than part.
Examples:
User part inpart
a-b; A - B A + (- 1) B
A - 1
a/b; - A B
B
1/2
sqrt(x); sqrt(X) X
4 X 4
X*4/3; --- - X
3 3
dispterms (expr) Function

Displays expr in parts one below the other. That is, first the operator of expr is
displayed, then each term in a sum, or factor in a product, or part of a more general
expression is displayed separately. This is useful if expr is too large to be otherwise
displayed. For example if P1, P2, ... are very large expressions then the display
program may run out of storage space in trying to display P1 + P2 + ... all at once.
However, dispterms (P1 + P2 + ...) displays P1, then below it P2, etc. When not
using dispterms, if an exponential expression is too wide to be displayed as A^B it
appears as expt (A, B) (or as ncexpt (A, B) in the case of A^^B).
error size Variable

Default value: 10
error_size modifies error messages according to the size of expressions which appear
in them. If the size of an expression (as determined by the Lisp function ERROR-SIZE)
is greater than error_size, the expression is replaced in the message by a symbol,
and the symbol is assigned the expression. The symbols are taken from the list
error_syms.
Otherwise, the expression is smaller than error_size, and the expression is displayed
in the message.
See also error and error_syms.
Example:
The size of U, as determined by ERROR-SIZE, is 24.
(%i1) U: (C^DÊ + B + A)/(cos(X-1) + 1)$
(%i2) error_size: 20$
(%i3) error ("Example expression is", U);
Example expression is errexp1

-- an error. Quitting. To debug this try debugmode(true);
(%i4) errexp1;
E
D
C + B + A
(%o4) --------------
cos(X - 1) + 1
78 Maxima Manual
(%i5) error_size: 30$
(%i6) error ("Example expression is", U);
E
D
C + B + A
Example expression is --------------
cos(X - 1) + 1
error syms Variable

Default value: [errexp1, errexp2, errexp3]
In error messages, expressions larger than error_size are replaced by symbols, and
the symbols are set to the expressions. The symbols are taken from the list error_
syms. The first too-large expression is replaced by error_syms[1], the second by
error_syms[2], and so on.
If there are more too-large expressions than there are elements of error_syms,
symbols are constructed automatically, with the n-th symbol equivalent to concat
(’errexp, n).
See also error and error_size.
expt (a, b) Function

If an exponential expression is too wide to be displayed as a^b it appears as expt (a,
b) (or as ncexpt (a, b) in the case of a^^b).
expt and ncexpt are not recognized in input.
exptdispflag Variable
Default value: true
When exptdispflag is true, Maxima displays expressions with negative exponents
using quotients, e.g., X^(-1) as 1/X.
filename merge (path, filename) Function

Constructs a modified path from path and filename. If the final component of path
is of the form ###.something, the component is replaced with filename.something.
Otherwise, the final component is simply replaced by filename.
file search (filename) Function

file search (filename, pathlist) Function
file_search searches for the file filename and returns the path to the file (as a string)
if it can be found; otherwise file_search returns false. file_search (filename)
searches in the default search directories, which are specified by the file_search_
maxima, file_search_lisp, and file_search_demo variables.
file_search first checks if the actual name passed exists, before attempting to match
it to “wildcard” file search patterns. See file_search_maxima concerning file search
patterns.
The argument filename can be a path and file name, or just a file name, or, if a file
search directory includes a file search pattern, just the base of the file name (without
an extension). For example,
file_search ("/home/wfs/special/zeta.mac");
file_search ("zeta.mac");
file_search ("zeta");
all find the same file, assuming the file exists and /home/wfs/special/###.mac is in
file_search_maxima.
file_search (filename, pathlist) searches only in the directories specified by path-
list, which is a list of strings. The argument pathlist supersedes the default search
directories, so if the path list is given, file_search searches only the ones specified,
and not any of the default search directories. Even if there is only one directory in
pathlist, it must still be given as a one-element list.
The user may modify the default search directories. See file_search_maxima.
file_search is invoked by load with file_search_maxima and file_search_lisp
as the search directories.
file search maxima Variable

file search lisp Variable
file search demo Variable
These variables specify lists of directories to be searched by load, demo, and some
other Maxima functions. The default values of these variables name various directories
in the Maxima installation.
The user can modify these variables, either to replace the default values or to append
additional directories. For example,
file_search_maxima: ["/usr/local/foo/###.mac",
"/usr/local/bar/###.mac"]$
replaces the default value of file_search_maxima, while
file_search_maxima: append (file_search_maxima,
["/usr/local/foo/###.mac", "/usr/local/bar/###.mac"])$
appends two additional directories. It may be convenient to put such an expression in
the file maxima-init.mac so that the file search path is assigned automatically when
Maxima starts.
Multiple filename extensions and multiple paths can be specified by special “wildcard”
constructions. The string ### expands into the sought-after name, while a comma-
separated list enclosed in curly braces {foo,bar,baz} expands into multiple strings.
For example, supposing the sought-after name is neumann,
"/home/{wfs,gcj}/###.{lisp,mac}"
expands into /home/wfs/neumann.lisp, /home/gcj/neumann.lisp,
/home/wfs/neumann.mac, and /home/gcj/neumann.mac.
file type (filename) Function

Returns a guess about the content of filename, based on the filename extension.
filename need not refer to an actual file; no attempt is made to open the file and
inspect the content.
80 Maxima Manual
The return value is a symbol, either object, lisp, or maxima. If the extension starts
with m or d, file_type returns maxima. If the extension starts with l, file_type
returns lisp. If none of the above, file_type returns object.
grind (expr) Function

grind Variable
The function grind prints expr to the console in a form suitable for input to Maxima.
grind always returns done.
See also string, which returns a string instead of printing its output. grind attempts
to print the expression in a manner which makes it slightly easier to read than the
output of string.
When the variable grind is true, the output of string and stringout has the same
format as that of grind; otherwise no attempt is made to specially format the output
of those functions. The default value of the variable grind is false.
grind can also be specified as an argument of playback. When grind is present,
playback prints input expressions in the same format as the grind function. Other-
wise, no attempt is made to specially format input expressions.
ibase Variable
Default value: 10
Integers entered into Maxima are interpreted with respect to the base ibase.
ibase may be assigned any integer between 2 and 35 (decimal), inclusive. When
ibase is greater than 10, the numerals comprise the decimal numerals 0 through 9
plus capital letters of the alphabet A, B, C, ..., as needed. The numerals for base 35,
the largest acceptable base, comprise 0 through 9 and A through Y.
See also obase.
inchar Variable
Default value: %i
inchar is the prefix of the labels of expressions entered by the user. Maxima auto-
matically constructs a label for each input expression by concatenating inchar and
linenum. inchar may be assigned any string or symbol, not necessarily a single
character.
(%i1) inchar: "input";
(%o1) input
(input1) expand ((a+b)^3);
3 2 2 3
(%o1) b + 3 a b + 3 a b + a
(input2)
See also labels.
ldisp (expr 1, ..., expr n) Function

Displays expressions expr 1, ..., expr n to the console as printed output. ldisp assigns
an intermediate expression label to each argument and returns the list of labels.
See also disp.
(%i1) e: (a+b)^3;
3
(%o1) (b + a)
(%i2) f: expand (e);
3 2 2 3
(%o2) b + 3 a b + 3 a b + a
(%i3) ldisp (e, f);
3
(%t3) (b + a)
3 2 2 3
(%t4) b + 3 a b + 3 a b + a
(%o4) [%t3, %t4]

(%i4) %t3;
3
(%o4) (b + a)
(%i5) %t4;
3 2 2 3
(%o5) b + 3 a b + 3 a b + a
ldisplay (expr 1, ..., expr n) Function

Displays expressions expr 1, ..., expr n to the console as printed output. Each ex-
pression is printed as an equation of the form lhs = rhs in which lhs is one of the
arguments of ldisplay and rhs is its value. Typically each argument is a variable.
ldisp assigns an intermediate expression label to each equation and returns the list
of labels.
See also display.
(%i1) e: (a+b)^3;
3
(%o1) (b + a)
(%i2) f: expand (e);
3 2 2 3
(%o2) b + 3 a b + 3 a b + a
(%i3) ldisplay (e, f);
3
(%t3) e = (b + a)
3 2 2 3
(%t4) f = b + 3 a b + 3 a b + a
(%o4) [%t3, %t4]

(%i4) %t3;
3
(%o4) e = (b + a)
(%i5) %t4;
3 2 2 3
(%o5) f = b + 3 a b + 3 a b + a
82 Maxima Manual
linechar Variable
Default value: %t
linechar is the prefix of the labels of intermediate expressions generated by Maxima.
Maxima constructs a label for each intermediate expression (if displayed) by concate-
nating linechar and linenum. linechar may be assigned any string or symbol, not
necessarily a single character.
Intermediate expressions might or might not be displayed. See programmode and
labels.
linel Variable
Default value: 79
linel is the assumed width (in characters) of the console display for the purpose
of displaying expressions. linel may be assigned any value by the user, although
very small or very large values may be impractical. Text printed by built-in Maxima
functions, such as error messages and the output of describe, is not affected by
linel.
load (filename) Function

Evaluates expressions in filename, thus bringing variables, functions, and other objects
into Maxima. The binding of any existing object is clobbered by the binding recovered
from filename. To find the file, load calls file_search with file_search_maxima
and file_search_lisp as the search directories. If load succeeds, it returns the
name of the file. Otherwise load prints an error message.
load works equally well for Lisp code and Maxima code. Files created by save,
translate_file, and compile_file, which create Lisp code, and stringout, which
creates Maxima code, can all be processed by load. load calls loadfile to load Lisp
files and batchload to load Maxima files.
See also loadfile, batch, batchload, and demo. loadfile processes Lisp files;
batch, batchload, and demo process Maxima files.
See file_search for more detail about the file search mechanism.
load evaluates its argument.
loadfile (filename) Function

Evaluates Lisp expressions in filename. loadfile does not invoke file_search, so
filename must include the file extension and as much of the path as needed to find
the file.
loadfile can process files created by save, translate_file, and compile_file.
The user may find it more convenient to use load instead of loadfile.
loadfile quotes its argument, so filename must be a literal string, not a string
variable. The double-single-quote operator defeats quotation.
loadprint Variable
Default value: true
loadprint tells whether to print a message when a file is loaded.
• When loadprint is true, always print a message.

• When loadprint is ’loadfile, print a message only if a file is loaded by the
function loadfile.
• When loadprint is ’autoload, print a message only if a file is automatically
loaded. See setup_autoload.
• When loadprint is false, never print a message.
obase Variable
Default value: 10
obase is the base for integers displayed by Maxima.
obase may be assigned any integer between 2 and 35 (decimal), inclusive. When
obase is greater than 10, the numerals comprise the decimal numerals 0 through 9
plus capital letters of the alphabet A, B, C, ..., as needed. The numerals for base 35,
the largest acceptable base, comprise 0 through 9, and A through Y.
See also ibase.
outchar Variable
Default value: %o
outchar is the prefix of the labels of expressions computed by Maxima. Maxima auto-
matically constructs a label for each computed expression by concatenating outchar
and linenum. outchar may be assigned any string or symbol, not necessarily a single
character.
(%i1) outchar: "output";
(output1) output
(%i2) expand ((a+b)^3);
3 2 2 3
(output2) b + 3 a b + 3 a b + a
(%i3)
See also labels.
packagefile Variable
Package designers who use save or translate to create packages (files) for others to
use may want to set packagefile: true to prevent information from being added to
Maxima’s information-lists (e.g. values, functions) except where necessary when
the file is loaded in. In this way, the contents of the package will not get in the user’s
way when he adds his own data. Note that this will not solve the problem of possible
name conflicts. Also note that the flag simply affects what is output to the package
file. Setting the flag to true is also useful for creating Maxima init files.
pfeformat Variable
When pfeformat is true, a ratio of integers is displayed with the solidus (forward
slash) character, and an integer denominator n is displayed as a leading multiplicative
term 1/n.
84 Maxima Manual
(%i1) pfeformat: false$

(%i2) 2^16/7^3;
65536
(%o2) -----
343
(%i3) (a+b)/8;
b + a
(%o3) -----
8
(%i4) pfeformat: true$
(%i5) 2^16/7^3;
(%o5) 65536/343
(%i6) (a+b)/8;
(%o6) 1/8 (b + a)
print (expr 1, ..., expr n) Function

Evaluates and displays expr 1, ..., expr n one after another, from left to right, starting
at the left edge of the console display.
The value returned by print is the value of its last argument. print does not generate
intermediate expression labels.
See also display, disp, ldisplay, and ldisp. Those functions display one expression
per line, while print attempts to display two or more expressions per line.
To display the contents of a file, see printfile.
(%i1) r: print ("(a+b)^3 is", expand ((a+b)^3), "log (a^10/b) is", radcan (log
3 2 2 3
(a+b)^3 is b + 3 a b + 3 a b + a log (a^10/b) is
10 log(a) - log(b)
(%i2) r;
(%o2) 10 log(a) - log(b)
(%i3) disp ("(a+b)^3 is", expand ((a+b)^3), "log (a^10/b) is", radcan (log (a^1
(a+b)^3 is
3 2 2 3
b + 3 a b + 3 a b + a
log (a^10/b) is
10 log(a) - log(b)
tcl output (list, i0, skip) Function

tcl output (list, i0) Function
tcl output ([list 1, ..., list n], i) Function
Prints elements of a list enclosed by curly braces { }, suitable as part of a program
in the Tcl/Tk language.
tcl_output (list, i0, skip) prints list, beginning with element i0 and printing ele-
ments i0 + skip, i0 + 2 skip, etc.
tcl_output (list, i0) is equivalent to tcl_output (list, i0, 2).

tcl_output ([list 1, ..., list n], i) prints the i’th elements of list 1, ..., list n.
Examples:
(%i1) tcl_output ([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6], 1, 3)$
{1.000000000 4.000000000
}
(%i2) tcl_output ([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6], 2, 3)$
{2.000000000 5.000000000
}
(%i3) tcl_output ([3/7, 5/9, 11/13, 13/17], 1)$
{((RAT SIMP) 3 7) ((RAT SIMP) 11 13)

}
(%i4) tcl_output ([x1, y1, x2, y2, x3, y3], 2)$
{$Y1 $Y2 $Y3

}
(%i5) tcl_output ([[1, 2, 3], [11, 22, 33]], 1)$
{SIMP 1.000000000 11.00000000

}
read (expr 1, ..., expr n) Function

Prints expr 1, ..., expr n, then reads one expression from the console and returns the
evaluated expression. The expression is terminated with a semicolon ; or dollar sign
$.
See also readonly.
(%i1) foo: 42$
(%i2) foo: read ("foo is", foo, " -- enter new value.")$
foo is 42 -- enter new value.
(a+b)^3;
(%i3) foo;
3
(%o3) (b + a)
readonly (expr 1, ..., expr n) Function

Prints expr 1, ..., expr n, then reads one expression from the console and returns the
expression (without evaluation). The expression is terminated with a ; (semicolon)
or $ (dollar sign).
(%i1) aa: 7$
(%i2) foo: readonly ("Enter an expression:");
Enter an expression:
2âa;
aa
(%o2) 2
86 Maxima Manual
(%i3) foo: read ("Enter an expression:");

Enter an expression:
2âa;
(%o3) 128
See also read.
reveal (expr, depth) Function

Replaces parts of expr at the specified integer depth with descriptive summaries.
• Sums and differences are replaced by sum(n) where n is the number of operands
of the sum.
• Products are replaced by product(n) where n is the number of operands of the
sum.
• Exponentials are replaced by expt.
• Quotients are replaced by quotient.
• Unary negation is replaced by negterm.
When depth is greater than or equal to the maximum depth of expr, reveal (expr,
depth) returns expr unmodified.
reveal evaluates its arguments. reveal returns the summarized expression.
Example:
(%i1) e: expand ((a - b)^2)/expand ((exp(a) + exp(b))^2);
2 2
b - 2 a b + a
(%o1) -------------------------
b + a 2 b 2 a
2 %e + %e + %e
(%i2) reveal (e, 1);
(%o2) quotient
sum(3)
(%o3) ------
sum(3)
expt + negterm + expt
(%o4) ------------------------
product(2) + expt + expt
2 2
b - product(3) + a
(%o5) ------------------------------------
product(2) product(2)
2 expt + %e + %e
2 2
b - 2 a b + a
(%o6) --------------------------
sum(2) 2 b 2 a
2 %e + %e + %e
2 2
b - 2 a b + a
(%o7) -------------------------
b + a 2 b 2 a
2 %e + %e + %e
rmxchar Variable
Default value: ]
rmxchar is the character drawn on the right-hand side of a matrix.
See also lmxchar.
save (filename, name 1, name 2, name 3, ...) Function

save (filename, values, functions, labels, ...) Function
save (filename, [m, n]) Function
save (filename, name 1=expr 1, ...) Function
save (filename, all) Function
Stores the current values of name 1, name 2, name 3, ..., in filename. The arguments
must be names of variables, functions, or other objects. save returns filename.
save stores data in the form of Lisp expressions. The data stored by save may be
recovered by load (filename). The effect of executing save when filename already
exists depends on the underlying Lisp implementation; the file may be clobbered, or
save may complain with an error message.
The special form save (filename, values, functions, labels, ...) stores the
items named by values, functions, labels, etc. The names may be any specified
by the variable infolists. values comprises all user-defined variables.
The special form save (filename, [m, n]) stores the values of input and output
labels m through n. Note that m and n must be literal integers or double-quoted
symbols. Input and output labels may also be stored one by one, e.g., save ("foo.1",
%i42, %o42). save (filename, labels) stores all input and output labels. When the
stored labels are recovered, they clobber existing labels.
The special form save (filename, name 1=expr 1, name 2=expr 2, ...) stores the
values of expr 1, expr 2, ..., with names name 1, name 2, .... It is useful to apply this
form to input and output labels, e.g., save ("foo.1", aa=%o88). The right-hand
side of the equality in this form may be any expression, which is evaluated. This form
does not introduce the new names into the current Maxima environment, but only
stores them in filename.
These special forms and the general form of save may be mixed at will. For example,
save (filename, aa, bb, cc=42, functions, [11, 17]).
The special form save (filename, all) stores the current state of Maxima. This
includes all user-defined variables, functions, arrays, etc., as well as some auto-
matically defined items. The saved items include system variables, such as file_
search_maxima or showtime, if they have been assigned new values by the user; see
myoptions.
88 Maxima Manual
save quotes its arguments. filename must be a string, not a string variable. The first
and last labels to save, if specified, must be integers. The double quote operator eval-
uates a string variable to its string value, e.g., s: "foo.1"$ save (’’s, all)$, and
integer variables to their integer values, e.g., m: 5$ n: 12$ save ("foo.1", [’’m,
’’n])$.
savedef Variable
Default value: true
When savedef is true, the Maxima version of a user function is preserved when the
function is translated. This permits the definition to be displayed by dispfun and
allows the function to be edited.
When savedef is false, the names of translated functions are removed from the
functions list.
show (expr) Function

Displays expr with the indexed objects in it shown having covariant indices as sub-
scripts, contravariant indices as superscripts. The derivative indices are displayed as
subscripts, separated from the covariant indices by a comma.
showratvars (expr) Function

Returns a list of the canonical rational expression (CRE) variables in expression expr.
See also ratvars.
stardisp Variable
When stardisp is true, multiplication is displayed with an asterisk * between
operands.
string (expr) Function

Converts expr to Maxima’s linear notation just as if it had been typed in.
The return value of string is a string, and thus it cannot be used in a computation.
stringout (filename, expr 1, expr 2, expr 3, ...) Function

stringout (filename, [m, n]) Function
stringout (filename, input) Function
stringout (filename, functions) Function
stringout (filename, values) Function
stringout writes expressions to a file in the same form the expressions would be
typed for input. The file can then be used as input for the batch or demo commands,
and it may be edited for any purpose. stringout can be executed while writefile
is in progress.
The general form of stringout writes the values of one or more expressions to the
output file. Note that if an expression is a variable, only the value of the variable is
written and not the name of the variable. As a useful special case, the expressions
may be input labels (%i1, %i2, %i3, ...) or output labels (%o1, %o2, %o3, ...).
If grind is true, stringout formats the output using the grind format. Otherwise
the string format is used. See grind and string.
The special form stringout (filename, [m, n]) writes the values of input labels m
through n, inclusive.
The special form stringout (filename, input) writes all input labels to the file.
The special form stringout (filename, functions) writes all user-defined functions
(named by the global list functions) to the file.
The special form stringout (filename, values) writes all user-assigned variables
(named by the global list values) to the file. Each variable is printed as an assignment
statement, with the name of the variable, a colon, and its value. Note that the general
form of stringout does not print variables as assignment statements.
tex (expr) Function

tex (expr, filename) Function
tex (label, filename) Function
In the case of a label, a left-equation-number is produced. in case a file-name is
supplied, the output is appended to the file.
(%i1) integrate (1/(1+x^3), x);
2 x - 1
2 atan(-------)
log(x - x + 1) sqrt(3) log(x + 1)
(%o1) - --------------- + ------------- + ----------
6 sqrt(3) 3
(%i2) tex (%o1);
$$-{{\log \left(x^2-x+1\right)}\over{6}}+{{\arctan \left({{2\,x-1
}\over{\sqrt{3}}}\right)}\over{\sqrt{3}}}+{{\log \left(x+1\right)
}\over{3}}\leqno{\tt (\%o1)}$$
(%o2) (\%o1)
(%i3) tex (integrate (sin(x), x));
$$-\cos x$$
(%o3) false
(%i4) tex (%o1, "foo.tex");
(%o4) (\%o1)
system (command) Function

Executes command as a separate process. The command is passed to the default shell
for execution. system is not supported by all operating systems, but generally exists
in Unix and Unix-like environments.
Supposing _hist.out is a list of frequencies which you wish to plot as a bar graph
using xgraph.
(%i1) (with_stdout("_hist.out",
for i:1 thru length(hist) do (
print(i,hist[i]))),
system("xgraph -bar -brw .7 -nl < _hist.out"));
In order to make the plot be done in the background (returning control to Maxima)
and remove the temporary file after it is done do:
90 Maxima Manual
system("(xgraph -bar -brw .7 -nl < _hist.out; rm -f _hist.out)&")
ttyoff Variable
When ttyoff is true, output expressions are not displayed. Output expressions are
still computed and assigned labels. See labels.
Text printed by built-in Maxima functions, such as error messages and the output of
describe, is not affected by ttyoff.
with stdout (filename, expr 1, expr 2, expr 3, ...) Macro

Opens filename and then evaluates expr 1, expr 2, expr 3, .... The values of the
arguments are not stored in filename, but any printed output generated by evaluating
the arguments (from print, display, disp, or grind, for example) goes to filename
instead of the console.
with_stdout returns the value of its final argument.
See also writefile.
(%i1) with_stdout ("tmp.out", for i:5 thru 10 do print (i, "! yields", i!))$
(%i2) printfile ("tmp.out")$
5 ! yields 120
6 ! yields 720
7 ! yields 5040
8 ! yields 40320
9 ! yields 362880
10 ! yields 3628800
writefile (filename) Function

Begins writing a transcript of the Maxima session to filename. All interaction between
the user and Maxima is then recorded in this file, just as it appears on the console.
As the transcript is printed in the console output format, it cannot be reloaded into
Maxima. To make a file containing expressions which can be reloaded, see save and
stringout. save stores expressions in Lisp form, while stringout stores expressions
in Maxima form.
The effect of executing writefile when filename already exists depends on the un-
derlying Lisp implementation; the transcript file may be clobbered, or the file may be
appended. appendfile always appends to the transcript file.
It may be convenient to execute playback after writefile to save the display of
previous interactions. As playback displays only the input and output variables
(%i1, %o1, etc.), any output generated by a print statement in a function (as opposed
to a return value) is not displayed by playback.
closefile closes the transcript file opened by writefile or appendfile.
Chapter 10: Floating Point 91
10 Floating Point
10.1 Definitions for Floating Point
bffac (expr, n) Function

Bigfloat version of the factorial (shifted gamma) function. The second argument is
how many digits to retain and return, it’s a good idea to request a couple of extra.
load ("bffac") loads this function.
algepsilon Variable
Default value: 10^8
algepsilon is used by algsys.
bfloat (expr) Function

Converts all numbers and functions of numbers to bigfloat numbers. Setting fpprec
to n, sets the bigfloat precision to n digits.
When float2bf is false a warning message is printed when a floating point number
is converted into a bigfloat number (since this may lead to loss of precision).
bfloatp (expr) Function

Returns true if expr is a bigfloat number, otherwise false.
bfpsi (n, z, fpprec) Function

bfpsi0 (z, fpprec) Function
bfpsi is the polygamma function of real argument z and integer order n. bfpsi0 is
the digamma function. bfpsi0 (z, fpprec) is equivalent to bfpsi (0, z, fpprec).
These functions return bigfloat values. fpprec is the bigfloat precision of the return
value.
load ("bffac") loads these functions.
bftorat Variable
bftorat controls the conversion of bfloats to rational numbers. When bftorat is
false, ratepsilon will be used to control the conversion (this results in relatively
small rational numbers). When bftorat is true, the rational number generated will
accurately represent the bfloat.
bftrunc Variable
Default value: true
bftrunc causes trailing zeroes in non-zero bigfloat numbers not to be displayed. Thus,
if bftrunc is false, bfloat (1) displays as 1.000000000000000B0. Otherwise, this
is displayed as 1.0B0.
92 Maxima Manual
cbffac (z, fpprec) Function

Complex bigfloat factorial.
float (expr) Function

Converts integers, rational numbers and bigfloats in expr to floating point numbers.
It is also an evflag, float causes non-integral rational numbers and bigfloat numbers
to be converted to floating point.
float2bf Variable
When float2bf is false, a warning message is printed when a floating point number
is converted into a bigfloat number (since this may lead to loss of precision).
floatnump (expr) Function

Returns true if expr is a floating point number, otherwise false.
fpprec Variable
Default value: 16
fpprec is the Maxima floating point precision. fpprec can be set to an integer
representing the desired precision.
fpprintprec Variable
Default value: 0
fpprintprec is the number of digits to print when printing a bigfloat number, making
it possible to compute with a large number of digits of precision, but have the answer
printed out with a smaller number of digits.
When fpprintprec is 0, or greater than or equal to fpprec, then the value of fpprec
controls the number of digits used for printing.
When fpprintprec has a value between 2 and fpprec - 1, then it controls the num-
ber of digits used. (The minimal number of digits used is 2, one to the left of the
point and one to the right.
The value 1 for fpprintprec is illegal.
?round (x) Lisp function

?round (x, divisor) Lisp function
Round the floating point x to the nearest integer. The argument must be an ordinary
float, not a bigfloat. The ? beginning the name indicates this is a Lisp function.
(%i1) ?round (-2.8);
(%o1) - 3
?truncate (x) Lisp function

?truncate (x, divisor) Lisp function
Truncate the floating point x towards 0, to become an integer. The argument must
be an ordinary float, not a bigfloat. The ? beginning the name indicates this is a Lisp
function.
Chapter 10: Floating Point 93
(%i1) ?truncate (-2.8);

(%o1) - 2
(%i2) ?truncate (2.4);
(%o2) 2
(%i3) ?truncate (2.8);
(%o3) 2
94 Maxima Manual
Chapter 11: Contexts 95
11 Contexts
11.1 Definitions for Contexts
activate (context 1, ..., context n) Function

Activates the contexts context 1, ..., context n. The facts in these contexts are then
available to make deductions and retrieve information. The facts in these contexts
are not listed by facts ().
The variable activecontexts is the list of contexts which are active by way of the
activate function.
activecontexts Variable
Default value: []
activecontexts is a list of the contexts which are active by way of the activate
function, as opposed to being active because they are subcontexts of the current
context.
assume (pred 1, ..., pred n) Function

Adds predicates pred 1, ..., pred n to the current database, after checking for redun-
dancy and inconsistency. If the predicates are consistent and non-redundant, they
are added to the data base; if inconsistent or redundant, no action is taken.
assume returns a list whose elements are the predicates added to the database and
the atoms redundant or inconsistent where applicable.
assumescalar Variable
Default value: true
assumescalar helps govern whether expressions expr for which nonscalarp (expr)
is false are assumed to behave like scalars for certain transformations.
Let expr represent any expression other than a list or a matrix, and let [1, 2, 3]
represent any list or matrix. Then expr . [1, 2, 3] yields [expr, 2 expr, 3 expr]
if assumescalar is true, or scalarp (expr) is true, or constantp (expr) is true.
If assumescalar is true, such expressions will behave like scalars only for commuta-
tive operators, but not for noncommutative multiplication ..
When assumescalar is false, such expressions will behave like non-scalars.
When assumescalar is all, such expressions will behave like scalars for all the op-
erators listed above.
assume pos Variable

When assume_pos is true and the sign of a parameter x cannot be determined from
the assume database or other considerations, sign and asksign (x) return true.
This may forestall some automatically-generated asksign queries, such as may arise
from integrate or other computations.
96 Maxima Manual
By default, a parameter is x such that symbolp (x) or subvarp (x). The class of
expressions considered parameters can be modified to some extent via the variable
assume_pos_pred.
sign and asksign attempt to deduce the sign of expressions from the sign of operands
within the expression. For example, if a and b are both positive, then a + b is also
positive.
However, there is no way to bypass all asksign queries. In particular, when the
asksign argument is a difference x - y or a logarithm log(x), asksign always re-
quests an input from the user, even when assume_pos is true and assume_pos_pred
is a function which returns true for all arguments.
assume pos pred Variable

When assume_pos_pred is assigned the name of a function or a lambda expression
of one argument x, that function is called to determine whether x is considered a
parameter for the purpose of assume_pos. assume_pos_pred is ignored when assume_
pos is false.
The assume_pos_pred function is called by sign and asksign with an argument x
which is either an atom, a subscripted variable, or a function call expression. If the
assume_pos_pred function returns true, x is considered a parameter for the purpose
of assume_pos.
By default, a parameter is x such that symbolp (x) or subvarp (x).
See also assume and assume_pos.
Examples:
(%i1) assume_pos: true$
(%i2) assume_pos_pred: symbolp$
(%i3) sign (a);
(%o3) pos
(%i4) sign (a[1]);
(%o4) pnz
(%i5) assume_pos_pred: lambda ([x], display (x), true)$
(%i6) asksign (a);
x = a
(%o6) pos
(%i7) asksign (a[1]);
x = a
1
(%o7) pos
(%i8) asksign (foo (a));
x = foo(a)
(%o8) pos
(%i9) asksign (foo (a) + bar (b));
x = foo(a)
x = bar(b)
(%o9) pos
(%i10) asksign (log (a));
x = a
Is a - 1 positive, negative, or zero?
p;
(%o10) pos
(%i11) asksign (a - b);
x = a
x = b
x = a
x = b
Is b - a positive, negative, or zero?
p;
(%o11) neg
context Variable
Default value: initial
context names the collection of facts maintained by assume and forget. assume
adds facts to the collection named by context, while forget removes facts.
Binding context to a name foo changes the current context to foo. If the specified
context foo does not yet exist, it is created automatically by a call to newcontext.
The specified context is activated automatically.
See context for a general description of the context mechanism.
contexts Variable
Default value: [initial, global]
contexts is a list of the contexts which currently exist, including the currently active
context.
The context mechanism makes it possible for a user to bind together and name a
selected portion of his database, called a context. Once this is done, the user can have
Maxima assume or forget large numbers of facts merely by activating or deactivating
their context.
Any symbolic atom can be a context, and the facts contained in that context will be
retained in storage until destroyed one by one by calling forget or destroyed as a
whole by calling kill to destroy the context to which they belong.
Contexts exist in a hierarchy, with the root always being the context global, which
contains information about Maxima that some functions need. When in a given
98 Maxima Manual
context, all the facts in that context are "active" (meaning that they are used in
deductions and retrievals) as are all the facts in any context which is a subcontext of
the active context.
When a fresh Maxima is started up, the user is in a context called initial, which
has global as a subcontext.
See also facts, newcontext, supcontext, killcontext, activate, deactivate,
assume, and forget.
deactivate (context 1, ..., context n) Function

Deactivates the specified contexts context 1, ..., context n.
facts (item) Function

facts () Function
If item is the name of a context, facts (item) returns a list of the facts in the specified
context.
If item is not the name of a context, facts (item) returns a list of the facts known
about item in the current context. Facts that are active, but in a different context,
are not listed.
facts () (i.e., without an argument) lists the current context.
features declaration
Maxima recognizes certain mathematical properties of functions and variables. These
are called "features".
declare (x, foo) gives the property foo to the function or variable x.
declare (foo, feature) declares a new feature foo. For example, declare ([red,
green, blue], feature) declares three new features, red, green, and blue.
The predicate featurep (x, foo) returns true if x has the foo property, and false
otherwise.
The infolist features is a list of known features. These are integer, noninteger,
even, odd, rational, irrational, real, imaginary, complex, analytic,
increasing, decreasing, oddfun, evenfun, posfun, commutative, lassociative,
rassociative, symmetric, and antisymmetric, plus any user-defined features.
features is a list of mathematical features. There is also a list of non-mathematical,
system-dependent features. See status.
forget (pred 1, ..., pred n) Function

forget (L) Function
Removes predicates established by assume. The predicates may be expressions equiv-
alent to (but not necessarily identical to) those previously assumed.
forget (L), where L is a list of predicates, forgets each item on the list.
killcontext (context 1, ..., context n) Function

Kills the contexts context 1, ..., context n.
If one of the contexts is the current context, the new current context will become the
first available subcontext of the current context which has not been killed. If the first
available unkilled context is global then initial is used instead. If the initial
context is killed, a new, empty initial context is created.
killcontext refuses to kill a context which is currently active, either because it is a
subcontext of the current context, or by use of the function activate.
newcontext (name) Function

Creates a new, empty context, called name, which has global as its only subcontext.
The newly-created context becomes the currently active context.
supcontext (name, context) Function

supcontext (name) Function
Creates a new context, called name, which has context as a subcontext. context must
exist.
If context is not specified, the current context is assumed.
100 Maxima Manual
Chapter 12: Polynomials 101
12 Polynomials
12.1 Introduction to Polynomials

Polynomials are stored in Maxima either in General Form or as Cannonical Rational
Expressions (CRE) form. The latter is a standard form, and is used internally by operations
such as factor, ratsimp, and so on.
Canonical Rational Expressions constitute a kind of representation which is especially
suitable for expanded polynomials and rational functions (as well as for partially factored
polynomials and rational functions when RATFAC is set to true). In this CRE form an
ordering of variables (from most to least main) is assumed for each expression. Polynomials
are represented recursively by a list consisting of the main variable followed by a series of
pairs of expressions, one for each term of the polynomial. The first member of each pair is
the exponent of the main variable in that term and the second member is the coefficient of
that term which could be a number or a polynomial in another variable again represented
in this form. Thus the principal part of the CRE form of 3*X^2-1 is (X 2 3 0 -1) and that of
2*X*Y+X-3 is (Y 1 (X 1 2) 0 (X 1 1 0 -3)) assuming Y is the main variable, and is (X 1 (Y 1
2 0 1) 0 -3) assuming X is the main variable. "Main"-ness is usually determined by reverse
alphabetical order. The "variables" of a CRE expression needn’t be atomic. In fact any
subexpression whose main operator is not + - * / or ^ with integer power will be considered
a "variable" of the expression (in CRE form) in which it occurs. For example the CRE
variables of the expression X+SIN(X+1)+2*SQRT(X)+1 are X, SQRT(X), and SIN(X+1). If
the user does not specify an ordering of variables by using the RATVARS function Maxima
will choose an alphabetic one. In general, CRE’s represent rational expressions, that is,
ratios of polynomials, where the numerator and denominator have no common factors,
and the denominator is positive. The internal form is essentially a pair of polynomials
(the numerator and denominator) preceded by the variable ordering list. If an expression
to be displayed is in CRE form or if it contains any subexpressions in CRE form, the
symbol /R/ will follow the line label. See the RAT function for converting an expression
to CRE form. An extended CRE form is used for the representation of Taylor series. The
notion of a rational expression is extended so that the exponents of the variables can be
positive or negative rational numbers rather than just positive integers and the coefficients
can themselves be rational expressions as described above rather than just polynomials.
These are represented internally by a recursive polynomial form which is similar to and
is a generalization of CRE form, but carries additional information such as the degree of
truncation. As with CRE form, the symbol /T/ follows the line label of such expressions.
12.2 Definitions for Polynomials
algebraic Variable
algebraic must be set to true in order for the simplification of algebraic integers to
take effect.
102 Maxima Manual
berlefact Variable
Default value: true
When berlefact is false then the Kronecker factoring algorithm will be used oth-
erwise the Berlekamp algorithm, which is the default, will be used.
bezout (p1, p2, x) Function

an alternative to the resultant command. It returns a matrix. determinant of this
matrix is the desired resultant.
bothcoef (expr, x) Function

Returns a list whose first member is the coefficient of x in expr (as found by ratcoef if
expr is in CRE form otherwise by coeff) and whose second member is the remaining
part of expr. That is, [A, B] where expr = A*x + B.
Example:
(%i1) islinear (expr, x) := block ([c],
c: bothcoef (rat (expr, x), x),
is (freeof (x, c) and c[1] # 0))$
(%i2) islinear ((r^2 - (x - r)^2)/x, x);
(%o2) true
coeff (expr, x, n) Function

Returns the coefficient of x^n in expr. n may be omitted if it is 1. x may be an
atom, or complete subexpression of expr e.g., sin(x), a[i+1], x + y, etc. (In the last
case the expression (x + y) should occur in expr). Sometimes it may be necessary to
expand or factor expr in order to make x^n explicit. This is not done automatically
by coeff.
Examples:
(%i1) coeff (2*a*tan(x) + tan(x) + b = 5*tan(x) + 3, tan(x));
(%o1) 2 a + 1 = 5
(%i2) coeff (y + x*%e^x + 1, x, 0);
(%o2) y + 1
combine (expr) Function

Simplifies the sum expr by combining terms with the same denominator into a single
term.
content (p 1, x 1, ..., x n) Function

Returns a list whose first element is the greatest common divisor of the coefficients
of the terms of the polynomial p 1 in the variable x n (this is the content) and whose
second element is the polynomial p 1 divided by the content.
Examples:
(%i1) content (2*x*y + 4*x^2*y^2, y);
2
(%o1) [2 x, 2 x y + y]
denom (expr) Function

Returns the denominator of the rational expression expr.
divide (p 1, p 2, x 1, ..., x n) Function

computes the quotient and remainder of the polynomial p 1 divided by the polynomial
p 2, in a main polynomial variable, x n. The other variables are as in the ratvars
function. The result is a list whose first element is the quotient and whose second
element is the remainder.
Examples:
(%i1) divide (x + y, x - y, x);
(%o1) [1, 2 y]
(%i2) divide (x + y, x - y);
(%o2) [- 1, 2 x]
Note that y is the main variable in the second example.
eliminate ([eqn 1, ..., eqn n], [x 1, ..., x k]) Function

Eliminates variables from equations (or expressions assumed equal to zero) by taking
successive resultants. This returns a list of n - k expressions with the k variables
x 1, ..., x k eliminated. First x 1 is eliminated yielding n - 1 expressions, then x_2
is eliminated, etc. If k = n then a single expression in a list is returned free of the
variables x 1, ..., x k. In this case solve is called to solve the last resultant for the
last variable.
Example:
(%i1) expr1: 2*x^2 + y*x + z;
2
(%o1) z + x y + 2 x
(%i2) expr2: 3*x + 5*y - z - 1;
(%o2) - z + 5 y + 3 x - 1
(%i3) expr3: z^2 + x - y^2 + 5;
2 2
(%o3) z - y + x + 5
(%i4) eliminate ([expr3, expr2, expr1], [y, z]);
8 7 6 5 4
(%o4) [7425 x - 1170 x + 1299 x + 12076 x + 22887 x
3 2
- 5154 x - 1291 x + 7688 x + 15376]
ezgcd (p 1, p 2, p 3, ...) Function

Returns a list whose first element is the g.c.d of the polynomials p 1, p 2, p 3, ... and
whose remaining elements are the polynomials divided by the g.c.d. This always uses
the ezgcd algorithm.
facexpand Variable
Default value: true
facexpand controls whether the irreducible factors returned by factor are in ex-
panded (the default) or recursive (normal CRE) form.
104 Maxima Manual
factcomb (expr) Function

Tries to combine the coefficients of factorials in expr with the factorials themselves
by converting, for example, (n + 1)*n! into (n + 1)!.
sumsplitfact if set to false will cause minfactorial to be applied after a factcomb.
factor (expr) Function

Factors the expression expr, containing any number of variables or functions, into
factors irreducible over the integers. factor (expr, p) factors expr over the field of
integers with an element adjoined whose minimum polynomial is p.
factorflag if false suppresses the factoring of integer factors of rational expressions.
dontfactor may be set to a list of variables with respect to which factoring is not
to occur. (It is initially empty). Factoring also will not take place with respect to
any variables which are less important (using the variable ordering assumed for CRE
form) than those on the dontfactor list.
savefactors if true causes the factors of an expression which is a product of factors
to be saved by certain functions in order to speed up later factorizations of expressions
containing some of the same factors.
berlefact if false then the Kronecker factoring algorithm will be used otherwise
the Berlekamp algorithm, which is the default, will be used.
intfaclim is the largest divisor which will be tried when factoring a bignum integer.
If set to false (this is the case when the user calls factor explicitly), or if the integer
is a fixnum (i.e. fits in one machine word), complete factorization of the integer will
be attempted. The user’s setting of intfaclim is used for internal calls to factor.
Thus, intfaclim may be reset to prevent Maxima from taking an inordinately long
time factoring large integers.
Examples:
(%i1) factor (2^63 - 1);
2
(%o1) 7 73 127 337 92737 649657
(%i2) factor (-8*y - 4*x + z^2*(2*y + x));
(%o2) (2 y + x) (z - 2) (z + 2)
(%i3) -1 - 2*x - x^2 + y^2 + 2*x*y^2 + x^2*y^2;
2 2 2 2 2
(%o3) x y + 2 x y + y - x - 2 x - 1
(%i4) block ([dontfactor: [x]], factor (%/36/(1 + 2*y + y^2)));
2
(x + 2 x + 1) (y - 1)
(%o4) ----------------------
36 (y + 1)
(%i5) factor (1 + %e^(3*x));
x 2 x x
(%o5) (%e + 1) (%e - %e + 1)
(%i6) factor (1 + x^4, a^2 - 2);
2 2
(%o6) (x - a x + 1) (x + a x + 1)
(%i7) factor (-y^2*z^2 - x*z^2 + x^2*y^2 + x^3);
2
(%o7) - (y + x) (z - x) (z + x)
(%i8) (2 + x)/(3 + x)/(b + x)/(c + x)^2;
x + 2
(%o8) ------------------------
2
(x + 3) (x + b) (x + c)
(%i9) ratsimp (%);
4 3
(%o9) (x + 2)/(x + (2 c + b + 3) x
2 2 2 2
+ (c + (2 b + 6) c + 3 b) x + ((b + 3) c + 6 b c) x + 3 b c )
(%i10) partfrac (%, x);
2 4 3
(%o10) - (c - 4 c - b + 6)/((c + (- 2 b - 6) c
2 2 2 2
+ (b + 12 b + 9) c + (- 6 b - 18 b) c + 9 b ) (x + c))
c - 2
- ---------------------------------
2 2
(c + (- b - 3) c + 3 b) (x + c)
b - 2
+ -------------------------------------------------
2 2 3 2
((b - 3) c + (6 b - 2 b ) c + b - 3 b ) (x + b)
1
- ----------------------------------------------
2
((b - 3) c + (18 - 6 b) c + 9 b - 27) (x + 3)
(%i11) map (’factor, %);
2
c - 4 c - b + 6 c - 2
(%o11) - ------------------------- - ------------------------
2 2 2
(c - 3) (c - b) (x + c) (c - 3) (c - b) (x + c)
b - 2 1
+ ------------------------ - ------------------------
2 2
(b - 3) (c - b) (x + b) (b - 3) (c - 3) (x + 3)
(%i12) ratsimp ((x^5 - 1)/(x - 1));
4 3 2
(%o12) x + x + x + x + 1
(%i13) subst (a, x, %);
106 Maxima Manual
4 3 2
(%o13) a + a + a + a + 1
(%i14) factor (%th(2), %);
2 3 3 2
(%o14) (x - a) (x - a ) (x - a ) (x + a + a + a + 1)
(%i15) factor (1 + x^12);
4 8 4
(%o15) (x + 1) (x - x + 1)
(%i16) factor (1 + x^99);
2 6 3
(%o16) (x + 1) (x - x + 1) (x - x + 1)
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
(x - x + x - x + x - x + x - x + x - x + 1)
20 19 17 16 14 13 11 10 9 7 6
(x + x - x - x + x + x - x - x - x + x + x
4 3 60 57 51 48 42 39 33
- x - x + x + 1) (x + x - x - x + x + x - x
30 27 21 18 12 9 3
- x - x + x + x - x - x + x + 1)
factorflag Variable
When factorflag is false, suppresses the factoring of integer factors of rational
expressions.
factorout (expr, x 1, x 2, ...) Function

Rearranges the sum expr into a sum of terms of the form f (x 1, x 2, ...)*g where
g is a product of expressions not containing any x i and f is factored.
factorsum (expr) Function

Tries to group terms in factors of expr which are sums into groups of terms such that
their sum is factorable. factorsum can recover the result of expand ((x + y)^2 + (z
+ w)^2) but it can’t recover expand ((x + 1)^2 + (x + y)^2) because the terms have
variables in common.
Example:
(%i1) expand ((x + 1)*((u + v)^2 + a*(w + z)^2));
2 2 2 2
(%o1) a x z + a z + 2 a w x z + 2 a w z + a w x + v x
2 2 2 2
+ 2 u v x + u x + a w + v + 2 u v + u
(%i2) factorsum (%);
2 2
(%o2) (x + 1) (a (z + w) + (v + u) )
fasttimes (p 1, p 2) Function
Returns the product of the polynomials p 1 and p 2 by using a special algorithm for
multiplication of polynomials. p_1 and p_2 should be multivariate, dense, and nearly
the same size. Classical multiplication is of order n_1 n_2 where n_1 is the degree of
p_1 and n_2 is the degree of p_2. fasttimes is of order max (n_1, n_2)^1.585.
fullratsimp (expr) Function

fullratsimp repeatedly applies ratsimp followed by non-rational simplification to
an expression until no further change occurs, and returns the result.
When non-rational expressions are involved, one call to ratsimp followed as is usual
by non-rational ("general") simplification may not be sufficient to return a simplified
result. Sometimes, more than one such call may be necessary. fullratsimp makes
this process convenient.
fullratsimp (expr, x 1, ..., x n) takes one or more arguments similar to ratsimp
and rat.
Example:
(%i1) expr: (x^(a/2) + 1)^2*(x^(a/2) - 1)^2/(xâ - 1);
a/2 2 a/2 2
(x - 1) (x + 1)
(%o1) -----------------------
a
x - 1
(%i2) ratsimp (expr);
2 a a
x - 2 x + 1
(%o2) ---------------
a
x - 1
(%i3) fullratsimp (expr);
a
(%o3) x - 1
(%i4) rat (expr);
a/2 4 a/2 2
(x ) - 2 (x ) + 1
(%o4)/R/ -----------------------
a
x - 1
fullratsubst (a, b, c) Function

is the same as ratsubst except that it calls itself recursively on its result until that
result stops changing. This function is useful when the replacement expression and
the replaced expression have one or more variables in common.
fullratsubst will also accept its arguments in the format of lratsubst. That is,
the first argument may be a single substitution equation or a list of such equations,
while the second argument is the expression being processed.
load ("lrats") loads fullratsubst and lratsubst.
Examples:
108 Maxima Manual
(%i1) load ("lrats")$

• subst can carry out multiple substitutions. lratsubst is analogous to subst.
(%i2) subst ([a = b, c = d], a + c);
(%o2) d + b
(%i3) lratsubst ([a^2 = b, c^2 = d], (a + e)*c*(a + c));
(%o3) (d + a c) e + a d + b c
• If only one substitution is desired, then a single equation may be given as first
argument.
(%i4) lratsubst (a^2 = b, a^3);
(%o4) a b
• fullratsubst is equivalent to ratsubst except that it recurses until its result
stops changing.
(%i5) ratsubst (b*a, a^2, a^3);
2
(%o5) a b
(%i6) fullratsubst (b*a, a^2, a^3);
2
(%o6) a b
• fullratsubst also accepts a list of equations or a single equation as first argu-
ment.
(%i7) fullratsubst ([a^2 = b, b^2 = c, c^2 = a], a^3*b*c);
(%o7) b
(%i8) fullratsubst (a^2 = b*a, a^3);
2
(%o8) a b
• fullratsubst may cause an indefinite recursion.
(%i9) errcatch (fullratsubst (b*a^2, a^2, a^3));
*** - Lisp stack overflow. RESET
gcd (p 1, p 2, x 1, ...) Function

Returns the greatest common divisor of p 1 and p 2. The flag gcd determines which
algorithm is employed. Setting gcd to ez, eez, subres, red, or spmod selects the
ezgcd, New eez gcd, subresultant prs, reduced, or modular algorithm, respectively. If
gcd false then GCD(p1,p2,var) will always return 1 for all var. Many functions (e.g.
ratsimp, factor, etc.) cause gcd’s to be taken implicitly. For homogeneous polyno-
mials it is recommended that gcd equal to subres be used. To take the gcd when an
algebraic is present, e.g. GCD(X^2-2*SQRT(2)*X+2,X-SQRT(2)); , algebraic must
be true and gcd must not be ez. subres is a new algorithm, and people who have
been using the red setting should probably change it to subres.
The gcd flag, default: subres, if false will also prevent the greatest common divisor
from being taken when expressions are converted to canonical rational expression
(CRE) form. This will sometimes speed the calculation if gcds are not required.
gcdex (f, g) Function

gcdex (f, g, x) Function
Returns a list [a, b, u] where u is the greatest common divisor (gcd) of f and g, and
u is equal to a f + b g. The arguments f and g should be univariate polynomials,
or else polynomials in x a supplied main variable since we need to be in a principal
ideal domain for this to work. The gcd means the gcd regarding f and g as univariate
polynomials with coefficients being rational functions in the other variables.
gcdex implements the Euclidean algorithm, where we have a sequence of L[i]:
[a[i], b[i], r[i]] which are all perpendicular to [f, g, -1] and the next one
is built as if q = quotient(r[i]/r[i+1]) then L[i+2]: L[i] - q L[i+1], and it ter-
minates at L[i+1] when the remainder r[i+2] is zero.
(%i1) gcdex (x^2 + 1, x^3 + 4);
2
x + 4 x - 1 x + 4
(%o1)/R/ [- ------------, -----, 1]
17 17
(%i2) % . [x^2 + 1, x^3 + 4, -1];
(%o2)/R/ 0
Note that the gcd in the following is 1 since we work in k(y)[x], not the y+1 we
would expect in k[y, x].
(%i1) gcdex (x*(y + 1), y^2 - 1, x);
1
(%o1)/R/ [0, ------, 1]
2
y - 1
gcfactor (n) Function

Factors the Gaussian integer n over the Gaussian integers, i.e., numbers of the form
a + b %i where a and b are rational integers (i.e., ordinary integers). Factors are
normalized by making a and b non-negative.
gfactor (expr) Function

Factors the polynomial expr over the Gaussian integers (that is, the integers with the
imaginary unit %i adjoined). This is like factor (expr, a^2+1) where a is %i.
Example:
(%i1) gfactor (x^4 - 1);
(%o1) (x - 1) (x + 1) (x - %i) (x + %i)
gfactorsum (expr) Function

is similar to factorsum but applies gfactor instead of factor.
hipow (expr, x) Function

Returns the highest explicit exponent of x in expr. x may be a variable or a general
expression. If x does not appear in expr, hipow returns 0.
110 Maxima Manual
hipow does not consider expressions equivalent to expr. In particular, hipow does not
expand expr, so hipow (expr, x) and hipow (expand (expr, x)) may yield different
results.
Examples:
(%i1) hipow (y^3 * x^2 + x * y^4, x);
(%o1) 2
(%i2) hipow ((x + y)^5, x);
(%o2) 1
(%i3) hipow (expand ((x + y)^5), x);
(%o3) 5
(%i4) hipow ((x + y)^5, x + y);
(%o4) 5
(%i5) hipow (expand ((x + y)^5), x + y);
(%o5) 0
intfaclim Variable
Default value: 1000
intfaclim is the largest divisor which will be tried when factoring a bignum integer.
When intfaclim is false (this is the case when the user calls factor explicitly),
or if the integer is a fixnum (i.e., fits in one machine word), factors of any size are
considered. intfaclim is set to false when factors are computed in divsum, totient,
and primep.
Internal calls to factor respect the user-specified value of intfaclim. Setting
intfaclim to a smaller value may reduce the time spent factoring large integers.
keepfloat Variable
When keepfloat is true, prevents floating point numbers from being rationalized
when expressions which contain them are converted to canonical rational expression
(CRE) form.
lratsubst (L, expr) Function

is analogous to subst (L, expr) except that it uses ratsubst instead of subst.
The first argument of lratsubst is an equation or a list of equations identical in
format to that accepted by subst. The substitutions are made in the order given by
the list of equations, that is, from left to right.
load ("lrats") loads fullratsubst and lratsubst.
Examples:
(%i1) load ("lrats")$
• subst can carry out multiple substitutions. lratsubst is analogous to subst.
(%i2) subst ([a = b, c = d], a + c);
(%o2) d + b
(%i3) lratsubst ([a^2 = b, c^2 = d], (a + e)*c*(a + c));
(%o3) (d + a c) e + a d + b c
• If only one substitution is desired, then a single equation may be given as first
argument.
(%i4) lratsubst (a^2 = b, a^3);
(%o4) a b
modulus Variable
When modulus is a positive number p, operations on rational numbers (as returned by
rat and related functions) are carried out modulo p, using the so-called "balanced"
modulus system in which n modulo p is defined as an integer k in [-(p-1)/2, ...,
0, ..., (p-1)/2] when p is odd, or [-(p/2 - 1), ..., 0, ...., p/2] when p is
even, such that a p + k equals n for some integer a.
If expr is already in canonical rational expression (CRE) form when modulus is reset,
then you may need to re-rat expr, e.g., expr: rat (ratdisrep (expr)), in order to
get correct results.
Typically modulus is set to a prime number. If modulus is set to a positive non-prime
integer, this setting is accepted, but a warning message is displayed. Maxima will
allow zero or a negative integer to be assigned to modulus, although it is not clear if
that has any useful consequences.
num (expr) Function

Returns the numerator of expr if it is a ratio. If expr is not a ratio, expr is returned.
num evaluates its argument.
quotient (p 1, p 2) Function
quotient (p 1, p 2, x 1, ..., x n) Function
Returns the polynomial p 1 divided by the polynomial p 2. The arguments x 1, ...,
x n are interpreted as in ratvars.
quotient returns the first element of the two-element list returned by divide.
rat (expr) Function

rat (expr, x 1, ..., x n) Function
Converts expr to canonical rational expression (CRE) form by expanding and com-
bining all terms over a common denominator and cancelling out the greatest common
divisor of the numerator and denominator, as well as converting floating point num-
bers to rational numbers within a tolerance of ratepsilon. The variables are ordered
according to the x 1, ..., x n, if specified, as in ratvars.
rat does not generally simplify functions other than addition +, subtraction -, mul-
tiplication *, division /, and exponentiation to an integer power, whereas ratsimp
does handle those cases. Note that atoms (numbers and variables) in CRE form are
not the same as they are in the general form. For example, rat(x)- x yields rat(0)
which has a different internal representation than 0.
When ratfac is true, rat yields a partially factored form for CRE. During ratio-
nal operations the expression is maintained as fully factored as possible without an
actual call to the factor package. This should always save space and may save some
112 Maxima Manual
time in some computations. The numerator and denominator are still made rela-
tively prime (e.g. rat ((x^2 - 1)^4/(x + 1)^2) yields (x - 1)^4 (x + 1)^2), but
the factors within each part may not be relatively prime.
ratprint if false suppresses the printout of the message informing the user of the
conversion of floating point numbers to rational numbers.
keepfloat if true prevents floating point numbers from being converted to rational
numbers.
See also ratexpand and ratsimp.
Examples:
(%i1) ((x - 2*y)^4/(x^2 - 4*y^2)^2 + 1)*(y + a)*(2*y + x) /(4*y^2 + x^2);
4
(x - 2 y)
(y + a) (2 y + x) (------------ + 1)
2 2 2
(x - 4 y )
(%o1) ------------------------------------
2 2
4 y + x
(%i2) rat (%, y, a, x);
2 a + 2 y
(%o2)/R/ ---------
x + 2 y
ratalgdenom Variable
Default value: true
When ratalgdenom is true, allows rationalization of denominators with respect to
radicals to take effect. ratalgdenom has an effect only when canonical rational ex-
pressions (CRE) are used in algebraic mode.
ratcoef (expr, x, n) Function

ratcoef (expr, x) Function
Returns the coefficient of the expression x^n in the expression expr. If omitted, n is
assumed to be 1.
The return value is free (except possibly in a non-rational sense) of the variables in
x. If no coefficient of this type exists, 0 is returned.
ratcoef expands and rationally simplifies its first argument and thus it may pro-
duce answers different from those of coeff which is purely syntactic. Thus RAT-
COEF((X+1)/Y+X,X) returns (Y+1)/Y whereas coeff returns 1.
ratcoef (expr, x, 0), viewing expr as a sum, returns a sum of those terms which
do not contain x. Therefore if x occurs to any negative powers, ratcoef should not
be used.
Since expr is rationally simplified before it is examined, coefficients may not appear
quite the way they were envisioned.
Example:
(%i1) s: a*x + b*x + 5$

(%i2) ratcoef (s, a + b);
(%o2) x
ratdenom (expr) Function

Returns the denominator of expr, after coercing expr to a canonical rational expres-
sion (CRE). The return value is a CRE.
expr is coerced to a CRE by rat if it is not already a CRE. This conversion may
change the form of expr by putting all terms over a common denominator.
denom is similar, but returns an ordinary expression instead of a CRE. Also, denom
does not attempt to place all terms over a common denominator, and thus some
expressions which are considered ratios by ratdenom are not considered ratios by
denom.
ratdenomdivide Variable
Default value: true
When ratdenomdivide is true, ratexpand expands a ratio in which the numerator is
a sum into a sum of ratios, all having a common denominator. Otherwise, ratexpand
collapses a sum of ratios into a single ratio, the numerator of which is the sum of the
numerators of each ratio.
Examples:
(%i1) expr: (x^2 + x + 1)/(y^2 + 7);
2
x + x + 1
(%o1) ----------
2
y + 7
(%i2) ratdenomdivide: true$
(%i3) ratexpand (expr);
2
x x 1
(%o3) ------ + ------ + ------
2 2 2
y + 7 y + 7 y + 7
(%i4) ratdenomdivide: false$
2
x + x + 1
(%o5) ----------
2
y + 7
(%i6) expr2: a^2/(b^2 + 3) + b/(b^2 + 3);
2
b a
(%o6) ------ + ------
2 2
b + 3 b + 3
114 Maxima Manual
(%i7) ratexpand (expr2);

2
b + a
(%o7) ------
2
b + 3
ratdiff (expr, x) Function

Differentiates the rational expression expr with respect to x. expr must be a ra-
tio of polynomials or a polynomial in x. The argument x may be a variable or a
subexpression of expr.
The result is equivalent to diff, although perhaps in a different form. ratdiff may
be faster than diff, for rational expressions.
ratdiff returns a canonical rational expression (CRE) if expr is a CRE. Otherwise,
ratdiff returns a general expression.
ratdiff considers only the dependence of expr on x, and ignores any dependencies
established by depends.
Example:
(%i1) expr: (4*x^3 + 10*x - 11)/(x^5 + 5);
3
4 x + 10 x - 11
(%o1) ----------------
5
x + 5
(%i2) ratdiff (expr, x);
7 5 4 2
8 x + 40 x - 55 x - 60 x - 50
(%o2) - ---------------------------------
10 5
x + 10 x + 25
(%i3) expr: f(x)^3 - f(x)^2 + 7;
3 2
(%o3) f (x) - f (x) + 7
(%i4) ratdiff (expr, f(x));
2
(%o4) 3 f (x) - 2 f(x)
(%i5) expr: (a + b)^3 + (a + b)^2;
3 2
(%o5) (b + a) + (b + a)
(%i6) ratdiff (expr, a + b);
2 2
(%o6) 3 b + (6 a + 2) b + 3 a + 2 a
ratdisrep (expr) Function

Returns its argument as a general expression. If expr is a general expression, it is
returned unchanged.
Typically ratdisrep is called to convert a canonical rational expression (CRE) into

a general expression. This is sometimes convenient if one wishes to stop the "conta-
gion", or use rational functions in non-rational contexts.
See also totaldisrep.
ratepsilon Variable
Default value: 2.0e-8
ratepsilon is the tolerance used in the conversion of floating point numbers to ra-
tional numbers.
ratexpand (expr) Function

ratexpand Variable
Expands expr by multiplying out products of sums and exponentiated sums, com-
bining fractions over a common denominator, cancelling the greatest common divisor
of the numerator and denominator, then splitting the numerator (if a sum) into its
respective terms divided by the denominator.
The return value of ratexpand is a general expression, even if expr is a canonical
rational expression (CRE).
The switch ratexpand if true will cause CRE expressions to be fully expanded when
they are converted back to general form or displayed, while if it is false then they
will be put into a recursive form. See also ratsimp.
When ratdenomdivide is true, ratexpand expands a ratio in which the numerator is
a sum into a sum of ratios, all having a common denominator. Otherwise, ratexpand
collapses a sum of ratios into a single ratio, the numerator of which is the sum of the
numerators of each ratio.
When keepfloat is true, prevents floating point numbers from being rationalized
when expressions which contain them are converted to canonical rational expression
(CRE) form.
Examples:
(%i1) ratexpand ((2*x - 3*y)^3);
3 2 2 3
(%o1) - 27 y + 54 x y - 36 x y + 8 x
(%i2) expr: (x - 1)/(x + 1)^2 + 1/(x - 1);
x - 1 1
(%o2) -------- + -----
2 x - 1
(x + 1)
(%i3) expand (expr);
x 1 1
(%o3) ------------ - ------------ + -----
2 2 x - 1
x + 2 x + 1 x + 2 x + 1
2
2 x 2
(%o4) --------------- + ---------------
116 Maxima Manual
3 2 3 2
x + x - x - 1 x + x - x - 1
ratfac Variable
When ratfac is true, canonical rational expressions (CRE) are manipulated in a
partially factored form.
During rational operations the expression is maintained as fully factored as possi-
ble without calling factor. This should always save space and may save time in
some computations. The numerator and denominator are made relatively prime, for
example rat ((x^2 - 1)^4/(x + 1)^2) yields (x - 1)^4 (x + 1)^2), but the factors
within each part may not be relatively prime.
In the ctensr (Component Tensor Manipulation) package, Ricci, Einstein, Riemann,
and Weyl tensors and the scalar curvature are factored automatically when ratfac is
true. ratfac should only be set for cases where the tensorial components are known
to consist of few terms.
The ratfac and ratweight schemes are incompatible and may not both be used at
the same time.
ratnumer (expr) Function

Returns the numerator of expr, after coercing expr to a canonical rational expression
(CRE). The return value is a CRE.
expr is coerced to a CRE by rat if it is not already a CRE. This conversion may
change the form of expr by putting all terms over a common denominator.
num is similar, but returns an ordinary expression instead of a CRE. Also, num does not
attempt to place all terms over a common denominator, and thus some expressions
which are considered ratios by ratnumer are not considered ratios by num.
ratnump (expr) Function

Returns true if expr is a literal integer or ratio of literal integers, otherwise false.
ratp (expr) Function

Returns true if expr is a canonical rational expression (CRE) or extended CRE,
otherwise false.
CRE are created by rat and related functions. Extended CRE are created by taylor
and related functions.
ratprint Variable
Default value: true
When ratprint is true, a message informing the user of the conversion of floating
point numbers to rational numbers is displayed.
ratsimp (expr) Function

ratsimp (expr, x 1, ..., x n) Function
Simplifies the expression expr and all of its subexpressions, including the arguments
to non-rational functions. The result is returned as the quotient of two polynomials
in a recursive form, that is, the coefficients of the main variable are polynomials in
the other variables. Variables may include non-rational functions (e.g., sin (x^2 +
1)) and the arguments to any such functions are also rationally simplified.
ratsimp (expr, x 1, ..., x n) enables rational simplification with the specification
of variable ordering as in ratvars.
When ratsimpexpons is true, ratsimp is applied to the exponents of expressions
during simplification.
See also ratexpand. Note that ratsimp is affected by some of the flags which affect
ratexpand.
Examples:
(%i1) sin (x/(x^2 + x)) = exp ((log(x) + 1)^2 - log(x)^2);
2 2
x (log(x) + 1) - log (x)
(%o1) sin(------) = %e
2
x + x
(%i2) ratsimp (%);
1 2
(%o2) sin(-----) = %e x
x + 1
(%i3) ((x - 1)^(3/2) - (x + 1)*sqrt(x - 1))/sqrt((x - 1)*(x + 1));
3/2
(x - 1) - sqrt(x - 1) (x + 1)
(%o3) --------------------------------
sqrt((x - 1) (x + 1))
(%i4) ratsimp (%);
2 sqrt(x - 1)
(%o4) - -------------
2
sqrt(x - 1)
(%i5) x^(a + 1/a), ratsimpexpons: true;
2
a + 1
------
a
(%o5) x
ratsimpexpons Variable
When ratsimpexpons is true, ratsimp is applied to the exponents of expressions
during simplification.
118 Maxima Manual
ratsubst (a, b, c) Function

Substitutes a for b in c and returns the resulting expression. b may be a sum, product,
power, etc.
ratsubst knows something of the meaning of expressions whereas subst does a purely
syntactic substitution. Thus subst (a, x + y, x + y + z) returns x + y + z whereas
ratsubst returns z + a.
When radsubstflag is true, ratsubst makes substitutions for radicals in expressions
which don’t explicitly contain them.
Examples:
(%i1) ratsubst (a, x*y^2, x^4*y^3 + x^4*y^8);
3 4
(%o1) a x y + a
(%i2) cos(x)^4 + cos(x)^3 + cos(x)^2 + cos(x) + 1;
4 3 2
(%o2) cos (x) + cos (x) + cos (x) + cos(x) + 1
(%i3) ratsubst (1 - sin(x)^2, cos(x)^2, %);
4 2 2
(%o3) sin (x) - 3 sin (x) + cos(x) (2 - sin (x)) + 3
(%i4) ratsubst (1 - cos(x)^2, sin(x)^2, sin(x)^4);
4 2
(%o4) cos (x) - 2 cos (x) + 1
(%i5) radsubstflag: false$
(%i6) ratsubst (u, sqrt(x), x);
(%o6) x
(%i7) radsubstflag: true$
(%i8) ratsubst (u, sqrt(x), x);
2
(%o8) u
ratvars (x 1, ..., x n) Function

ratvars () Function
ratvars Variable
Declares main variables x 1, ..., x n for rational expressions. x n, if present in a
rational expression, is considered the main variable. Otherwise, x [n-1] is considered
the main variable if present, and so on through the preceding variables to x 1, which
is considered the main variable only if none of the succeeding variables are present.
If a variable in a rational expression is not present in the ratvars list, it is given a
lower priority than x 1.
The arguments to ratvars can be either variables or non-rational functions such as
sin(x).
The variable ratvars is a list of the arguments of the function ratvars when it was
called most recently. Each call to the function ratvars resets the list. ratvars ()
clears the list.
ratweight (x 1, w 1, ..., x n, w n) Function

ratweight () Function
Assigns a weight w i to the variable x i. This causes a term to be replaced by 0 if
its weight exceeds the value of the variable ratwtlvl (default yields no truncation).
The weight of a term is the sum of the products of the weight of a variable in the
term times its power. For example, the weight of 3 x_1^2 x_2 is 2 w_1 + w_2. Trun-
cation according to ratwtlvl is carried out only when multiplying or exponentiating
canonical rational expressions (CRE).
ratweight () returns the cumulative list of weight assignments.
Note: The ratfac and ratweight schemes are incompatible and may not both be
used at the same time.
Examples:
(%i1) ratweight (a, 1, b, 1);
(%o1) [a, 1, b, 1]
(%i2) expr1: rat(a + b + 1)$
(%i3) expr1^2;
2 2
(%o3)/R/ b + (2 a + 2) b + a + 2 a + 1
(%i4) ratwtlvl: 1$
(%i5) expr1^2;
(%o5)/R/ 2 b + 2 a + 1
ratweights Variable
Default value: []
ratweights is the list of weights assigned by ratweight. The list is cumulative: each
call to ratweight places additional items in the list.
kill (ratweights) and save (ratweights) both work as expected.
ratwtlvl Variable
ratwtlvl is used in combination with the ratweight function to control the trun-
cation of canonical rational expressions (CRE). For the default value of false, no
truncation occurs.
remainder (p 1, p 2) Function
remainder (p 1, p 2, x 1, ..., x n) Function
Returns the remainder of the polynomial p 1 divided by the polynomial p 2. The
arguments x 1, ..., x n are interpreted as in ratvars.
remainder returns the second element of the two-element list returned by divide.
resultant (p 1, p 2, x) Function
resultant Variable
Computes the resultant of the two polynomials p 1 and p 2, eliminating the variable
x. The resultant is a determinant of the coefficients of x in p 1 and p 2, which equals
zero if and only if p 1 and p 2 have a non-constant factor in common.
120 Maxima Manual
If p 1 or p 2 can be factored, it may be desirable to call factor before calling

resultant.
The variable resultant controls which algorithm will be used to compute the re-
sultant. subres for subresultant prs, mod for modular resultant algorithm, and red
for reduced prs. On most problems subres should be best. On some large degree
univariate or bivariate problems mod may be better.
The function bezout takes the same arguments as resultant and returns a matrix.
The determinant of the return value is the desired resultant.
savefactors Variable
When savefactors is true, causes the factors of an expression which is a product
of factors to be saved by certain functions in order to speed up later factorizations of
expressions containing some of the same factors.
sqfr (expr) Function

is similar to factor except that the polynomial factors are "square-free." That is,
they have factors only of degree one. This algorithm, which is also used by the first
stage of factor, utilizes the fact that a polynomial has in common with its n’th
derivative all its factors of degree greater than n. Thus by taking greatest common
divisors with the polynomial of the derivatives with respect to each variable in the
polynomial, all factors of degree greater than 1 can be found.
Example:
(%i1) sqfr (4*x^4 + 4*x^3 - 3*x^2 - 4*x - 1);
2 2
(%o1) (2 x + 1) (x - 1)
tellrat (p 1, ..., p n) Function

tellrat () Function
Adds to the ring of algebraic integers known to Maxima the elements which are the
solutions of the polynomials p 1, ..., p n. Each argument p i is a polynomial with
integer coefficients.
tellrat (x) effectively means substitute 0 for x in rational functions.
tellrat () returns a list of the current substitutions.
algebraic must be set to true in order for the simplification of algebraic integers to
take effect.
Maxima initially knows about the imaginary unit %i and all roots of integers.
There is a command untellrat which takes kernels and removes tellrat properties.
When tellrat’ing a multivariate polynomial, e.g., tellrat (x^2 - y^2), there would
be an ambiguity as to whether to substitute y^2 for x^2 or vice versa. Maxima picks
a particular ordering, but if the user wants to specify which, e.g. tellrat (y^2 =
x^2) provides a syntax which says replace y^2 by x^2.
Examples:
(%i1) 10*(%i + 1)/(%i + 3^(1/3));

10 (%i + 1)
(%o1) -----------
1/3
%i + 3
(%i2) ev (ratdisrep (rat(%)), algebraic);
2/3 1/3 2/3 1/3
(%o2) (4 3 - 2 3 - 4) %i + 2 3 + 4 3 - 2
(%i3) tellrat (1 + a + a^2);
2
(%o3) [a + a + 1]
(%i4) 1/(a*sqrt(2) - 1) + a/(sqrt(3) + sqrt(2));
1 a
(%o4) ------------- + -----------------
sqrt(2) a - 1 sqrt(3) + sqrt(2)
(%i5) ev (ratdisrep (rat(%)), algebraic);
(7 sqrt(3) - 10 sqrt(2) + 2) a - 2 sqrt(2) - 1
(%o5) ----------------------------------------------
7
(%i6) tellrat (y^2 = x^2);
2 2 2
(%o6) [y - x , a + a + 1]
totaldisrep (expr) Function

Converts every subexpression of expr from canonical rational expressions (CRE) to
general form and returns the result. If expr is itself in CRE form then totaldisrep
is identical to ratdisrep.
totaldisrep may be useful for ratdisrepping expressions such as equations, lists,
matrices, etc., which have some subexpressions in CRE form.
untellrat (x 1, ..., x n) Function

Removes tellrat properties from x 1, ..., x n.
122 Maxima Manual
Chapter 13: Constants 123
13 Constants
13.1 Definitions for Constants
%e Constant
- The base of natural logarithms, e, is represented in Maxima as %e.
false Constant
- the Boolean constant, false. (NIL in Lisp)
%inf Constant
- real positive infinity.
%infinity Constant
- complex infinity.
%minf Constant
- real minus infinity.
pi Constant
- "pi" is represented in Maxima as %pi.
true Constant
- the Boolean constant, true. (T in Lisp)
124 Maxima Manual
Chapter 14: Logarithms 125
14 Logarithms
14.1 Definitions for Logarithms
%e to numlog option variable

When true, r some rational number, and x some expression, %e^(r*log(x)) will
be simplified into x^r . It should be noted that the radcan command also does
this transformation, and more complicated transformations of this ilk as well. The
logcontract command "contracts" expressions containing log.
log (x) Function

Represents the natural logarithm of x.
Simplification and evaluation of logarithms is governed by several global flags:
logexpand - causes log(a^b) to become b*log(a). If it is set to all, log(a*b) will
also simplify to log(a)+log(b). If it is set to super, then log(a/b) will also simplify
to log(a)-log(b) for rational numbers a/b, a#1. (log(1/b), for b integer, always
simplifies.) If it is set to false, all of these simplifications will be turned off.
logsimp - if false then no simplification of %e to a power containing log’s is done.
lognumer - if true then negative floating point arguments to log will always be
converted to their absolute value before the log is taken. If numer is also true, then
negative integer arguments to log will also be converted to their absolute value.
lognegint - if true implements the rule log(-n) -> log(n)+%i*%pi for n a positive
integer.
%e_to_numlog - when true, r some rational number, and x some expression,
%e^(r*log(x)) will be simplified into x^r . It should be noted that the radcan
command also does this transformation, and more complicated transformations of
this ilk as well. The logcontract command "contracts" expressions containing log.
logabs option variable

When doing indefinite integration where logs are generated, e.g. integrate(1/x,x),
the answer is given in terms of log(abs(...)) if logabs is true, but in terms of
log(...) if logabs is false. For definite integration, the logabs:true setting is
used, because here "evaluation" of the indefinite integral at the endpoints is often
needed.
logarc option variable

If true will cause the inverse circular and hyperbolic functions to be converted into
logarithmic form. logarc(exp) will cause this conversion for a particular expression
exp without setting the switch or having to re-evaluate the expression with ev.
126 Maxima Manual
logconcoeffp option variable

Controls which coefficients are contracted when using logcontract. It may be set to
the name of a predicate function of one argument. E.g. if you like to generate SQRTs,
you can do logconcoeffp:’logconfun$ logconfun(m):=featurep(m,integer) or
ratnump(m)$ . Then logcontract(1/2*log(x)); will give log(sqrt(x)).
logcontract (expr) Function

Recursively scans the expression expr, transforming subexpressions of the form
a1*log(b1) + a2*log(b2) + c into log(ratsimp(b1â1 * b2â2)) + c
(%i1) 2*(a*log(x) + 2*a*log(y))$
(%i2) logcontract(%);
2 4
(%o2) a log(x y )
If you do declare(n,integer); then logcontract(2*a*n*log(x)); gives

a*log(x^(2*n)). The coefficients that "contract" in this manner are those such
as the 2 and the n here which satisfy featurep(coeff,integer). The user can
control which coefficients are contracted by setting the option logconcoeffp to the
name of a predicate function of one argument. E.g. if you like to generate SQRTs,
you can do logconcoeffp:’logconfun$ logconfun(m):=featurep(m,integer) or
ratnump(m)$ . Then logcontract(1/2*log(x)); will give log(sqrt(x)).
logexpand option variable

Default value: true
Causes log(a^b) to become b*log(a). If it is set to all, log(a*b) will also simplify
to log(a)+log(b). If it is set to super, then log(a/b) will also simplify to log(a)-
log(b) for rational numbers a/b, a#1. (log(1/b), for integer b, always simplifies.)
If it is set to false, all of these simplifications will be turned off.
lognegint option variable

If true implements the rule log(-n) -> log(n)+%i*%pi for n a positive integer.
lognumer option variable

If true then negative floating point arguments to log will always be converted to
their absolute value before the log is taken. If numer is also true, then negative
integer arguments to log will also be converted to their absolute value.
logsimp option variable

Default value: true
If false then no simplification of %e to a power containing log’s is done.
plog (x) Function

Represents the principal branch of the complex-valued natural logarithm with -%pi
< carg(x) <= +%pi .
Chapter 15: Trigonometric 127
15 Trigonometric
15.1 Introduction to Trigonometric

Maxima has many trigonometric functions defined. Not all trigonometric identities are
programmed, but it is possible for the user to add many of them using the pattern matching
capabilities of the system. The trigonometric functions defined in Maxima are: acos,
acosh, acot, acoth, acsc, acsch, asec, asech, asin, asinh, atan, atanh, cos, cosh,
cot, coth, csc, csch, sec, sech, sin, sinh, tan, and tanh. There are a number of
commands especially for handling trigonometric functions, see trigexpand, trigreduce,
and the switch trigsign. Two share packages extend the simplification rules built into
Maxima, ntrig and atrig1. Do describe(command) for details.
15.2 Definitions for Trigonometric
acos (x) Function

- Arc Cosine.
acosh (x) Function

- Hyperbolic Arc Cosine.
acot (x) Function

- Arc Cotangent.
acoth (x) Function

- Hyperbolic Arc Cotangent.
acsc (x) Function

- Arc Cosecant.
acsch (x) Function

- Hyperbolic Arc Cosecant.
asec (x) Function

- Arc Secant.
asech (x) Function

- Hyperbolic Arc Secant.
asin (x) Function

- Arc Sine.
asinh (x) Function

- Hyperbolic Arc Sine.
128 Maxima Manual
atan (x) Function

- Arc Tangent.
atan2 (y, x) Function

- yields the value of atan(y/x) in the interval -%pi to %pi.
atanh (x) Function

- Hyperbolic Arc Tangent.
atrig1 Package
The atrig1 package contains several additional simplification rules for inverse trigono-
metric functions. Together with rules already known to Maxima, the following angles
are fully implemented: 0, %pi/6, %pi/4, %pi/3, and %pi/2. Corresponding angles in
the other three quadrants are also available. Do load(atrig1); to use them.
cos (x) Function

- Cosine.
cosh (x) Function

- Hyperbolic Cosine.
cot (x) Function

- Cotangent.
coth (x) Function

- Hyperbolic Cotangent.
csc (x) Function

- Cosecant.
csch (x) Function

- Hyperbolic Cosecant.
halfangles option variable

When halfangles is true, half-angles are simplified away.
ntrig Package
The ntrig package contains a set of simplification rules that are used to simplify
trigonometric function whose arguments are of the form f (n %pi/10) where f is any
of the functions sin, cos, tan, csc, sec and cot.
sec (x) Function

- Secant.
sech (x) Function

- Hyperbolic Secant.
sin (x) Function

- Sine.
sinh (x) Function

- Hyperbolic Sine.
tan (x) Function

- Tangent.
tanh (x) Function

- Hyperbolic Tangent.
trigexpand (expr) Function

Expands trigonometric and hyperbolic functions of sums of angles and of multiple
angles occurring in expr. For best results, expr should be expanded. To enhance user
control of simplification, this function expands only one level at a time, expanding
sums of angles or multiple angles. To obtain full expansion into sines and cosines
immediately, set the switch trigexpand: true.
trigexpand is governed by the following global flags:
trigexpand
If true causes expansion of all expressions containing sin’s and cos’s oc-
curring subsequently.
halfangles
If true causes half-angles to be simplified away.
trigexpandplus
Controls the "sum" rule for trigexpand, expansion of sums (e.g. sin(x
+ y)) will take place only if trigexpandplus is true.
trigexpandtimes
Controls the "product" rule for trigexpand, expansion of products (e.g.
sin(2 x)) will take place only if trigexpandtimes is true.
Examples:
(%i1) x+sin(3*x)/sin(x),trigexpand=true,expand;
2 2
(%o1) - sin (x) + 3 cos (x) + x
(%i2) trigexpand(sin(10*x+y));
(%o2) cos(10 x) sin(y) + sin(10 x) cos(y)
trigexpandplus option variable

Default value: true
trigexpandplus controls the "sum" rule for trigexpand. Thus, when the
trigexpand command is used or the trigexpand switch set to true, expansion of
sums (e.g. sin(x+y)) will take place only if trigexpandplus is true.
130 Maxima Manual
trigexpandtimes option variable

Default value: true
trigexpandtimes controls the "product" rule for trigexpand. Thus, when the
trigexpand command is used or the trigexpand switch set to true, expansion of
products (e.g. sin(2*x)) will take place only if trigexpandtimes is true.
triginverses option variable

Default value: all
triginverses controls the simplification of the composition of trigonometric and
hyperbolic functions with their inverse functions.
If all, both e.g. atan(tan(x)) and tan(atan(x)) simplify to x.
If true, the arcfun(fun(x)) simplification is turned off.
If false, both the arcfun(fun(x)) and fun(arcfun(x)) simplifications are turned off.
trigreduce (expr, x) Function

trigreduce (expr) Function
Combines products and powers of trigonometric and hyperbolic sin’s and cos’s of x
into those of multiples of x. It also tries to eliminate these functions when they occur
in denominators. If x is omitted then all variables in expr are used.
See also poissimp.
(%i1) trigreduce(-sin(x)^2+3*cos(x)^2+x);
cos(2 x) cos(2 x) 1 1
(%o1) -------- + 3 (-------- + -) + x - -
2 2 2 2
The trigonometric simplification routines will use declared information in some simple
cases. Declarations about variables are used as follows, e.g.
(%i1) declare(j, integer, e, even, o, odd)$
(%i2) sin(x + (e + 1/2)*%pi);
(%o2) cos(x)
(%i3) sin(x + (o + 1/2)*%pi);
(%o3) - cos(x)
trigsign option variable

Default value: true
When trigsign is true, it permits simplification of negative arguments to trigono-
metric functions. E.g., sin(-x) will become -sin(x) only if trigsign is true.
trigsimp (expr) Function

Employs the identities sin(x)2 + cos(x)2 = 1 and cosh(x)2 − sinh(x)2 = 1 to sim-
plify expressions containing tan, sec, etc., to sin, cos, sinh, cosh so that further
simplification may be obtained by using trigreduce on the result.
demo ("trgsmp.dem") displays some examples of trigsimp.
See also trigsum.
trigrat (expr) Function

Gives a canonical simplifyed quasilinear form of a trigonometrical expression; expr is
a rational fraction of several sin, cos or tan, the arguments of them are linear forms
in some variables (or kernels) and %pi/n (n integer) with integer coefficients. The
result is a simplified fraction with numerator and denominator linear in sin and cos.
Thus trigrat linearize always when it is possible.
(%i1) trigrat(sin(3*a)/sin(a+%pi/3));
(%o1) sqrt(3) sin(2 a) + cos(2 a) - 1
The following example is taken from Davenport, Siret, and Tournier, Calcul Formel,
Masson (or in English, Addison-Wesley), section 1.5.5, Morley theorem.
(%i1) c: %pi/3 - a - b;
%pi
(%o1) - b - a + ---
3
(%i2) bc: sin(a)*sin(3*c)/sin(a+b);
sin(a) sin(3 b + 3 a)
(%o2) ---------------------
sin(b + a)
(%i3) ba: bc, c=a, a=c$
(%i4) ac2: ba^2 + bc^2 - 2*bc*ba*cos(b);
2 2
sin (a) sin (3 b + 3 a)
(%o4) -----------------------
2
sin (b + a)
%pi
2 sin(a) sin(3 a) cos(b) sin(b + a - ---) sin(3 b + 3 a)
3
- --------------------------------------------------------
%pi
sin(a - ---) sin(b + a)
3
2 2 %pi
sin (3 a) sin (b + a - ---)
3
+ ---------------------------
2 %pi
sin (a - ---)
3
(%i5) trigrat (ac2);
(%o5) - (sqrt(3) sin(4 b + 4 a) - cos(4 b + 4 a)
- 2 sqrt(3) sin(4 b + 2 a) + 2 cos(4 b + 2 a)
- 2 sqrt(3) sin(2 b + 4 a) + 2 cos(2 b + 4 a)

132 Maxima Manual
+ 4 sqrt(3) sin(2 b + 2 a) - 8 cos(2 b + 2 a) - 4 cos(2 b - 2 a)
+ sqrt(3) sin(4 b) - cos(4 b) - 2 sqrt(3) sin(2 b) + 10 cos(2 b)
+ sqrt(3) sin(4 a) - cos(4 a) - 2 sqrt(3) sin(2 a) + 10 cos(2 a)
- 9)/4
Chapter 16: Special Functions 133
16 Special Functions
16.1 Introduction to Special Functions
16.2 specint
hypgeo is a package for handling Laplace transforms of special functions. hyp is a package
for handling generalized Hypergeometric functions.
specint attempts to compute the definite integral (over the range from zero to infinity)
of an expression containing special functions. When the integrand contains a factor exp
(-s t), the result is a Laplace transform.
The syntax is as follows:
specint (exp (-s*t) * expr, t);
where t is the variable of integration and expr is an expression containing special func-
tions.
If specint cannot compute the integral, the return value may contain various Lisp sym-
bols, including other-defint-to-follow-negtest, other-lt-exponential-to-follow,
product-of-y-with-nofract-indices, etc.; this is a bug.
Special function notation follows:
bessel_j (index, expr) Bessel function, 1st kind
bessel_y (index, expr) Bessel function, 2nd kind
bessel_i (index, expr) Modified Bessel function, 1st kind
bessel_k (index, expr) Modified Bessel function, 2nd kind
%he[n] (z) Hermite polynomial (Nota bene: he, not h. See A&S 22.
%p[u,v] (z) Legendre function
%q[u,v] (z) Legendre function, 2nd kind
hstruve[n] (z) Struve H function
lstruve[n] (z) Struve L function
%f[p,q] ([], [], expr) Generalized Hypergeometric function
gamma() Gamma function
gammagreek(a,z) Incomplete gamma function
gammaincomplete(a,z) Tail of incomplete gamma function
slommel
%m[u,k] (z) Whittaker function, 1st kind
%w[u,k] (z) Whittaker function, 2nd kind
erfc (z) Complement of the erf function
ei (z) Exponential integral (?)
kelliptic (z) Complete elliptic integral of the first kind (K)
%d [n] (z) Parabolic cylinder function
demo ("hypgeo") displays several examples of Laplace transforms computed by specint.
This is a work in progress. Some of the function names may change.
134 Maxima Manual
16.3 Definitions for Special Functions
airy (x) Function

The Airy function Ai. If the argument x is a number, the numerical value of airy
(x) is returned. Otherwise, an unevaluated expression airy (x) is returned.
The Airy equation diff (y(x), x, 2) - x y(x) = 0 has two linearly independent so-
lutions, named ai and bi. This equation is very popular as an approximation to more
complicated problems in many mathematical physics settings.
load ("airy") loads the functions ai, bi, dai, and dbi.
The airy package contains routines to compute ai and bi and their derivatives dai
and dbi. The result is a floating point number if the argument is a number, and an
unevaluated expression otherwise.
An error occurs if the argument is large enough to cause an overflow in the expo-
nentials, or a loss of accuracy in sin or cos. This makes the range of validity about
-2800 to 10^38 for ai and dai, and -2800 to 25 for bi and dbi.
These derivative rules are known to Maxima:
• diff (ai(x), x) yields dai(x),
• diff (dai(x), x) yields x ai(x),
• diff (bi(x), x) yields dbi(x),
• diff (dbi(x), x) yields x bi(x).
Function values are computed from the convergent Taylor series for abs(x) < 3, and
from the asymptotic expansions for x < -3 or x > 3 as needed. This results in only
very minor numerical discrepancies at x = 3 and x = -3. For details, see Abramowitz
and Stegun, Handbook of Mathematical Functions, Section 10.4 and Table 10.11.
ev (taylor (ai(x), x, 0, 9), infeval) yields a floating point Taylor expansions
of the function ai. A similar expression can be constructed for bi.
asympa Function
asympa is a package for asymptotic analysis. The package contains simplification
functions for asymptotic analysis, including the “big O” and “little o” functions that
are widely used in complexity analysis and numerical analysis.
load ("asympa") loads this package.
bessel (z, a) Function

The Bessel function of the first kind.
This function is deprecated. Write bessel_j (z, a) instead.
bessel j (v, z) Function

The Bessel function of the first kind of order v and argument z.
bessel_j computes the array besselarray such that besselarray [i] = bessel_j
[i + v - int(v)] (z) for i from zero to int(v).
bessel_j is defined as
∞ k z v+2 k

X (−1) 2
k=0
k! Γ (v + k + 1)
although the infinite series is not used for computations.
bessel y (v, z) Function

The Bessel function of the second kind of order v and argument z.
bessel_y computes the array besselarray such that besselarray [i] = bessel_y
bessel_y is defined as
cos (π v) Jv (z) − J−v (z)

sin (π v)
when v is not an integer. When v is an integer n, the limit as v approaches n is taken.
bessel i (v, z) Function

The modified Bessel function of the first kind of order v and argument z.
bessel_i computes the array besselarray such that besselarray [i] = bessel_i
bessel_i is defined as
∞ v+2 k
X 1 z
k=0
k! Γ (v + k + 1) 2
although the infinite series is not used for computations.
bessel k (v, z) Function

The modified Bessel function of the second kind of order v and argument z.
bessel_k computes the array besselarray such that besselarray [i] = bessel_k
bessel_k is defined as
π csc (π v) (I−v (z) − Iv (z))

2
when v is not an integer. If v is an integer n, then the limit as v approaches n is

taken.
besselexpand Variable
Controls expansion of the Bessel functions when the order is half of an odd integer. In
this case, the Bessel functions can be expanded in terms of other elementary functions.
When besselexpand is true, the Bessel function is expanded.
136 Maxima Manual
(%i1) besselexpand: false$

(%i2) bessel_j (3/2, z);
3
(%o2) bessel_j(-, z)
2
(%i3) besselexpand: true$
(%i4) bessel_j (3/2, z);
2 z sin(z) cos(z)
(%o4) sqrt(---) (------ - ------)
%pi 2 z
z
j0 (x) Function
The Bessel function of the first kind of order 0.
This function is deprecated. Write bessel_j (0, x) instead.
j1 (x) Function
The Bessel function of the first kind of order 1.
This function is deprecated. Write bessel_j (1, x) instead.
jn (x, n) Function
The Bessel function of the first kind of order n.
This function is deprecated. Write bessel_j (n, x) instead.
i0 (x) Function
The modified Bessel function of the first kind of order 0.
This function is deprecated. Write bessel_i (0, x) instead.
i1 (x) Function
The modified Bessel function of the first kind of order 1.
This function is deprecated. Write bessel_i (1, x) instead.
beta (x, y) Function

The beta function, defined as gamma(x) gamma(y)/gamma(x + y).
gamma (x) Function

The gamma function.
See also makegamma.
The variable gammalim controls simplification of the gamma function.
The Euler-Mascheroni constant is %gamma.
gammalim Variable
gammalim controls simplification of the gamma function for integral and rational num-
ber arguments. If the absolute value of the argument is not greater than gammalim,
then simplification will occur. Note that the factlim switch controls simplification
of the result of gamma of an integer argument as well.
intopois (a) Function

Converts a into a Poisson encoding.
makefact (expr) Function

Transforms instances of binomial, gamma, and beta functions in expr into factorials.
See also makegamma.
makegamma (expr) Function

Transforms instances of binomial, factorial, and beta functions in expr into gamma
functions.
See also makefact.
numfactor (expr) Function

Returns the numerical factor multiplying the expression expr, which should be a single
term.
content returns the greatest common divisor (gcd) of all terms in a sum.
(%i1) gamma (7/2);
15 sqrt(%pi)
(%o1) ------------
8
(%i2) numfactor (%);
15
(%o2) --
8
outofpois (a) Function

Converts a from Poisson encoding to general representation. If a is not in Pois-
son form, outofpois carries out the conversion, i.e., the return value is outofpois
(intopois (a)). This function is thus a canonical simplifier for sums of powers of
sine and cosine terms of a particular type.
poisdiff (a, b) Function

Differentiates a with respect to b. b must occur only in the trig arguments or only in
the coefficients.
poisexpt (a, b) Function

Functionally identical to intopois (a^b). b must be a positive integer.
poisint (a, b) Function

Integrates in a similarly restricted sense (to poisdiff). Non-periodic terms in b are
dropped if b is in the trig arguments.
poislim Variable
Default value: 5
poislim determines the domain of the coefficients in the arguments of the trig func-
tions. The initial value of 5 corresponds to the interval [-2^(5-1)+1,2^(5-1)], or [-15,16],
but it can be set to [-2^(n-1)+1, 2^(n-1)].
138 Maxima Manual
poismap (series, sinfn, cosfn) Function

will map the functions sinfn on the sine terms and cosfn on the cosine terms of the
Poisson series given. sinfn and cosfn are functions of two arguments which are a
coefficient and a trigonometric part of a term in series respectively.
poisplus (a, b) Function

Is functionally identical to intopois (a + b).
poissimp (a) Function

Converts a into a Poisson series for a in general representation.
poisson special symbol

The symbol /P/ follows the line label of Poisson series expressions.
poissubst (a, b, c) Function

Substitutes a for b in c. c is a Poisson series.
(1) Where B is a variable u, v, w, x, y, or z, then a must be an expression linear in
those variables (e.g., 6*u + 4*v).
(2) Where b is other than those variables, then a must also be free of those variables,
and furthermore, free of sines or cosines.
poissubst (a, b, c, d, n) is a special type of substitution which operates on a and
b as in type (1) above, but where d is a Poisson series, expands cos(d) and sin(d)
to order n so as to provide the result of substituting a + d for b in c. The idea is
that d is an expansion in terms of a small parameter. For example, poissubst (u,
v, cos(v), %e, 3) yields cos(u)*(1 - %e^2/2) - sin(u)*(%e - %e^3/6).
poistimes (a, b) Function

Is functionally identical to intopois (a*b).
poistrim () Function
is a reserved function name which (if the user has defined it) gets applied during Pois-
son multiplication. It is a predicate function of 6 arguments which are the coefficients
of the u, v, ..., z in a term. Terms for which poistrim is true (for the coefficients of
that term) are eliminated during multiplication.
printpois (a) Function

Prints a Poisson series in a readable format. In common with outofpois, it will
convert a into a Poisson encoding first, if necessary.
psi (x) Function

psi [n](x) Function
The derivative of log (gamma (x)).
Maxima does not know how to compute a numerical value of psi. However, the
function bfpsi in the bffac package can compute numerical values.
Chapter 17: Orthogonal Polynomials 139
17 Orthogonal Polynomials
17.1 Introduction to Orthogonal Polynomials

The specfun package contains Maxima code for the evaluation of all orthogonal polyno-
mials listed in Chapter 22 of Abramowitz and Stegun. These include Chebyshev, Laguerre,
Hermite, Jacobi, Legendre, and ultraspherical (Gegenbauer) polynomials. Additionally,
specfun contains code for spherical Bessel, spherical Hankel, and spherical harmonic func-
tions. The specfun package is not part of Maxima proper; it is loaded at request of the
user via load or automatically via the autoload system.
The following table lists each function in specfun, its Maxima name, restrictions on
its arguments, and a reference to the algorithm specfun uses to evaluate it. With few
exceptions, specfun follows the conventions of Abramowitz and Stegun. In all cases, m
and n must be integers.
A&S refers to Abramowitz and Stegun, Handbook of Mathematical Functions (10th print-
ing, December 1972), G&R to Gradshteyn and Ryzhik, Table of Integrals, Series, and Prod-
ucts (1980 corrected and enlarged edition), and Merzbacher to Quantum Mechanics (second
edition, 1970).
Function Maxima Name Restrictions Reference(s)
Chebyshev T chebyshev t(n, x) n > −1 A&S 22.5.31
Chebyshev U chebyshev u(n, x) n > −1 A&S 22.5.32
generalized Laguerre gen laguerre(n,a,x) n > −1 A&S page 789
Laguerre laguerre(n,x) n > −1 A&S 22.5.67
Hermite hermite(n,x) n > −1 A&S 22.4.40,
22.5.41
Jacobi jacobi p(n,a,b,x) n > −1, a, b > −1 A&S page 789
associated Legendre P n > −1
assoc legendre p(n,m,x) A&S 22.5.37, 8.6.6,
8.2.5
associated Legendre Q assoc legendre q(n,m,x)n > −1, m > −1 G & R 8.706
Legendre P legendre p(n,m,x) n > −1 A&S 22.5.35
Legendre Q legendre q(n,m,x) n > −1 A&S 8.6.19
spherical Hankel 1st spherical hankel1(n, n > −1 A&S 10.1.36
x)
spherical Hankel 2nd spherical hankel2(n, n > −1 A&S 10.1.17
x)
spherical Bessel J spherical bessel j(n,x) n > −1 A&S 10.1.8, 10.1.15
spherical Bessel Y spherical bessel y(n,x) n > −1 A&S 10.1.9, 10.1.15
spherical harmonic n > −1, |m| <= n
spherical harmonic(n,m,x,y) Merzbacher 9.64
ultraspherical ultraspherical(n,a,x) n > −1 A&S 22.5.27
(Gegenbauer)
The specfun package is primarily intended for symbolic computation. It is hoped that it
gives accurate floating point results as well; however, no claims are made that the algorithms
are well suited for numerical evaluation. Some effort, however, has been made to provide
good numerical performance. When all arguments, except for the order, are floats (but
140 Maxima Manual
not bigfloats), many functions in specfun call a float modedeclared version of the Jacobi
function. This greatly speeds floating point evaluation of the orthogonal polynomials.
specfun handles most domain errors by returning an unevaluated function. No sim-
plification rules (based on recursion relations) are defined for unevaluated functions. It is
possible for an expression involving sums of unevaluated special functions to vanish, yet
Maxima is unable to reduce it to zero.
load ("specfun") loads the specfun package. Alternatively, setup_autoload causes
the package to be loaded when one of the specfun functions appears in an expression.
setup_autoload may appear at the command line or in the maxima-init.mac file. See
setup_autoload.
An example use of specfun is
(%i1) load ("specfun")$
(%i2) [hermite (0, x), hermite (1, x), hermite (2, x)];
2
(%o2) [1, 2 x, - 2 (1 - 2 x )]
(%i3) diff (hermite (n, x), x);
(%o3) 2 n hermite(n - 1, x)
Generally, compiled code runs faster than translated code; however, translated code may
be better for program development.
Some functions (namely jacobi_p, ultraspherical, chebyshev_t, chebyshev_u, and
legendre_p), return a series representation when the order is a symbolic integer. The
series representation is not used by specfun for any computations, but it may be simplified
by Maxima automatically, or it may be possible to use the series to evaluate the function
through further manipulations. For example:
(%i2) legendre_p (n, x);
(%o2) legendre_p(n, x)
(%i3) ultraspherical (n, 3/2, 2);
genfact(3, n, - 1) jacobi_p(n, 1, 1, 2)
(%o3) ---------------------------------------
genfact(2, n, - 1)
(%i4) declare (n, integer)$
(%i5) legendre_p (n, x);
n - 1
====
\ n - i%
(%o5) ( > binomial(n, i%) binomial(n, n - i%) (x - 1)
/
====
i% = 1
i% n n n
(x + 1) + (x + 1) + (x - 1) )/2
(%i6) ultraspherical (n, 3/2, 2);
n - 1
====
\ i%
(%o6) genfact(3, n, - 1) ( > 3 binomial(n + 1, i%)

/
====
i% = 1
n
binomial(n + 1, n - i%) + (n + 1) 3 + n + 1)
n
/(genfact(2, n, - 1) 2 )
The first and last terms of the sum are added outside the summation. Removing these
two terms avoids Maxima bugs associated with 00 terms in a sum that should evaluate to
1, but evaluate to 0 in a Maxima summation. Because the sum index runs from 1 to n − 1,
the lower sum index will exceed the upper sum index when n = 0; setting sumhack to true
provides a fix. For example:
(%i2) declare (n, integer)$
(%i3) e: legendre_p(n,x)$
(%i4) ev (e, sum, n=0);
Lower bound to sum: 1
is greater than the upper bound: - 1
(%i5) ev (e, sum, n=0, sumhack=true);
(%o5) 1
Most functions in specfun have a gradef property; derivatives with respect to the order
or other function parameters are undefined, and an attempt to compute such a derivative
yields an error message.
The specfun package and its documentation were written by Barton Willis of the Uni-
versity of Nebraska at Kearney. It is released under the terms of the General Public License
(GPL). Send bug reports and comments on this package to willisb@unk.edu. In your report,
please include the Maxima version, as reported by build_info(), and the specfun version,
as reported by get (’specfun, ’version).
17.2 Definitions for Orthogonal Polynomials
assoc legendre p (n, m, x) Function

Returns the associated Legendre function of the first kind for integers n > −1 and m >
−1. When |m| > n and n >= 0, we have assocl egendrep (n, m, x) = 0. Reference:
A&S 22.5.37 page 779, A&S 8.6.6 (second equation) page 334, and A&S 8.2.5 page
333.
load ("specfun") loads this function.
See [assoc legendre q], page 141, [legendre p], page 143, and [legendre q], page 143.
assoc legendre q (n, m, x) Function

Returns the associated Legendre function of the second kind for integers n > −1 and
m > −1.
142 Maxima Manual
Reference: Gradshteyn and Ryzhik 8.706 page 1000.

See also [assoc legendre p], page 141, [legendre p], page 143, and [legendre q],
page 143.
chebyshev t (n, x) Function

Returns the Chebyshev function of the first kind for integers n > −1.
Reference: A&S 22.5.31 page 778 and A&S 6.1.22 page 256.
See also [chebyshev u], page 142.
chebyshev u (n, x) Function

Returns the Chebyshev function of the second kind for integers n > −1.
Reference: A&S, 22.8.3 page 783 and A&S 6.1.22 page 256.
See also [chebyshev t], page 142.
gen laguerre (n, a, x) Function

Returns the generalized Laguerre polynomial for integers n > −1.
Reference: table on page 789 in A&S.
hermite (n, x) Function

Returns the Hermite polynomial for integers n > −1.
Reference: A&S 22.5.40 and 22.5.41, page 779.
jacobi p (n, a, b, x) Function

Returns the Jacobi polynomial for integers n > −1 and a and b symbolic or a > −1
and b > −1. (The Jacobi polynomials are actually defined for all a and b; however, the
Jacobi polynomial weight (1 − x)a (1 + x)b isn’t integrable for a <= −1 or b <= −1.)
When a, b, and x are floats (but not bfloats) specfun calls a special modedeclared
version of jacobip . For numerical values, the modedeclared version is much faster
than the other version. Many functions in specfun are computed as a special case
of the Jacobi polynomials; they also enjoy the speed boost from the modedeclared
version of jacobi.
If n has been declared to be an integer, jacobip (n, a, b, x) returns a summation rep-
resentation for the Jacobi function. Because Maxima simplifies 00 to 0 in a sum, two
terms of the sum are added outside the summation.
Reference: table on page 789 in A&S.
laguerre (n, x) Function

Returns the Laguerre polynomial for integers n > −1.
Reference: A&S 22.5.16, page 778 and A&S page 789.
See also [gen laguerre], page 142.
legendre p (n, x) Function

Returns the Legendre polynomial of the first kind for integers n > −1.
Reference: A&S 22.5.35 page 779.
See [legendre q], page 143.
legendre q (n, x) Function

Returns the Legendre polynomial of the first kind for integers n > −1.
See also [legendre p], page 143.
spherical bessel j (n, x) Function

Returns the spherical Bessel function of the first kind for integers n > −1.
Reference: A&S 10.1.8 page 437 and A&S 10.1.15 page 439.
See also [spherical hankel1], page 143, [spherical hankel2], page 143, and [spheri-
cal bessel y], page 143.
spherical bessel y (n, x) Function

Returns the spherical Bessel function of the second kind for integers n > −1.
Reference: A&S 10.1.9 page 437 and 10.1.15 page 439.
See also [spherical hankel1], page 143, [spherical hankel2], page 143, and [spheri-
spherical hankel1 (n, x) Function

Returns the spherical hankel function of the first kind for integers n > −1.
See also [spherical hankel2], page 143, [spherical bessel j], page 143, and [spheri-
144 Maxima Manual
spherical hankel2 (n, x) Function

Returns the spherical hankel function of the second kind for integers n > −1.
See also [spherical hankel1], page 143, [spherical bessel j], page 143, and [spheri-
spherical harmonic (n, m, x, y) Function

Returns the spherical harmonic function for integers n > −1 and |m| <= n.
Reference: Merzbacher 9.64.
See also [assoc legendre p], page 141.
ultraspherical (n, a, x) Function

Returns the ultraspherical polynomials for integers n > −1. The ultraspherical poly-
nomials are also known as Gegenbauer polynomials.
Reference: A&S 22.5.27
See also [jacobi p], page 142.
Chapter 18: Elliptic Functions 145
18 Elliptic Functions
18.1 Introduction to Elliptic Functions and Integrals

Maxima includes support for Jacobian elliptic functions and for complete and incomplete
elliptic integrals. This includes symbolic manipulation of these functions and numerical
evaluation as well. Definitions of these functions and many of their properties can by found
in Abramowitz and Stegun, Chapter 16–17. As much as possible, we use the definitions and
relationships given there.
In particular, all elliptic functions and integrals use the parameter m instead of the
modulus k or the modular angle α. This is one area where we differ from Abramowitz and
Stegun who use the modular angle for the elliptic functions. The following relationships are
true:
m = k2
and
k = sin α
The elliptic functions and integrals are primarily intended to support symbolic compu-
tation. Therefore, most of derivatives of the functions and integrals are known. However,
if floating-point values are given, a floating-point result is returned.
Support for most of the other properties of elliptic functions and integrals other than
derivatives has not yet been written.
Some examples of elliptic functions:
(%i1) jacobi_sn (u, m);
(%o1) jacobi_sn(u, m)
(%i2) jacobi_sn (u, 1);
(%o2) tanh(u)
(%i3) jacobi_sn (u, 0);
(%o3) sin(u)
(%i4) diff (jacobi_sn (u, m), u);
(%o4) jacobi_cn(u, m) jacobi_dn(u, m)
(%i5) diff (jacobi_sn (u, m), m);
(%o5) jacobi_cn(u, m) jacobi_dn(u, m)
elliptic_e(asin(jacobi_sn(u, m)), m)
(u - ------------------------------------)/(2 m)
1 - m
2
jacobi_cn (u, m) jacobi_sn(u, m)
+ --------------------------------
2 (1 - m)
Some examples of elliptic integrals:
(%i1) elliptic_f (phi, m);
(%o1) elliptic_f(phi, m)
146 Maxima Manual
(%i2) elliptic_f (phi, 0);

(%o2) phi
(%i3) elliptic_f (phi, 1);
phi %pi
(%o3) log(tan(--- + ---))
2 4
(%i4) elliptic_e (phi, 1);
(%o4) sin(phi)
(%i5) elliptic_e (phi, 0);
(%o5) phi
(%i6) elliptic_kc (1/2);
1
(%o6) elliptic_kc(-)
2
(%i7) makegamma (%);
2 1
gamma (-)
4
(%o7) -----------
4 sqrt(%pi)
(%i8) diff (elliptic_f (phi, m), phi);
1
(%o8) ---------------------
2
sqrt(1 - m sin (phi))
(%i9) diff (elliptic_f (phi, m), m);
elliptic_e(phi, m) - (1 - m) elliptic_f(phi, m)
(%o9) (-----------------------------------------------
m
cos(phi) sin(phi)
- ---------------------)/(2 (1 - m))
2
sqrt(1 - m sin (phi))
Support for elliptic functions and integrals was written by Raymond Toy. It is placed
under the terms of the General Public License (GPL) that governs the distribution of
Maxima.
18.2 Definitions for Elliptic Functions
jacobi sn (u, m) Function

The Jacobian elliptic function sn(u, m).
jacobi cn (u, m) Function

The Jacobian elliptic function cn(u, m).
jacobi dn (u, m) Function

The Jacobian elliptic function dn(u, m).
jacobi ns (u, m) Function

The Jacobian elliptic function ns(u, m) = 1/sn(u, m).
jacobi sc (u, m) Function

The Jacobian elliptic function sc(u, m) = sn(u, m)/cn(u, m).
jacobi sd (u, m) Function

The Jacobian elliptic function sd(u, m) = sn(u, m)/dn(u, m).
jacobi nc (u, m) Function

The Jacobian elliptic function nc(u, m) = 1/cn(u, m).
jacobi cs (u, m) Function

The Jacobian elliptic function cs(u, m) = cn(u, m)/sn(u, m).
jacobi cd (u, m) Function

The Jacobian elliptic function cd(u, m) = cn(u, m)/dn(u, m).
jacobi nd (u, m) Function

The Jacobian elliptic function nc(u, m) = 1/cn(u, m).
jacobi ds (u, m) Function

The Jacobian elliptic function ds(u, m) = dn(u, m)/sn(u, m).
jacobi dc (u, m) Function

The Jacobian elliptic function dc(u, m) = dn(u, m)/cn(u, m).
inverse jacobi sn (u, m) Function

The inverse of the Jacobian elliptic function sn(u, m).
inverse jacobi cn (u, m) Function

The inverse of the Jacobian elliptic function cn(u, m).
inverse jacobi dn (u, m) Function

The inverse of the Jacobian elliptic function dn(u, m).
inverse jacobi ns (u, m) Function

The inverse of the Jacobian elliptic function ns(u, m).
inverse jacobi sc (u, m) Function

The inverse of the Jacobian elliptic function sc(u, m).
inverse jacobi sd (u, m) Function

The inverse of the Jacobian elliptic function sd(u, m).
148 Maxima Manual
inverse jacobi nc (u, m) Function

The inverse of the Jacobian elliptic function nc(u, m).
inverse jacobi cs (u, m) Function

The inverse of the Jacobian elliptic function cs(u, m).
inverse jacobi cd (u, m) Function

The inverse of the Jacobian elliptic function cd(u, m).
inverse jacobi nd (u, m) Function

The inverse of the Jacobian elliptic function nc(u, m).
inverse jacobi ds (u, m) Function

The inverse of the Jacobian elliptic function ds(u, m).
inverse jacobi dc (u, m) Function

The inverse of the Jacobian elliptic function dc(u, m).
18.3 Definitions for Elliptic Integrals
elliptic f (phi, m) Function

The incomplete elliptic integral of the first kind, defined as
φ
dθ
Z
p
0 1 − m sin2 θ
See also [elliptic e], page 148 and [elliptic kc], page 149.
elliptic e (phi, m) Function

The incomplete elliptic integral of the second kind, defined as See also [elliptic e],
page 148 and [elliptic ec], page 149.
elliptic eu (u, m) Function

The incomplete elliptic integral of the second kind, defined as
s
u τ
1 − mt2
Z Z
dn(v, m)dv = dt
0 0 1 − t2
where τ = sn(u, m)
This is related to elliptice by
E(u, m) = E(φ, m)
where φ = sin−1 sn(u, m), m) See also [elliptic e], page 148.
elliptic pi (n, phi, m) Function

The incomplete elliptic integral of the third kind, defined as
φ
dθ
Z
p
0 (1 − n sin θ) 1 − m sin2 θ
2
Only the derivative with respect to phi is known by Maxima.
elliptic kc (m) Function

The complete elliptic integral of the first kind, defined as
π
dθ
Z 2
p
0 1 − m sin2 θ
For certain values of m, the value of the integral is known in terms of Gamma func-
tions. Use makegamma to evaluate them.
elliptic ec (m) Function

The complete elliptic integral of the second kind, defined as
Z π q
2
1 − m sin2 θdθ
0
For certain values of m, the value of the integral is known in terms of Gamma func-
tions. Use makegamma to evaluate them.
150 Maxima Manual
Chapter 19: Limits 151
19 Limits
19.1 Definitions for Limits
lhospitallim option variable

Default: 4
lhospitallim is the maximum number of times L’Hospital’s rule is used in limit.
This prevents infinite looping in cases like limit (cot(x)/csc(x), x, 0).
limit (expr, x, val, dir) Function

limit (expr, x, val) Function
limit (expr) Function
Computes the limit of expr as the real variable x approaches the value val from the
direction dir. dir may have the value plus for a limit from above, minus for a limit
from below, or may be omitted (implying a two-sided limit is to be computed).
limit uses the following special symbols: inf (positive infinity) and minf (negative
infinity). On output it may also use und (undefined), ind (indefinite but bounded)
and infinity (complex infinity).
lhospitallim is the maximum number of times L’Hospital’s rule is used in limit.
This prevents infinite looping in cases like limit (cot(x)/csc(x), x, 0).
tlimswitch when true will cause the limit package to use Taylor series when possible.
limsubst prevents limit from attempting substitutions on unknown forms. This is
to avoid bugs like limit (f(n)/f(n+1), n, inf) giving 1. Setting limsubst to true
will allow such substitutions.
limit with one argument is often called upon to simplify constant expressions, for
example, limit (inf-1).
example (limit) displays some examples.
For the method see Wang, P., "Evaluation of Definite Integrals by Symbolic Manip-
ulation", Ph.D. thesis, MAC TR-92, October 1971.
limsubst option variable

default value: false - prevents limit from attempting substitutions on unknown
forms. This is to avoid bugs like limit (f(n)/f(n+1), n, inf) giving 1. Setting
limsubst to true will allow such substitutions.
tlimit (expr, x, val, dir) Function

tlimit (expr, x, val) Function
tlimit (expr) Function
Returns limit with tlimswitch set to true.
tlimswitch option variable

When tlimswitch is true, it causes the limit package to use Taylor series when
possible.
152 Maxima Manual
Chapter 20: Differentiation 153
20 Differentiation
20.1 Definitions for Differentiation
antid (expr, x, u(x)) Function

Returns a two-element list, such that an antiderivative of expr with respect to x can
be constructed from the list. The expression expr may contain an unknown function
u and its derivatives.
Let L, a list of two elements, be the return value of antid. Then L[1] + ’integrate
(L[2], x) is an antiderivative of expr with respect to x.
When antid succeeds entirely, the second element of the return value is zero. Other-
wise, the second element is nonzero, and the first element is nonzero or zero. If antid
cannot make any progress, the first element is zero and the second nonzero.
load ("antid") loads this function. The antid package also defines the functions
nonzeroandfreeof and linear.
antid is related to antidiff as follows. Let L, a list of two elements, be the return
value of antid. Then the return value of antidiff is equal to L[1] + ’integrate
(L[2], x) where x is the variable of integration.
Examples:
(%i1) load ("antid")$
(%i2) expr: exp (z(x)) * diff (z(x), x) * y(x);
z(x) d
(%o2) y(x) %e (-- (z(x)))
dx
(%i3) a1: antid (expr, x, z(x));
z(x) z(x) d
(%o3) [y(x) %e , - %e (-- (y(x)))]
dx
(%i4) a2: antidiff (expr, x, z(x));
/
z(x) [ z(x) d
(%o4) y(x) %e - I %e (-- (y(x))) dx
] dx
/
(%i5) a2 - (first (a1) + ’integrate (second (a1), x));
(%o5) 0
(%i6) antid (expr, x, y(x));
z(x) d
(%o6) [0, y(x) %e (-- (z(x)))]
dx
(%i7) antidiff (expr, x, y(x));
/
[ z(x) d
(%o7) I y(x) %e (-- (z(x))) dx
] dx
/
154 Maxima Manual
antidiff (expr, x, u(x)) Function

Returns an antiderivative of expr with respect to x. The expression expr may contain
an unknown function u and its derivatives.
When antidiff succeeds entirely, the resulting expression is free of integral signs
(that is, free of the integrate noun). Otherwise, antidiff returns an expression
which is partly or entirely within an integral sign. If antidiff cannot make any
progress, the return value is entirely within an integral sign.
load ("antid") loads this function. The antid package also defines the functions
nonzeroandfreeof and linear.
antidiff is related to antid as follows. Let L, a list of two elements, be the return
value of antid. Then the return value of antidiff is equal to L[1] + ’integrate
(L[2], x) where x is the variable of integration.
Examples:
(%i1) load ("antid")$
(%i2) expr: exp (z(x)) * diff (z(x), x) * y(x);
z(x) d
(%o2) y(x) %e (-- (z(x)))
dx
(%i3) a1: antid (expr, x, z(x));
z(x) z(x) d
(%o3) [y(x) %e , - %e (-- (y(x)))]
dx
(%i4) a2: antidiff (expr, x, z(x));
/
z(x) [ z(x) d
(%o4) y(x) %e - I %e (-- (y(x))) dx
] dx
/
(%i5) a2 - (first (a1) + ’integrate (second (a1), x));
(%o5) 0
(%i6) antid (expr, x, y(x));
z(x) d
(%o6) [0, y(x) %e (-- (z(x)))]
dx
(%i7) antidiff (expr, x, y(x));
/
[ z(x) d
(%o7) I y(x) %e (-- (z(x))) dx
] dx
/
atomgrad property
atomgrad is the atomic gradient property of an expression. This property is assigned
by gradef.
atvalue (expr, [x 1 = a 1, ..., x m = a m], c) Function

atvalue (expr, x 1 = a 1, c) Function
Assigns the value c to expr at the point x = a. Typically boundary values are estab-
lished by this mechanism.
expr is a function evaluation, f (x 1, ..., x m), or a derivative, diff (f (x 1, ...,
x m), x 1, n 1, ..., x n, n m) in which the function arguments explicitly appear.
n i is the order of differentiation with respect to x i.
The point at which the atvalue is established is given by the list of equations [x 1
= a 1, ..., x m = a m]. If there is a single variable x 1, the sole equation may be
given without enclosing it in a list.
printprops ([f 1, f 2, ...], atvalue) displays the atvalues of the functions f 1,
f 2, ... as specified by calls to atvalue. printprops (f, atvalue) displays the
atvalues of one function f. printprops (all, atvalue) displays the atvalues of all
functions for which atvalues are defined.
The symbols @1, @2, ... represent the variables x 1, x 2, ... when atvalues are dis-
played.
atvalue evaluates its arguments. atvalue returns c, the atvalue.
Examples:
(%i1) atvalue (f(x,y), [x = 0, y = 1], a^2);
2
(%o1) a
(%i2) atvalue (’diff (f(x,y), x), x = 0, 1 + y);
(%o2) @2 + 1
(%i3) printprops (all, atvalue);
!
d !
--- (f(@1, @2))! = @2 + 1
d@1 !
!@1 = 0
2
f(0, 1) = a
(%o3) done
(%i4) diff (4*f(x,y)^2 - u(x,y)^2, x);
d d
(%o4) 8 f(x, y) (-- (f(x, y))) - 2 u(x, y) (-- (u(x, y)))
dx dx
(%i5) at (%, [x = 0, y = 1]);
!
2 d !
(%o5) 16 a - 2 u(0, 1) (-- (u(x, y))! )
dx !
!x = 0, y = 1
156 Maxima Manual
cartan - Function
The exterior calculus of differential forms is a basic tool of differential geometry
developed by Elie Cartan and has important applications in the theory of partial
differential equations. The cartan package implements the functions ext_diff and
lie_diff, along with the operators ~ (wedge product) and | (contraction of a form
with a vector.) Type demo (tensor) to see a brief description of these commands
along with examples.
cartan was implemented by F.B. Estabrook and H.D. Wahlquist.
del (x) Function

del (x) represents the differential of the variable x.
diff returns an expression containing del if an independent variable is not specified.
In this case, the return value is the so-called "total differential".
Examples:
(%i1) diff (log (x));
del(x)
(%o1) ------
x
(%i2) diff (exp (x*y));
x y x y
(%o2) x %e del(y) + y %e del(x)
(%i3) diff (x*y*z);
(%o3) x y del(z) + x z del(y) + y z del(x)
delta (t) Function

The Dirac Delta function.
Currently only laplace knows about the delta function.
Example:
(%i1) laplace (delta (t - a) * sin(b*t), t, s);
Is a positive, negative, or zero?
p;
- a s
(%o1) sin(a b) %e
dependencies Variable
Default value: []
dependencies is the list of atoms which have functional dependencies, assigned by
depends or gradef. The dependencies list is cumulative: each call to depends or
gradef appends additional items.
See depends and gradef.
depends (f 1, x 1, ..., f n, x n) Function

Declares functional dependencies among variables for the purpose of computing
derivatives. In the absence of declared dependence, diff (f, x) yields zero. If
depends (f, x) is declared, diff (f, x) yields a symbolic derivative (that is, a
diff noun).
Each argument f 1, x 1, etc., can be the name of a variable or array, or a list of names.
Every element of f i (perhaps just a single element) is declared to depend on every
element of x i (perhaps just a single element). If some f i is the name of an array or
contains the name of an array, all elements of the array depend on x i.
diff recognizes indirect dependencies established by depends and applies the chain
rule in these cases.
remove (f, dependency) removes all dependencies declared for f.
depends returns a list of the dependencies established. The dependencies are ap-
pended to the global variable dependencies. depends evaluates its arguments.
diff is the only Maxima command which recognizes dependencies established by
depends. Other functions (integrate, laplace, etc.) only recognize dependencies
explicitly represented by their arguments. For example, integrate does not recognize
the dependence of f on x unless explicitly represented as integrate (f(x), x).
(%i1) depends ([f, g], x);
(%o1) [f(x), g(x)]
(%i2) depends ([r, s], [u, v, w]);
(%o2) [r(u, v, w), s(u, v, w)]
(%i3) depends (u, t);
(%o3) [u(t)]
(%i4) dependencies;
(%o4) [f(x), g(x), r(u, v, w), s(u, v, w), u(t)]
(%i5) diff (r.s, u);
dr ds
(%o5) -- . s + r . --
du du
(%i6) diff (r.s, t);
dr du ds du
(%o6) -- -- . s + r . -- --
du dt du dt
(%i7) remove (r, dependency);
(%o7) done
(%i8) diff (r.s, t);
ds du
(%o8) r . -- --
du dt
derivabbrev Variable
When derivabbrev is true, symbolic derivatives (that is, diff nouns) are displayed
as subscripts. Otherwise, derivatives are displayed in the Leibniz notation dy/dx.
derivdegree (expr, y, x) Function

Returns the highest degree of the derivative of the dependent variable y with respect
to the independent variable x occuring in expr.
158 Maxima Manual
Example:
(%i1) ’diff (y, x, 2) + ’diff (y, z, 3) + ’diff (y, x) * x^2;
3 2
d y d y 2 dy
(%o1) --- + --- + x --
3 2 dx
dz dx
(%i2) derivdegree (%, y, x);
(%o2) 2
derivlist (var 1, ..., var k) Function

Causes only differentiations with respect to the indicated variables, within the ev
command.
derivsubst Variable
When derivsubst is true, a non-syntactic substitution such as subst (x, ’diff (y,
t), ’diff (y, t, 2)) yields ’diff (x, t).
diff (expr, x 1, n 1, ..., x m, n m) Function

diff (expr, x, n) Function
diff (expr, x) Function
diff (expr) Function
Returns the derivative or differential of expr with respect to some or all variables in
expr.
diff (expr, x, n) returns the n’th derivative of expr with respect to x.
diff (expr, x 1, n 1, ..., x m, n m) returns the mixed partial derivative of expr
with respect to x 1, ..., x m. It is equivalent to diff (... (diff (expr, x m, n m)
...), x 1, n 1).
diff (expr, x) returns the first derivative of expr with respect to the variable x.
diff (expr) returns the total differential of expr, that is, the sum of the derivatives
of expr with respect to each its variables times the differential del of each variable.
No further simplification of del is offered.
The noun form of diff is required in some contexts, such as stating a differential
equation. In these cases, diff may be quoted (as ’diff) to yield the noun form
instead of carrying out the differentiation.
When derivabbrev is true, derivatives are displayed as subscripts. Otherwise,
derivatives are displayed in the Leibniz notation, dy/dx.
Examples:
(%i1) diff (exp (f(x)), x, 2);
2
f(x) d f(x) d 2
(%o1) %e (--- (f(x))) + %e (-- (f(x)))
2 dx
dx
(%i2) derivabbrev: true$

(%i3) ’integrate (f(x, y), y, g(x), h(x));
h(x)
/
[
(%o3) I f(x, y) dy
]
/
g(x)
(%i4) diff (%, x);
h(x)
/
[
(%o4) I f(x, y) dy + f(x, h(x)) h(x) - f(x, g(x)) g(x)
] x x x
/
g(x)
For the tensor package, the following modifications have been incorporated:
(1) The derivatives of any indexed objects in expr will have the variables x i appended
as additional arguments. Then all the derivative indices will be sorted.
(2) The x i may be integers from 1 up to the value of the variable dimension [default
value: 4]. This will cause the differentiation to be carried out with respect to the
x i’th member of the list coordinates which should be set to a list of the names of
the coordinates, e.g., [x, y, z, t]. If coordinates is bound to an atomic variable,
then that variable subscripted by x i will be used for the variable of differentiation.
This permits an array of coordinate names or subscripted names like X[1], X[2], ...
to be used. If coordinates has not been assigned a value, then the variables will be
treated as in (1) above.
diff special symbol

When diff is present as an evflag in call to ev, all differentiations indicated in expr
are carried out.
dscalar (f ) Function
Applies the scalar d’Alembertian to the scalar function f.
load ("ctensor") loads this function.
express (expr) Function

Expands differential operator nouns into expressions in terms of partial derivatives.
express recognizes the operators grad, div, curl, laplacian. express also expands
the cross product ~.
Symbolic derivatives (that is, diff nouns) in the return value of express may be
evaluated by including diff in the ev function call or command line. In this context,
diff acts as an evfun.
load ("vect") loads this function.
Examples:
160 Maxima Manual
(%i1) load ("vect")$

(%i2) grad (x^2 + y^2 + z^2);
2 2 2
(%o2) grad (z + y + x )
(%i3) express (%);
d 2 2 2 d 2 2 2 d 2 2 2
(%o3) [-- (z + y + x ), -- (z + y + x ), -- (z + y + x )]
dx dy dz
(%i4) ev (%, diff);
(%o4) [2 x, 2 y, 2 z]
(%i5) div ([x^2, y^2, z^2]);
2 2 2
(%o5) div [x , y , z ]
(%i6) express (%);
d 2 d 2 d 2
(%o6) -- (z ) + -- (y ) + -- (x )
dz dy dx
(%i7) ev (%, diff);
(%o7) 2 z + 2 y + 2 x
(%i8) curl ([x^2, y^2, z^2]);
2 2 2
(%o8) curl [x , y , z ]
(%i9) express (%);
d 2 d 2 d 2 d 2 d 2 d 2
(%o9) [-- (z ) - -- (y ), -- (x ) - -- (z ), -- (y ) - -- (x )]
dy dz dz dx dx dy
(%i10) ev (%, diff);
(%o10) [0, 0, 0]
(%i11) laplacian (x^2 * y^2 * z^2);
2 2 2
(%o11) laplacian (x y z )
(%i12) express (%);
2 2 2
d 2 2 2 d 2 2 2 d 2 2 2
(%o12) --- (x y z ) + --- (x y z ) + --- (x y z )
2 2 2
dz dy dx
(%i13) ev (%, diff);
2 2 2 2 2 2
(%o13) 2 y z + 2 x z + 2 x y
(%i14) [a, b, c] ~ [x, y, z];
(%o14) [a, b, c] ~ [x, y, z]
(%i15) express (%);
(%o15) [b z - c y, c x - a z, a y - b x]
gradef (f (x 1, ..., x n), g 1, ..., g m) Function

gradef (a, x, expr) Function
Defines the partial derivatives (i.e., the components of the gradient) of the function f
or variable a.
gradef (f (x 1, ..., x n), g 1, ..., g m) defines df /dx i as g i, where g i is an

expression; g i may be a function call, but not the name of a function. The number
of partial derivatives m may be less than the number of arguments n, in which case
derivatives are defined with respect to x 1 through x m only.
gradef (a, x, expr) defines the derivative of variable a with respect to x as expr.
This also establishes the dependence of a on x (via depends (a, x)).
The first argument f (x 1, ..., x n) or a is quoted, but the remaining arguments
g 1, ..., g m are evaluated. gradef returns the function or variable for which the
partial derivatives are defined.
gradef can redefine the derivatives of Maxima’s built-in functions. For example,
gradef (sin(x), sqrt (1 - sin(x)^2)) redefines the derivative of sin.
gradef cannot define partial derivatives for a subscripted function.
printprops ([f 1, ..., f n], gradef) displays the partial derivatives of the func-
tions f 1, ..., f n, as defined by gradef.
printprops ([a n, ..., a n], atomgrad) displays the partial derivatives of the
variables a n, ..., a n, as defined by gradef.
gradefs is the list of the functions for which partial derivatives have been defined by
gradef. gradefs does not include any variables for which partial derivatives have
been defined by gradef.
Gradients are needed when, for example, a function is not known explicitly but its
first derivatives are and it is desired to obtain higher order derivatives.
gradefs Variable
Default value: []
gradefs is the list of the functions for which partial derivatives have been defined by
gradef. gradefs does not include any variables for which partial derivatives have
been defined by gradef.
laplace (expr, t, s) Function

Attempts to compute the Laplace transform of expr with respect to the variable t
and transform parameter s. If laplace cannot find a solution, a noun ’laplace is
returned.
laplace recognizes in expr the functions delta, exp, log, sin, cos, sinh, cosh, and
erf, as well as derivative, integrate, sum, and ilt. If some other functions are
present, laplace may not be able to compute the transform.
expr may also be a linear, constant coefficient differential equation in which case
atvalue of the dependent variable is used. The required atvalue may be supplied
either before or after the transform is computed. Since the initial conditions must
be specified at zero, if one has boundary conditions imposed elsewhere he can im-
pose these on the general solution and eliminate the constants by solving the general
solution for them and substituting their values back.
laplace recognizes convolution integrals of the form integrate (f(x) * g(t - x),
x, 0, t); other kinds of convolutions are not recognized.
162 Maxima Manual
Functional relations must be explicitly represented in expr; implicit relations, estab-

lished by depends, are not recognized. That is, if f depends on x and y, f (x, y)
must appear in expr.
See also ilt, the inverse Laplace transform.
Examples:
(%i1) laplace (exp (2*t + a) * sin(t) * t, t, s);
a
%e (2 s - 4)
(%o1) ---------------
2 2
(s - 4 s + 5)
(%i2) laplace (’diff (f (x), x), x, s);
(%o2) s laplace(f(x), x, s) - f(0)
(%i3) diff (diff (delta (t), t), t);
2
d
(%o3) --- (delta(t))
2
dt
(%i4) laplace (%, t, s);
!
d ! 2
(%o4) - -- (delta(t))! + s - delta(0) s
dt !
!t = 0
Chapter 21: Integration 163
21 Integration
21.1 Introduction to Integration

Maxima has several routines for handling integration. The integrate function makes
use of most of them. There is also the antid package, which handles an unspecified func-
tion (and its derivatives, of course). For numerical uses, there is the romberg function; an
adaptave integrator which uses the Newton-Cotes 8 panel quadrature rule, called quanc8;
and a set of adaptive integrators from Quadpack, named quad_qag, quad_qags, etc. Hy-
pergeometric functions are being worked on, see specint for details. Generally speaking,
Maxima only handles integrals which are integrable in terms of the "elementary functions"
(rational functions, trigonometrics, logs, exponentials, radicals, etc.) and a few extensions
(error function, dilogarithm). It does not handle integrals in terms of unknown functions
such as g(x) and h(x).
21.2 Definitions for Integration
changevar (expr, f(x,y), y, x) Function

Makes the change of variable given by f(x,y) = 0 in all integrals occurring in expr with
integration with respect to x. The new variable is y.
(%i1) assume(a > 0)$
(%i2) ’integrate (%e**sqrt(a*y), y, 0, 4);
4
/
[ sqrt(a) sqrt(y)
(%o2) I %e dy
]
/
0
(%i3) changevar (%, y-z^2/a, z, y);
0
/
[ abs(z)
2 I z %e dz
]
/
- 2 sqrt(a)
(%o3) - ----------------------------
a
An expression containing a noun form, such as the instances of ’integrate above,
may be evaluated by ev with the nouns flag. For example, the expression returned
by changevar above may be evaluated by ev (%o3, nouns).
changevar may also be used to changes in the indices of a sum or product. However,
it must be realized that when a change is made in a sum or product, this change must
be a shift, i.e., i = j+ ..., not a higher degree function. E.g.,
164 Maxima Manual
(%i4) sum (a[i]*x^(i-2), i, 0, inf);

inf
====
\ i - 2
(%o4) > a x
/ i
====
i = 0
(%i5) changevar (%, i-2-n, n, i);
inf
====
\ n
(%o5) > a x
/ n + 2
====
n = - 2
dblint (f, r, s, a, b) Function

A double-integral routine which was written in top-level Maxima and then translated
and compiled to machine code. Use load (dblint) to access this package. It uses
the Simpson’s rule method in both the x and y directions to calculate
/b /s(x)
| |
| | f(x,y) dy dx
| |
/a /r(x)
The function f must be a translated or compiled function of two variables, and r and
s must each be a translated or compiled function of one variable, while a and b must
be floating point numbers. The routine has two global variables which determine
the number of divisions of the x and y intervals: dblint_x and dblint_y, both of
which are initially 10, and can be changed independently to other integer values (there
are 2*dblint_x+1 points computed in the x direction, and 2*dblint_y+1 in the y
direction). The routine subdivides the X axis and then for each value of X it first
computes r(x) and s(x); then the Y axis between r(x) and s(x) is subdivided and
the integral along the Y axis is performed using Simpson’s rule; then the integral
along the X axis is done using Simpson’s rule with the function values being the Y-
integrals. This procedure may be numerically unstable for a great variety of reasons,
but is reasonably fast: avoid using it on highly oscillatory functions and functions
with singularities (poles or branch points in the region). The Y integrals depend on
how far apart r(x) and s(x) are, so if the distance s(x) - r(x) varies rapidly with
X, there may be substantial errors arising from truncation with different step-sizes
in the various Y integrals. One can increase dblint_x and dblint_y in an effort to
improve the coverage of the region, at the expense of computation time. The function
values are not saved, so if the function is very time-consuming, you will have to wait
for re-computation if you change anything (sorry). It is required that the functions
f, r, and s be either translated or compiled prior to calling dblint. This will result
in orders of magnitude speed improvement over interpreted code in many cases!
demo (dblint) executes a demonstration of dblint applied to an example problem.
defint (expr, x, a, b) Function

Attempts to compute a definite integral. defint is called by integrate when limits
of integration are specified, i.e., when integrate is called as integrate (expr, x,
a, b). Thus from the user’s point of view, it is sufficient to call integrate.
defint returns a symbolic expression, either the computed integral or the noun form
of the integral. See quad_qag and related functions for numerical approximation of
definite integrals.
erf (x) Function

Represents the error function, whose derivative is: 2*exp(-x^2)/sqrt(%pi).
erfflag Variable
Default value: true
When erfflag is false, prevents risch from introducing the erf function in the
answer if there were none in the integrand to begin with.
ilt (expr, t, s) Function

Computes the inverse Laplace transform of expr with respect to t and parameter s.
expr must be a ratio of polynomials whose denominator has only linear and quadratic
factors. By using the functions laplace and ilt together with the solve or linsolve
functions the user can solve a single differential or convolution integral equation or a
set of them.
(%i1) ’integrate (sinh(a*x)*f(t-x), x, 0, t) + b*f(t) = t**2;
t
/
[ 2
(%o1) I f(t - x) sinh(a x) dx + b f(t) = t
]
/
0
(%i2) laplace (%, t, s);
a laplace(f(t), t, s) 2
(%o2) b laplace(f(t), t, s) + --------------------- = --
2 2 3
s - a s
(%i3) linsolve ([%], [’laplace(f(t), t, s)]);
2 2
2 s - 2 a
(%o3) [laplace(f(t), t, s) = --------------------]
5 2 3
b s + (a - a b) s
(%i4) ilt (rhs (first (%)), s, t);
Is a b (a b - 1) positive, negative, or zero?
pos;
166 Maxima Manual
sqrt(a b (a b - 1)) t
2 cosh(---------------------) 2
b a t
(%o4) - ----------------------------- + -------
3 2 2 a b - 1
a b - 2 a b + a
2
+ ------------------
3 2 2
a b - 2 a b + a
integrate (expr, x) Function

integrate (expr, x, a, b) Function
Attempts to symbolically compute the integral of expr with respect to x. integrate
(expr, x) is an indefinite integral, while integrate (expr, x, a, b) is a definite
integral, with limits of integration a and b. The limits should not contain x, although
integrate does not enforce this restriction. a need not be less than b. If b is equal
to a, integrate returns zero.
See quad_qag and related functions for numerical approximation of definite integrals.
See residue for computation of residues (complex integration). See antid for an
alternative means of computing indefinite integrals.
The integral (an expression free of integrate) is returned if integrate succeeds.
Otherwise the return value is the noun form of the integral (the quoted operator
’integrate) or an expression containing one or more noun forms. The noun form of
integrate is displayed with an integral sign.
In some circumstances it is useful to construct a noun form by hand, by quoting
integrate with a single quote, e.g., ’integrate (expr, x). For example, the integral
may depend on some parameters which are not yet computed. The noun may be
applied to its arguments by ev (i, nouns) where i is the noun form of interest.
integrate handles definite integrals separately from indefinite, and employs a range
of heuristics to handle each case. Special cases of definite integrals include limits of
integration equal to zero or infinity (inf or minf), trigonometric functions with limits
of integration equal to zero and %pi or 2 %pi, rational functions, integrals related to
the definitions of the beta and psi functions, and some logarithmic and trigonometric
integrals. Processing rational functions may include computation of residues. If an
applicable special case is not found, an attempt will be made to compute the indefinite
integral and evaluate it at the limits of integration. This may include taking a limit
as a limit of integration goes to infinity or negative infinity; see also ldefint.
Special cases of indefinite integrals include trigonometric functions, exponential and
logarithmic functions, and rational functions. integrate may also make use of a
short table of elementary integrals.
integrate may carry out a change of variable if the integrand has the form f(g(x))
* diff(g(x), x). integrate attempts to find a subexpression g(x) such that the
derivative of g(x) divides the integrand. This search may make use of derivatives
defined by the gradef function. See also changevar and antid.
If none of the preceding heuristics find the indefinite integral, the Risch algorithm is
executed. The flag risch may be set as an evflag, in a call to ev or on the com-
mand line, e.g., ev (integrate (expr, x), risch) or integrate (expr, x), risch.
If risch is present, integrate calls the risch function without attempting heuristics
first. See also risch.
integrate works only with functional relations represented explicitly with the f(x)
notation. integrate does not respect implicit dependencies established by the
depends function.
integrate may need to know some property of a parameter in the integrand.
integrate will first consult the assume database, and, if the variable of interest
is not there, integrate will ask the user. Depending on the question, suitable
responses are yes; or no;, or pos;, zero;, or neg;.
integrate is not, by default, declared to be linear. See declare and linear.
integrate attempts integration by parts only in a few special cases.
Examples:
• Elementary indefinite and definite integrals.
(%i1) integrate (sin(x)^3, x);
3
cos (x)
(%o1) ------- - cos(x)
3
(%i2) integrate (x/ sqrt (b^2 - x^2), x);
2 2
(%o2) - sqrt(b - x )
(%i3) integrate (cos(x)^2 * exp(x), x, 0, %pi);
%pi
3 %e 3
(%o3) ------- - -
5 5
(%i4) integrate (x^2 * exp(-x^2), x, minf, inf);
sqrt(%pi)
(%o4) ---------
2
• Use of assume and interactive query.
(%i1) assume (a > 1)$
(%i2) integrate (x**a/(x+1)**(5/2), x, 0, inf);
2 a + 2
Is ------- an integer?
5
no;
Is 2 a - 3 positive, negative, or zero?
neg;
3
(%o2) beta(a + 1, - - a)
2
168 Maxima Manual
• Change of variable. There are two changes of variable in this example: one using
a derivative established by gradef, and one using the derivation diff(r(x)) of
an unspecified function r(x).
(%i3) gradef (q(x), sin(x**2));
(%o3) q(x)
(%i4) diff (log (q (r (x))), x);
d 2
(-- (r(x))) sin(r (x))
dx
(%o4) ----------------------
q(r(x))
(%i5) integrate (%, x);
(%o5) log(q(r(x)))
• Return value contains the ’integrate noun form. In this example, Maxima can
extract one factor of the denominator of a rational function, but cannot factor the
remainder or otherwise find its integral. grind shows the noun form ’integrate
in the result. See also integrate_use_rootsof for more on integrals of rational
functions.
(%i1) expand ((x-4) * (x^3+2*x+1));
4 3 2
(%o1) x - 4 x + 2 x - 7 x - 4
(%i2) integrate (1/%, x);
/ 2
[ x + 4 x + 18
I ------------- dx
] 3
log(x - 4) / x + 2 x + 1
(%o2) ---------- - ------------------
73 73
(%i3) grind (%);
log(x-4)/73-(’integrate((x^2+4*x+18)/(x^3+2*x+1),x))/73$
• Defining a function in terms of an integral. The body of a function is not evalu-
ated when the function is defined. Thus the body of f_1 in this example contains
the noun form of integrate. The double-single-quotes operator ’’ causes the
integral to be evaluated, and the result becomes the body of f_2.
(%i1) f_1 (a) := integrate (x^3, x, 1, a);
3
(%o1) f_1(a) := integrate(x , x, 1, a)
(%i2) ev (f_1 (7), nouns);
(%o2) 600
(%i3) /* Note parentheses around integrate(...) here */
f_2 (a) := ’’(integrate (x^3, x, 1, a));
4
a 1
(%o3) f_2(a) := -- - -
4 4
(%i4) f_2 (7);
(%o4) 600
integration constant counter Variable

Default value: 0
integration_constant_counter is a counter which is updated each time a constant
of integration (named by Maxima, e.g., integrationconstant1) is introduced into
an expression by indefinite integration of an equation.
integrate use rootsof Variable

When integrate_use_rootsof is true and the denominator of a rational function
cannot be factored, integrate returns the integral in a form which is a sum over the
roots (not yet known) of the denominator.
For example, with integrate_use_rootsof set to false, integrate returns an un-
solved integral of a rational function in noun form:
(%i1) integrate_use_rootsof: false$
(%i2) integrate (1/(1+x+x^5), x);
/ 2
[ x - 4 x + 5
I ------------ dx 2 x + 1
] 3 2 2 5 atan(-------)
/ x - x + 1 log(x + x + 1) sqrt(3)
(%o2) ----------------- - --------------- + ---------------
7 14 7 sqrt(3)
Now we set the flag to be true and the unsolved part of the integral will be expressed
as a summation over the roots of the denominator of the rational function:
(%i3) integrate_use_rootsof: true$
(%i4) integrate (1/(1+x+x^5), x);
==== 2
\ (%r4 - 4 %r4 + 5) log(x - %r4)
> -------------------------------
/ 2
==== 3 %r4 - 2 %r4
3 2
%r4 in rootsof(x - x + 1)
(%o4) ----------------------------------------------------------
7
2 x + 1
2 5 atan(-------)
log(x + x + 1) sqrt(3)
- --------------- + ---------------
14 7 sqrt(3)
Alternatively the user may compute the roots of the denominator separately, and
then express the integrand in terms of these roots, e.g., 1/((x - a)*(x - b)*(x -
c)) or 1/((x^2 - (a+b)*x + a*b)*(x - c)) if the denominator is a cubic polynomial.
Sometimes this will help Maxima obtain a more useful result.
170 Maxima Manual
ldefint (expr, x, a, b) Function

Attempts to compute the definite integral of expr by using limit to evaluate the
indefinite integral of expr with respect to x at the upper limit b and at the lower
limit a. If it fails to compute the definite integral, ldefint returns an expression
containing limits as noun forms.
ldefint is not called from integrate, so executing ldefint (expr, x, a, b) may
yield a different result than integrate (expr, x, a, b). ldefint always uses the
same method to evaluate the definite integral, while integrate may employ various
heuristics and may recognize some special cases.
potential (givengradient) Function

The calculation makes use of the global variable potentialzeroloc[0] which must
be nonlist or of the form
[indeterminatej=expressionj, indeterminatek=expressionk, ...]
the former being equivalent to the nonlist expression for all right-hand sides in the lat-
ter. The indicated right-hand sides are used as the lower limit of integration. The suc-
cess of the integrations may depend upon their values and order. potentialzeroloc
is initially set to 0.
qq Function
The package qq (which may be loaded with load ("qq")) contains a function quanc8
which can take either 3 or 4 arguments. The 3 arg version computes the integral
of the function specified as the first argument over the interval from lo to hi as in
quanc8 (’function, lo, hi). The function name should be quoted. The 4 arg
version will compute the integral of the function or expression (first arg) with respect
to the variable (second arg) over the interval from lo to hi as in quanc8(<f(x) or
expression in x>, x, lo, hi). The method used is the Newton-Cotes 8th order
polynomial quadrature, and the routine is adaptive. It will thus spend time dividing
the interval only when necessary to achieve the error conditions specified by the
global variables quanc8_relerr (default value=1.0e-4) and quanc8_abserr (default
value=1.0e-8) which give the relative error test:
|integral(function) - computed value| < quanc8_relerr*|integral(function)|
and the absolute error test:
|integral(function) - computed value| < quanc8_abserr
printfile ("qq.usg") yields additional information.
quanc8 (expr, a, b) Function

An adaptive integrator. Demonstration and usage files are provided. The method
is to use Newton-Cotes 8-panel quadrature rule, hence the function name quanc8,
available in 3 or 4 arg versions. Absolute and relative error checks are used. To use
it do load ("qq"). See also qq.
residue (expr, z, z 0) Function

Computes the residue in the complex plane of the expression expr when the variable z
assumes the value z 0. The residue is the coefficient of (z - z 0)^(-1) in the Laurent
series for expr.
(%i1) residue (s/(s**2+a**2), s, a*%i);

1
(%o1) -
2
(%i2) residue (sin(a*x)/x**4, x, 0);
3
a
(%o2) - --
6
risch (expr, x) Function

Integrates expr with respect to x using the transcendental case of the Risch algo-
rithm. (The algebraic case of the Risch algorithm has not been implemented.) This
currently handles the cases of nested exponentials and logarithms which the main
part of integrate can’t do. integrate will automatically apply risch if given these
cases.
erfflag, if false, prevents risch from introducing the erf function in the answer
if there were none in the integrand to begin with.
(%i1) risch (x^2*erf(x), x);
2
3 2 - x
%pi x erf(x) + (sqrt(%pi) x + sqrt(%pi)) %e
(%o1) -------------------------------------------------
3 %pi
(%i2) diff(%, x), ratsimp;
2
(%o2) x erf(x)
romberg (expr, x, a, b) Function

romberg (expr, a, b) Function
Romberg integration. There are two ways to use this function. The first is an inef-
ficient way like the definite integral version of integrate: romberg (<integrand>,
<variable of integration>, <lower limit>, <upper limit>).
Examples:
(%i1) showtime: true$
(%i2) romberg (sin(y), y, 0, %pi);
Evaluation took 0.00 seconds (0.01 elapsed) using 25.293 KB.
(%o2) 2.000000016288042
(%i3) 1/((x-1)^2+1/100) + 1/((x-2)^2+1/1000) + 1/((x-3)^2+1/200)$
(%i4) f(x) := ’’%$
(%i5) rombergtol: 1e-6$
(%i6) rombergit: 15$
(%i7) romberg (f(x), x, -5, 5);
Evaluation took 11.97 seconds (12.21 elapsed) using 12.423 MB.
(%o7) 173.6730736617464
The second is an efficient way that is used as follows:
172 Maxima Manual
romberg (<function name>, <lower limit>, <upper limit>);

Continuing the above example, we have:
(%i8) f(x) := (mode_declare ([function(f), x], float), ’’(%th(5)))$
(%i9) translate(f);
(%o9) [f]
(%i10) romberg (f, -5, 5);
Evaluation took 3.51 seconds (3.86 elapsed) using 6.641 MB.
(%o10) 173.6730736617464
The first argument must be a translated or compiled function. (If it is compiled it
must be declared to return a flonum.) If the first argument is not already translated,
romberg will not attempt to translate it but will give an error.
The accuracy of the integration is governed by the global variables rombergtol (de-
fault value 1.E-4) and rombergit (default value 11). romberg will return a result if
the relative difference in successive approximations is less than rombergtol. It will
try halving the stepsize rombergit times before it gives up. The number of itera-
tions and function evaluations which romberg will do is governed by rombergabs and
rombergmin.
romberg may be called recursively and thus can do double and triple integrals.
Example:
(%i1) assume (x > 0)$
(%i2) integrate (integrate (x*y/(x+y), y, 0, x/2), x, 1, 3)$
(%i3) radcan (%);
26 log(3) - 26 log(2) - 13
(%o3) - --------------------------
3
(%i4) %,numer;
(%o4) .8193023963959073
(%i5) define_variable (x, 0.0, float, "Global variable in function F")$
(%i6) f(y) := (mode_declare (y, float), x*y/(x+y))$
(%i7) g(x) := romberg (’f, 0, x/2)$
(%i8) romberg (g, 1, 3);
(%o8) .8193022864324522
The advantage with this way is that the function f can be used for other purposes,
like plotting. The disadvantage is that you have to think up a name for both the
function f and its free variable x. Or, without the global:
(%i1) g_1(x) := (mode_declare (x, float), romberg (x*y/(x+y), y, 0, x/2))$
(%i2) romberg (g_1, 1, 3);
(%o2) .8193022864324522
The advantage here is shortness.
(%i3) q (a, b) := romberg (romberg (x*y/(x+y), y, 0, x/2), x, a, b)$
(%i4) q (1, 3);
(%o4) .8193022864324522
It is even shorter this way, and the variables do not need to be declared because
they are in the context of romberg. Use of romberg for multiple integrals can have
great disadvantages, though. The amount of extra calculation needed because of
the geometric information thrown away by expressing multiple integrals this way can
be incredible. The user should be sure to understand and use the rombergtol and
rombergit switches.
rombergabs Variable
Default value: 0.0
Assuming that successive estimates produced by romberg are y[0], y[1], y[2], etc.,
then romberg will return after n iterations if (roughly speaking)
(abs(y[n]-y[n-1]) <= rombergabs or
abs(y[n]-y[n-1])/(if y[n]=0.0 then 1.0 else y[n]) <= rombergtol)
is true. (The condition on the number of iterations given by rombergmin must also
be satisfied.) Thus if rombergabs is 0.0 (the default) you just get the relative error
test. The usefulness of the additional variable comes when you want to perform an
integral, where the dominant contribution comes from a small region. Then you can
do the integral over the small dominant region first, using the relative accuracy check,
followed by the integral over the rest of the region using the absolute accuracy check.
Example: Suppose you want to compute
’integrate (exp(-x), x, 0, 50)
(numerically) with a relative accuracy of 1 part in 10000000. Define the function. n
is a counter, so we can see how many function evaluations were needed. First of all
try doing the whole integral at once.
(%i1) f(x) := (mode_declare (n, integer, x, float), n:n+1, exp(-x))$
(%i2) translate(f)$
Warning-> n is an undefined global variable.
(%i3) block ([rombergtol: 1.e-6, romberabs: 0.0], n:0, romberg (f, 0, 50));
(%o3) 1.000000000488271
(%i4) n;
(%o4) 257
That approach required 257 function evaluations. Now do the integral intelligently, by
first doing ’integrate (exp(-x), x, 0, 10) and then setting rombergabs to 1.E-6
times (this partial integral). This approach takes only 130 function evaluations.
(%i5) block ([rombergtol: 1.e-6, rombergabs:0.0, sum:0.0],
n: 0, sum: romberg (f, 0, 10), rombergabs: sum*rombergtol, rombergtol:0.0,
sum + romberg (f, 10, 50));
(%o5) 1.000000001234793
(%i6) n;
(%o6) 130
So if f(x) were a function that took a long time to compute, the second method
would be about 2 times quicker.
rombergit Variable
Default value: 11
The accuracy of the romberg integration command is governed by the global variables
rombergtol and rombergit. romberg will return a result if the relative difference in
successive approximations is less than rombergtol. It will try halving the stepsize
rombergit times before it gives up.
174 Maxima Manual
rombergmin Variable
Default value: 0
rombergmin governs the minimum number of function evaluations that romberg will
make. romberg will evaluate its first arg. at least 2^(rombergmin+2)+1 times. This
is useful for integrating oscillatory functions, when the normal converge test might
sometimes wrongly pass.
rombergtol Variable
Default value: 1e-4
The accuracy of the romberg integration command is governed by the global variables
rombergtol and rombergit. romberg will return a result if the relative difference in
successive approximations is less than rombergtol. It will try halving the stepsize
rombergit times before it gives up.
tldefint (expr, x, a, b) Function

Equivalent to ldefint with tlimswitch set to true.
quad qag (f(x), x, a, b, key, epsrel, limit) Function

Numerically evaluate the integral
Z b
f (x)dx
a
using a simple adaptive integrator.

The function to be integrated is f(x), with dependent variable x, and the function is
to be integrated between the limits a and b. key is the integrator to be used and
should be an integer between 1 and 6, inclusive. The value of key selects the order of
the Gauss-Kronrod integration rule.
The numerical integration is done adaptively by subdividing the integration region
into sub-intervals until the desired accuracy is achieved.
The optional arguments epsrel and limit are the desired relative error and the maxi-
mum number of subintervals, respectively. epsrel defaults to 1e-8 and limit is 200.
quad_qag returns a list of four elements:
an approximation to the integral,
the estimated absolute error of the approximation,
the number integrand evaluations,
an error code.
The error code (fourth element of the return value) can have the values:
0 if no problems were encountered;
1 if too many sub-intervals were done;
2 if excessive roundoff error is detected;
3 if extremely bad integrand behavior occurs;
6 if the input is invalid.

Examples:
(%i1) quad_qag (x^(1/2)*log(1/x), x, 0, 1, 3);
(%o1) [.4444444444492108, 3.1700968502883E-9, 961, 0]
(%i2) integrate (x^(1/2)*log(1/x), x, 0, 1);
4
(%o2) -
9
quad qags (f(x), x, a, b, epsrel, limit) Function

Numerically integrate the given function using adaptive quadrature with extrapo-
lation. The function to be integrated is f(x), with dependent variable x, and the
function is to be integrated between the limits a and b.
quad_qags returns a list of four elements:
an error code.
0 no problems were encountered;
1 too many sub-intervals were done;
2 excessive roundoff error is detected;
3 extremely bad integrand behavior occurs;
4 failed to converge
5 integral is probably divergent or slowly convergent
Examples:
(%i1) quad_qags (x^(1/2)*log(1/x), x, 0 ,1);
(%o1) [.4444444444444448, 1.11022302462516E-15, 315, 0]
Note that quad_qags is more accurate and efficient than quad_qag for this integrand.
quad qagi (f(x), x, a, inftype, epsrel, limit) Function

Numerically evaluate one of the following integrals
Z ∞
f (x)dx
a
Z a
f (x)dx
∞
176 Maxima Manual
Z ∞
f (x)dx
∞
using the Quadpack QAGI routine. The function to be integrated is f(x), with de-
pendent variable x, and the function is to be integrated over an infinite range.
The parameter inftype determines the integration interval as follows:
inf The interval is from a to positive infinity.
minf The interval is from negative infinity to a.
both The interval is the entire real line.
quad_qagi returns a list of four elements:
an error code.
4 failed to converge
5 integral is probably divergent or slowly convergent
Examples:
(%i1) quad_qagi (x^2*exp(-4*x), x, 0, inf);
(%o1) [0.03125, 2.95916102995002E-11, 105, 0]
(%i2) integrate (x^2*exp(-4*x), x, 0, inf);
1
(%o2) --
32
quad qawc (f(x), x, c, a, b, epsrel, limit) Function

Numerically compute the Cauchy principal value of
b
f (x)
Z
dx
a x−c
using the Quadpack QAWC routine. The function to be integrated is f(x)/(x - c),
with dependent variable x, and the function is to be integrated over the interval a to
b.
quad_qawc returns a list of four elements:
an error code.
Examples:
(%i1) quad_qawc (2^(-5)*((x-1)^2+4^(-5))^(-1), x, 2, 0, 5);
(%o1) [- 3.130120337415925, 1.306830140249558E-8, 495, 0]
(%i2) integrate (2^(-alpha)*(((x-1)^2 + 4^(-alpha))*(x-2))^(-1), x, 0, 5);
Principal Value
alpha
alpha 9 4 9
4 log(------------- + -------------)
alpha alpha
64 4 + 4 64 4 + 4
(%o2) (-----------------------------------------
alpha
2 4 + 2
3 alpha 3 alpha
------- -------
2 alpha/2 2 alpha/2
2 4 atan(4 4 ) 2 4 atan(4 ) alpha
- --------------------------- - -------------------------)/2
alpha alpha
2 4 + 2 2 4 + 2
(%i3) ev (%, alpha=5, numer);
(%o3) - 3.130120337415917
quad qawf (f(x), x, a, omega, trig, epsabs, limit, maxp1, limlst) Function
Numerically compute the a Fourier-type integral using the Quadpack QAWF routine.
The integral is
Z ∞
f (x)w(x)dx
a
The weight function w is selected by trig:

178 Maxima Manual
cos w(x) = cos(omegax)

cos w(x) = sin(omegax)
The optional arguments are:
epsabs Desired absolute error of approximation. Default is 1d-10.
limit Size of internal work array. (limit - limlst)/2 is the maximum number of
subintervals to use. Default is 200.
maxp1 Maximum number of Chebyshev moments. Must be greater than 0. De-
fault is 100.
limlst Upper bound on the number of cycles. Must be greater than or equal to
3. Default is 10.
epsabs and limit are the desired relative error and the maximum number of subinter-
vals, respectively. epsrel defaults to 1e-8 and limit is 200.
quad_qawf returns a list of four elements:
an error code.
Examples:
(%i1) quad_qawf (exp(-x^2), x, 0, 1, ’cos);
(%o1) [.6901942235215714, 2.84846300257552E-11, 215, 0]
(%i2) integrate (exp(-x^2)*cos(x), x, 0, inf);
- 1/4
%e sqrt(%pi)
(%o2) -----------------
2
(%i3) ev (%, numer);
(%o3) .6901942235215714
quad qawo (f(x), x, a, b, omega, trig, epsabs, limit, maxp1, limlst) Function
Numerically compute the integral using the Quadpack QAWO routine:
Z b
f (x)w(x)dx
a
The weight function w is selected by trig:

cos w(x) = cos(omegax)

sin w(x) = sin(omegax)
maxp1 Maximum number of Chebyshev moments. Must be greater than 0. De-
fault is 100.
limlst Upper bound on the number of cycles. Must be greater than or equal to
3. Default is 10.
quad_qawo returns a list of four elements:
an error code.
Examples:
(%i1) quad_qawo (x^(-1/2)*exp(-2^(-2)*x), x, 1d-8, 20*2^2, 1, cos);
(%o1) [1.376043389877692, 4.72710759424899E-11, 765, 0]
(%i2) rectform (integrate (x^(-1/2)*exp(-2^(-alpha)*x) * cos(x), x, 0, inf));
alpha/2 - 1/2 2 alpha
sqrt(%pi) 2 sqrt(sqrt(2 + 1) + 1)
(%o2) -----------------------------------------------------
2 alpha
sqrt(2 + 1)
(%o3) 1.376043390090716
quad qaws (f(x), x, a, b, alfa, beta, wfun, epsabs, limit) Function

Numerically compute the integral using the Quadpack QAWS routine:
Z b
f (x)w(x)dx
a
The weight function w is selected by wfun:

180 Maxima Manual
1 w(x) = (x − a)a lf a(b − x)b eta

2 w(x) = (x − a)a lf a(b − x)b etalog(x − a)
3 w(x) = (x − a)a lf a(b − x)b etalog(b − x)
2 w(x) = (x − a)a lf a(b − x)b etalog(x − a)log(b − x)
quad_qaws returns a list of four elements:
an error code.
Examples:
(%i1) quad_qaws (1/(x+1+2^(-4)), x, -1, 1, -0.5, -0.5, 1);
(%o1) [8.750097361672832, 1.24321522715422E-10, 170, 0]
(%i2) integrate ((1-x*x)^(-1/2)/(x+1+2^(-alpha)), x, -1, 1);
alpha
Is 4 2 - 1 positive, negative, or zero?
pos;
alpha alpha
2 %pi 2 sqrt(2 2 + 1)
(%o2) -------------------------------
alpha
4 2 + 2
(%o3) 8.750097361672829
Chapter 22: Equations 181
22 Equations
22.1 Definitions for Equations
%rnum list Variable

Default value: []
%rnum_list is the list of variables introduced in solutions by algsys. %r variables
are added to %rnum_list in the order they are created. This is convenient for doing
substitutions into the solution later on. It’s recommended to use this list rather than
doing concat (’%r, j).
algexact Variable
algexact affects the behavior of algsys as follows:
If algexact is true, algsys always calls solve and then uses realroots on solve’s
failures.
If algexact is false, solve is called only if the eliminant was not univariate, or if it
was a quadratic or biquadratic.
Thus algexact: true doesn’t guarantee only exact solutions, just that algsys will
first try as hard as it can to give exact solutions, and only yield approximations when
all else fails.
algsys ([expr 1, ..., expr m], [x 1, ..., x n]) Function

algsys ([eqn 1, ..., eqn m], [x 1, ..., x n]) Function
Solves the simultaneous polynomials expr 1, ..., expr m or polynomial equations
eqn 1, ..., eqn m for the variables x 1, ..., x n. An expression expr is equivalent
to an equation expr = 0. There may be more equations than variables or vice versa.
algsys returns a list of solutions, with each solution given as a list of equations stating
values of the variables x 1, ..., x n which satisfy the system of equations. If algsys
cannot find a solution, an empty list [] is returned.
The symbols %r1, %r2, ..., are introduced as needed to represent arbitrary parameters
in the solution; these variables are also appended to the list %rnum_list.
The method is as follows:
(1) First the equations are factored and split into subsystems.
(2) For each subsystem S i, an equation E and a variable x are selected. The variable
is chosen to have lowest nonzero degree. Then the resultant of E and E j with respect
to x is computed for each of the remaining equations E j in the subsystem S i. This
yields a new subsystem S i’ in one fewer variables, as x has been eliminated. The
process now returns to (1).
(3) Eventually, a subsystem consisting of a single equation is obtained. If the equation
is multivariate and no approximations in the form of floating point numbers have been
introduced, then solve is called to find an exact solution.
182 Maxima Manual
In some cases, solve is not be able to find a solution, or if it does the solution may
be a very large expression.
If the equation is univariate and is either linear, quadratic, or biquadratic, then again
solve is called if no approximations have been introduced. If approximations have
been introduced or the equation is not univariate and neither linear, quadratic, or
biquadratic, then if the switch realonly is true, the function realroots is called to
find the real-valued solutions. If realonly is false, then allroots is called which
looks for real and complex-valued solutions.
If algsys produces a solution which has fewer significant digits than required, the
user can change the value of algepsilon to a higher value.
If algexact is set to true, solve will always be called.
(4) Finally, the solutions obtained in step (3) are substituted into previous levels and
the solution process returns to (1).
When algsys encounters a multivariate equation which contains floating point ap-
proximations (usually due to its failing to find exact solutions at an earlier stage),
then it does not attempt to apply exact methods to such equations and instead prints
the message: "algsys cannot solve - system too complicated."
Interactions with radcan can produce large or complicated expressions. In that case,
it may be possible to isolate parts of the result with pickapart or reveal.
Occasionally, radcan may introduce an imaginary unit %i into a solution which is
actually real-valued.
Examples:
(%i1) e1: 2*x*(1 - a1) - 2*(x - 1)*a2;
(%o1) 2 (1 - a1) x - 2 a2 (x - 1)
(%i2) e2: a2 - a1;
(%o2) a2 - a1
(%i3) e3: a1*(-y - x^2 + 1);
2
(%o3) a1 (- y - x + 1)
(%i4) e4: a2*(y - (x - 1)^2);
2
(%o4) a2 (y - (x - 1) )
(%i5) algsys ([e1, e2, e3, e4], [x, y, a1, a2]);
(%o5) [[x = 0, y = %r1, a1 = 0, a2 = 0],
[x = 1, y = 0, a1 = 1, a2 = 1]]
(%i6) e1: x^2 - y^2;
2 2
(%o6) x - y
(%i7) e2: -1 - y + 2*y^2 - x + x^2;
2 2
(%o7) 2 y - y + x - x - 1
(%i8) algsys ([e1, e2], [x, y]);
1 1
(%o8) [[x = - -------, y = -------],
sqrt(3) sqrt(3)
1 1 1 1
[x = -------, y = - -------], [x = - -, y = - -], [x = 1, y = 1]]
sqrt(3) sqrt(3) 3 3
allroots (expr) Function

allroots (eqn) Function
Computes numerical approximations of the real and complex roots of the polynomial
expr or polynomial equation eqn of one variable.
The flag polyfactor when true causes allroots to factor the polynomial over the
real numbers if the polynomial is real, or over the complex numbers, if the polynomial
is complex.
allroots may give inaccurate results in case of multiple roots. If the polynomial
is real, allroots (%i*p)) may yield more accurate approximations than allroots
(p), as allroots invokes a different algorithm in that case.
allroots rejects non-polynomials. It requires that the numerator after rat’ing should
be a polynomial, and it requires that the denominator be at most a complex number.
As a result of this allroots will always return an equivalent (but factored) expression,
if polyfactor is true.
For complex polynomials an algorithm by Jenkins and Traub is used (Algorithm 419,
Comm. ACM, vol. 15, (1972), p. 97). For real polynomials the algorithm used is due
to Jenkins (Algorithm 493, ACM TOMS, vol. 1, (1975), p.178).
Examples:
(%i1) eqn: (1 + 2*x)^3 = 13.5*(1 + x^5);
3 5
(%o1) (2 x + 1) = 13.5 (x + 1)
(%i2) soln: allroots (eqn);
(%o2) [x = .8296749902129361, x = - 1.015755543828121,
x = .9659625152196369 %i - .4069597231924075,
x = - .9659625152196369 %i - .4069597231924075, x = 1.0]

(%i3) for e in soln
do (e2: subst (e, eqn), disp (expand (lhs(e2) - rhs(e2))));
- 3.5527136788005E-15
- 5.32907051820075E-15
4.44089209850063E-15 %i - 4.88498130835069E-15
- 4.44089209850063E-15 %i - 4.88498130835069E-15
3.5527136788005E-15
(%o3) done
(%i4) polyfactor: true$
(%i5) allroots (eqn);
184 Maxima Manual
(%o5) - 13.5 (x - 1.0) (x - .8296749902129361)
2
(x + 1.015755543828121) (x + .8139194463848151 x
+ 1.098699797110288)
backsubst Variable
Default value: true
When backsubst is false, prevents back substitution after the equations have been
triangularized. This may be helpful in very big problems where back substitution
would cause the generation of extremely large expressions.
breakup Variable
Default value: true
When breakup is true, solve expresses solutions of cubic and quartic equations in
terms of common subexpressions, which are assigned to intermediate expression labels
(%t1, %t2, etc.). Otherwise, common subexpressions are not identified.
breakup: true has an effect only when programmode is false.
Examples:
(%i1) programmode: false$
(%i2) breakup: true$
(%i3) solve (x^3 + x^2 - 1);
sqrt(23) 25 1/3
(%t3) (--------- + --)
6 sqrt(3) 54
Solution:
sqrt(3) %i 1
---------- - -
sqrt(3) %i 1 2 2 1
(%t4) x = (- ---------- - -) %t3 + -------------- - -
2 2 9 %t3 3
sqrt(3) %i 1
- ---------- - -
sqrt(3) %i 1 2 2 1
(%t5) x = (---------- - -) %t3 + ---------------- - -
2 2 9 %t3 3
1 1
(%t6) x = %t3 + ----- - -
9 %t3 3
(%o6) [%t4, %t5, %t6]
(%i6) breakup: false$
(%i7) solve (x^3 + x^2 - 1);
Solution:
sqrt(3) %i 1
---------- - -
2 2 sqrt(23) 25 1/3
(%t7) x = --------------------- + (--------- + --)
sqrt(23) 25 1/3 6 sqrt(3) 54
9 (--------- + --)
6 sqrt(3) 54
sqrt(3) %i 1 1
(- ---------- - -) - -
2 2 3
sqrt(23) 25 1/3 sqrt(3) %i 1

(%t8) x = (--------- + --) (---------- - -)
6 sqrt(3) 54 2 2
sqrt(3) %i 1
- ---------- - -
2 2 1
+ --------------------- - -
sqrt(23) 25 1/3 3
9 (--------- + --)
6 sqrt(3) 54
sqrt(23) 25 1/3 1 1
(%t9) x = (--------- + --) + --------------------- - -
6 sqrt(3) 54 sqrt(23) 25 1/3 3
9 (--------- + --)
6 sqrt(3) 54
(%o9) [%t7, %t8, %t9]
dimension (eqn) Function

dimension (eqn 1, ..., eqn n) Function
dimen is a package for dimensional analysis. load ("dimen") loads this package.
demo ("dimen") displays a short demonstration.
dispflag Variable
Default value: true
If set to false within a block will inhibit the display of output generated by the
solve functions called from within the block. Termination of the block with a dollar
sign, $, sets dispflag to false.
funcsolve (eqn, g(t)) Function

Returns [g(t) = ...] or [], depending on whether or not there exists a rational
function g(t) satisfying eqn, which must be a first order, linear polynomial in (for
this case) g(t) and g(t+1)
186 Maxima Manual
(%i1) eqn: (n + 1)*f(n) - (n + 3)*f(n + 1)/(n + 1) = (n - 1)/(n + 2);

(n + 3) f(n + 1) n - 1
(%o1) (n + 1) f(n) - ---------------- = -----
n + 1 n + 2
(%i2) funcsolve (eqn, f(n));
Dependent equations eliminated: (4 3)

n
(%o2) f(n) = ---------------
(n + 1) (n + 2)
Warning: this is a very rudimentary implementation – many safety checks and obvious
generalizations are missing.
globalsolve Variable
When globalsolve is true, solved-for variables are assigned the solution values found
by solve.
Examples:
(%i1) globalsolve: true$
(%i2) solve ([x + 3*y = 2, 2*x - y = 5], [x, y]);
Solution
17
(%t2) x : --
7
1
(%t3) y : - -
7
(%o3) [[%t2, %t3]]
(%i3) x;
17
(%o3) --
7
(%i4) y;
1
(%o4) - -
7
(%i5) globalsolve: false$
(%i6) kill (x, y)$
(%i7) solve ([x + 3*y = 2, 2*x - y = 5], [x, y]);
Solution
17
(%t7) x = --
7
1
(%t8) y = - -
7
(%o8) [[%t7, %t8]]
(%i8) x;
(%o8) x
(%i9) y;
(%o9) y
ieqn (ie, unk, tech, n, guess) Function

inteqn is a package for solving integral equations. load ("inteqn") loads this pack-
age.
ie is the integral equation; unk is the unknown function; tech is the technique to
be tried from those given above (tech = first means: try the first technique which
finds a solution; tech = all means: try all applicable techniques); n is the maximum
number of terms to take for taylor, neumann, firstkindseries, or fredseries (it
is also the maximum depth of recursion for the differentiation method); guess is the
initial guess for neumann or firstkindseries.
Default values for the 2nd thru 5th parameters are:
unk: p(x), where p is the first function encountered in an integrand which is unknown
to Maxima and x is the variable which occurs as an argument to the first occurrence of
p found outside of an integral in the case of secondkind equations, or is the only other
variable besides the variable of integration in firstkind equations. If the attempt
to search for x fails, the user will be asked to supply the independent variable.
tech: first
n: 1
guess: none which will cause neumann and firstkindseries to use f (x) as an initial
guess.
ieqnprint Variable
Default value: true
ieqnprint governs the behavior of the result returned by the ieqn command. When
ieqnprint is false, the lists returned by the ieqn function are of the form
[solution, technique used, nterms, flag]
where flag is absent if the solution is exact.
Otherwise, it is the word approximate or incomplete corresponding to an inexact
or non-closed form solution, respectively. If a series method was used, nterms gives
the number of terms taken (which could be less than the n given to ieqn if an error
prevented generation of further terms).
lhs (eqn) Function

Returns the left side of the equation eqn.
If the argument is not an equation, lhs returns the argument.
See also rhs.
Example:
188 Maxima Manual
(%i1) e: x^2 + y^2 = z^2;

2 2 2
(%o1) y + x = z
(%i2) lhs (e);
2 2
(%o2) y + x
(%i3) rhs (e);
2
(%o3) z
linsolve ([expr 1, ..., expr m], [x 1, ..., x n]) Function

Solves the list of simultaneous linear equations for the list of variables. The expressions
must each be polynomials in the variables and may be equations.
When globalsolve is true then variables which are solved for will be set to the
solution of the set of simultaneous equations.
When backsubst is false, linsolve does not carry out back substitution after the
equations have been triangularized. This may be necessary in very big problems
where back substitution would cause the generation of extremely large expressions.
When linsolve_params is true, linsolve also generates the %r symbols used to
represent arbitrary parameters described in the manual under algsys. Otherwise,
linsolve solves an under-determined system of equations with some variables ex-
pressed in terms of others.
(%i1) e1: x + z = y$
(%i2) e2: 2*a*x - y = 2*a^2$
(%i3) e3: y - 2*z = 2$
(%i4) linsolve ([e1, e2, e3], [x, y, z]);
(%o4) [x = a + 1, y = 2 a, z = a - 1]
linsolvewarn Variable
Default value: true
When linsolvewarn is true, linsolve prints a message "Dependent equations elim-
inated".
linsolve params Variable

Default value: true
When linsolve_params is true, linsolve also generates the %r symbols used to
represent arbitrary parameters described in the manual under algsys. Otherwise,
linsolve solves an under-determined system of equations with some variables ex-
pressed in terms of others.
multiplicities Variable
Default value: not_set_yet
multiplicities is set to a list of the multiplicities of the individual solutions returned
by solve or realroots.
nroots (p, low, high) Function

Returns the number of real roots of the real univariate polynomial p in the half-open
interval (low, high]. The endpoints of the interval may be minf or inf. infinity and
plus infinity.
nroots uses the method of Sturm sequences.
(%i1) p: x^10 - 2*x^4 + 1/2$
(%i2) nroots (p, -6, 9.1);
(%o2) 4
nthroot (p, n) Function

where p is a polynomial with integer coefficients and n is a positive integer returns q,
a polynomial over the integers, such that q^n=p or prints an error message indicating
that p is not a perfect nth power. This routine is much faster than factor or even
sqfr.
programmode Variable
Default value: true
When programmode is true, solve, realroots, allroots, and linsolve return
solutions as elements in a list. (Except when backsubst is set to false, in which
case programmode: false is assumed.)
When programmode is false, solve, etc. create intermediate expression labels %t1,
t2, etc., and assign the solutions to them.
realonly Variable
When realonly is true, algsys returns only those solutions which are free of %i.
realroots (poly, bound) Function

Finds all of the real roots of the real univariate polynomial poly within a tolerance of
bound which, if less than 1, causes all integral roots to be found exactly. The parame-
ter bound may be arbitrarily small in order to achieve any desired accuracy. The first
argument may also be an equation. realroots sets multiplicities, useful in case
of multiple roots. realroots (p) is equivalent to realroots (p, rootsepsilon).
rootsepsilon is a real number used to establish the confidence interval for the roots.
Do example (realroots) for an example.
rhs (eqn) Function

Returns the right side of the equation eqn.
If the argument is not an equation, rhs returns 0.
See also lhs.
Example:
(%i1) e: x^2 + y^2 = z^2;
2 2 2
(%o1) y + x = z
(%i2) lhs (e);
190 Maxima Manual
2 2
(%o2) y + x
(%i3) rhs (e);
2
(%o3) z
rootsconmode Variable
Default value: true
rootsconmode governs the behavior of the rootscontract command. See
rootscontract for details.
rootscontract (expr) Function

Converts products of roots into roots of products. For example, rootscontract
(sqrt(x)*y^(3/2)) yields sqrt(x*y^3).
When radexpand is true and domain is real, rootscontract converts abs into sqrt,
e.g., rootscontract (abs(x)*sqrt(y)) yields sqrt(x^2*y).
There is an option rootsconmode affecting rootscontract as follows:
Problem Value of Result of applying
rootsconmode rootscontract
x^(1/2)*y^(3/2) false (x*y^3)^(1/2)

x^(1/2)*y^(1/4) false x^(1/2)*y^(1/4)
x^(1/2)*y^(1/4) true (x*y^(1/2))^(1/2)
x^(1/2)*y^(1/3) true x^(1/2)*y^(1/3)
x^(1/2)*y^(1/4) all (x^2*y)^(1/4)
x^(1/2)*y^(1/3) all (x^3*y^2)^(1/6)
When rootsconmode is false, rootscontract contracts only with respect to rational
number exponents whose denominators are the same. The key to the rootsconmode:
true examples is simply that 2 divides into 4 but not into 3. rootsconmode: all
involves taking the least common multiple of the denominators of the exponents.
rootscontract uses ratsimp in a manner similar to logcontract.
Examples:
(%i1) rootsconmode: false$
(%i2) rootscontract (x^(1/2)*y^(3/2));
3
(%o2) sqrt(x y )
1/4
(%o3) sqrt(x) y
(%i4) rootsconmode: true$
(%o5) sqrt(x sqrt(y))
1/3
(%o6) sqrt(x) y
(%i7) rootsconmode: all$

2 1/4
(%o8) (x y)
3 2 1/6
(%o9) (x y )
(%i10) rootsconmode: false$
(%i11) rootscontract (sqrt(sqrt(x) + sqrt(1 + x))
*sqrt(sqrt(1 + x) - sqrt(x)));
(%o11) 1
(%i12) rootsconmode: true$
(%i13) rootscontract (sqrt(5 + sqrt(5)) - 5^(1/4)*sqrt(1 + sqrt(5)));
(%o13) 0
rootsepsilon Variable
Default value: 1.0e-7
rootsepsilon is the tolerance which establishes the confidence interval for the roots
found by the realroots function.
solve (expr, x) Function

solve (expr) Function
solve ([eqn 1, ..., eqn n], [x 1, ..., x n]) Function
Solves the algebraic equation expr for the variable x and returns a list of solution
equations in x. If expr is not an equation, the equation expr = 0 is assumed in its
place. x may be a function (e.g. f(x)), or other non-atomic expression except a sum
or product. x may be omitted if expr contains only one variable. expr may be a
rational expression, and may contain trigonometric functions, exponentials, etc.
The following method is used:
Let E be the expression and X be the variable. If E is linear in X then it is trivially
solved for X. Otherwise if E is of the form A*X^N + B then the result is (-B/A)^1/N)
times the N’th roots of unity.
If E is not linear in X then the gcd of the exponents of X in E (say N ) is divided
into the exponents and the multiplicity of the roots is multiplied by N. Then solve
is called again on the result. If E factors then solve is called on each of the factors.
Finally solve will use the quadratic, cubic, or quartic formulas where necessary.
In the case where E is a polynomial in some function of the variable to be solved for,
say F(X), then it is first solved for F(X) (call the result C), then the equation F(X)=C
can be solved for X provided the inverse of the function F is known.
breakup if false will cause solve to express the solutions of cubic or quartic equa-
tions as single expressions rather than as made up of several common subexpressions
which is the default.
multiplicities - will be set to a list of the multiplicities of the individual solutions
returned by solve, realroots, or allroots. Try apropos (solve) for the switches
which affect solve. describe may then by used on the individual switch names if
their purpose is not clear.
192 Maxima Manual
solve ([eqn 1, ..., eqn n], [x 1, ..., x n]) solves a system of simultaneous (lin-
ear or non-linear) polynomial equations by calling linsolve or algsys and returns
a list of the solution lists in the variables. In the case of linsolve this list would
contain a single list of solutions. It takes two lists as arguments. The first list rep-
resents the equations to be solved; the second list is a list of the unknowns to be
determined. If the total number of variables in the equations is equal to the number
of equations, the second argument-list may be omitted. For linear systems if the given
equations are not compatible, the message inconsistent will be displayed (see the
solve_inconsistent_error switch); if no unique solution exists, then singular will
be displayed.
Examples:
(%i1) solve (asin (cos (3*x))*(f(x) - 1), x);
SOLVE is using arc-trig functions to get a solution.

Some solutions will be lost.
%pi
(%o1) [x = ---, f(x) = 1]
6
(%i2) ev (solve (5^f(x) = 125, f(x)), solveradcan);
log(125)
(%o2) [f(x) = --------]
log(5)
(%i3) [4*x^2 - y^2 = 12, x*y - x = 2];
2 2
(%o3) [4 x - y = 12, x y - x = 2]
(%i4) solve (%, [x, y]);
(%o4) [[x = 2, y = 2], [x = .5202594388652008 %i
- .1331240357358706, y = .0767837852378778
- 3.608003221870287 %i], [x = - .5202594388652008 %i
- .1331240357358706, y = 3.608003221870287 %i
+ .0767837852378778], [x = - 1.733751846381093,
y = - .1535675710019696]]
(%i5) solve (1 + a*x + x^3, x);
3
sqrt(3) %i 1 sqrt(4 a + 27) 1 1/3
(%o5) [x = (- ---------- - -) (--------------- - -)
2 2 6 sqrt(3) 2
sqrt(3) %i 1
(---------- - -) a
2 2
- --------------------------, x =
3
sqrt(4 a + 27) 1 1/3

3 (--------------- - -)
6 sqrt(3) 2
3
sqrt(3) %i 1 sqrt(4 a + 27) 1 1/3
(---------- - -) (--------------- - -)
2 2 6 sqrt(3) 2
sqrt(3) %i 1
(- ---------- - -) a
2 2
- --------------------------, x =
3
sqrt(4 a + 27) 1 1/3
3 (--------------- - -)
6 sqrt(3) 2
3
sqrt(4 a + 27) 1 1/3 a
(--------------- - -) - --------------------------]
6 sqrt(3) 2 3
sqrt(4 a + 27) 1 1/3
3 (--------------- - -)
6 sqrt(3) 2
(%i6) solve (x^3 - 1);
sqrt(3) %i - 1 sqrt(3) %i + 1
(%o6) [x = --------------, x = - --------------, x = 1]
2 2
(%i7) solve (x^6 - 1);
sqrt(3) %i + 1 sqrt(3) %i - 1
(%o7) [x = --------------, x = --------------, x = - 1,
2 2
sqrt(3) %i + 1 sqrt(3) %i - 1
x = - --------------, x = - --------------, x = 1]
2 2
(%i8) ev (x^6 - 1, %[1]);
6
(sqrt(3) %i + 1)
(%o8) ----------------- - 1
64
(%i9) expand (%);
(%o9) 0
(%i10) x^2 - 1;
2
(%o10) x - 1
(%i11) solve (%, x);
(%o11) [x = - 1, x = 1]
194 Maxima Manual
(%i12) ev (%th(2), %[1]);

(%o12) 0
solvedecomposes Variable
Default value: true
When solvedecomposes is true, solve calls polydecomp if asked to solve polynomi-
als.
solveexplicit Variable
When solveexplicit is true, inhibits solve from returning implicit solutions, that
is, solutions of the form F(x) = 0 where F is some function.
solvefactors Variable
Default value: true
When solvefactors is false, solve does not try to factor the expression. The
false setting may be desired in some cases where factoring is not necessary.
solvenullwarn Variable
Default value: true
When solvenullwarn is true, solve prints a warning message if called with either
a null equation list or a null variable list. For example, solve ([], []) would print
two warning messages and return [].
solveradcan Variable
When solveradcan is true, solve calls radcan which makes solve slower but will
allow certain problems containing exponentials and logarithms to be solved.
solvetrigwarn Variable
Default value: true
When solvetrigwarn is true, solve may print a message saying that it is using
inverse trigonometric functions to solve the equation, and thereby losing solutions.
solve inconsistent error Variable

Default value: true
When solve_inconsistent_error is true, solve and linsolve give an error if the
equations to be solved are inconsistent.
If false, solve and linsolve return an empty list [] if the equations are inconsistent.
Example:
(%i1) solve_inconsistent_error: true$
(%i2) solve ([a + b = 1, a + b = 2], [a, b]);
Inconsistent equations: (2)
(%i3) solve_inconsistent_error: false$
(%i4) solve ([a + b = 1, a + b = 2], [a, b]);
(%o4) []
Chapter 23: Differential Equations 195
23 Differential Equations
23.1 Definitions for Differential Equations
bc2 (solution, xval1, yval1, xval2, yval2) Function

Solves boundary value problem for second order differential equation. Here: solution
is a general solution to the equation, as found by ode2, xval1 is an equation for the
independent variable in the form x = x0, and yval1 is an equation for the dependent
variable in the form y = y0. The xval2 and yval2 are equations for these variables at
another point. See ode2 for example of usage.
desolve (eqn, x) Function

desolve ([eqn 1, ..., eqn n], [x 1, ..., x n]) Function
The function dsolve solves systems of linear ordinary differential equations using
Laplace transform. Here the eqn’s are differential equations in the dependent variables
x 1, ..., x n. The functional relationships must be explicitly indicated in both the
equations and the variables. For example
’diff(f,x,2)=sin(x)+’diff(g,x);
’diff(f,x)+x^2-f=2*’diff(g,x,2);
is not the proper format. The correct way is:
’diff(f(x),x,2)=sin(x)+’diff(g(x),x);
’diff(f(x),x)+x^2-f=2*’diff(g(x),x,2);
The call is then desolve([%o3,%o4],[f(x),g(x)]); .
If initial conditions at 0 are known, they should be supplied before calling desolve
by using atvalue.
(%i1) ’diff(f(x),x)=’diff(g(x),x)+sin(x);
d d
(%o1) -- (f(x)) = -- (g(x)) + sin(x)
dx dx
(%i2) ’diff(g(x),x,2)=’diff(f(x),x)-cos(x);
2
d d
(%o2) --- (g(x)) = -- (f(x)) - cos(x)
2 dx
dx
(%i3) atvalue(’diff(g(x),x),x=0,a);
(%o3) a
(%i4) atvalue(f(x),x=0,1);
(%o4) 1
(%i5) desolve([%o1,%o2],[f(x),g(x)]);
x
(%o5) [f(x) = a %e - a + 1, g(x) =
x
cos(x) + a %e - a + g(0) - 1]
196 Maxima Manual
(%i6) [%o1,%o2],%o5,diff;
x x x x
(%o6) [a %e = a %e , a %e - cos(x) = a %e - cos(x)]
If desolve cannot obtain a solution, it returns false.
ic1 (solution, xval, yval) Function

Solves initial value problem for first order differential equation. Here: solution is
a general solution to the equation, as found by ode2, xval is an equation for the
independent variable in the form x = x0, and yval is an equation for the dependent
variable in the form y = y0. See ode2 for example of usage.
ic2 (solution, xval, yval, dval) Function

Solves initial value problem for second order differential equation. Here: solution
is a general solution to the equation, as found by ode2, xval is an equation for the
independent variable in the form x = x0, yval is an equation for the dependent variable
in the form y = y0, and dval is an equation for the derivative of the dependent variable
with respect to independent variable evaluated at the point xval. See ode2 for example
of usage.
ode2 (eqn, dvar, ivar) Function

The function ode2 solves ordinary differential equations of first or second order. It
takes three arguments: an ODE eqn, the dependent variable dvar, and the indepen-
dent variable ivar. When successful, it returns either an explicit or implicit solution
for the dependent variable. %c is used to represent the constant in the case of first
order equations, and %k1 and %k2 the constants for second order equations. If ode2
cannot obtain a solution for whatever reason, it returns false, after perhaps print-
ing out an error message. The methods implemented for first order equations in
the order in which they are tested are: linear, separable, exact - perhaps requiring
an integrating factor, homogeneous, Bernoulli’s equation, and a generalized homoge-
neous method. For second order: constant coefficient, exact, linear homogeneous with
non-constant coefficients which can be transformed to constant coefficient, the Euler
or equidimensional equation, the method of variation of parameters, and equations
which are free of either the independent or of the dependent variable so that they can
be reduced to two first order linear equations to be solved sequentially. In the course
of solving ODEs, several variables are set purely for informational purposes: method
denotes the method of solution used e.g. linear, intfactor denotes any integrating
factor used, odeindex denotes the index for Bernoulli’s method or for the general-
ized homogeneous method, and yp denotes the particular solution for the variation of
parameters technique.
In order to solve initial value problems (IVPs) and boundary value problems (BVPs),
the routine ic1 is available for first order equations, and ic2 and bc2 for second order
IVPs and BVPs, respectively.
Example:
(%i1) x^2*’diff(y,x) + 3*y*x = sin(x)/x;
2 dy sin(x)
Chapter 23: Differential Equations 197
(%o1) x -- + 3 x y = ------
dx x
(%i2) ode2(%,y,x);
%c - cos(x)
(%o2) y = -----------
3
x
(%i3) ic1(%o2,x=%pi,y=0);
cos(x) + 1
(%o3) y = - ----------
3
x
(%i4) ’diff(y,x,2) + y*’diff(y,x)^3 = 0;
2
d y dy 3
(%o4) --- + y (--) = 0
2 dx
dx
(%i5) ode2(%,y,x);
3
y + 6 %k1 y
(%o5) ------------ = x + %k2
6
(%i6) ratsimp(ic2(%o5,x=0,y=0,’diff(y,x)=2));
3
2 y - 3 y
(%o6) - ---------- = x
6
(%i7) bc2(%o5,x=0,y=1,x=1,y=3);
3
y - 10 y 3
(%o7) --------- = x - -
6 2
198 Maxima Manual
Chapter 24: Numerical 199
24 Numerical
24.1 Introduction to Numerical
24.2 Fourier packages

The fft package comprises functions for the numerical (not symbolic) computation of
the fast Fourier transform. load ("fft") loads this package. See fft.
The fourie package comprises functions for the symbolic computation of Fourier series.
load ("fourie") loads this package. There are functions in the fourie package to calcu-
late Fourier integral coefficients and some functions for manipulation of expressions. See
Definitions for Fourier Series.
24.3 Definitions for Numerical
polartorect (magnitude array, phase array) Function

Translates complex values of the form r %e^(%i t) to the form a + b %i. load
("fft") loads this function into Maxima. See also fft.
The magnitude and phase, r and t, are taken from magnitude array and phase array,
respectively. The original values of the input arrays are replaced by the real and
imaginary parts, a and b, on return. The outputs are calculated as
a: r cos (t)
b: r sin (t)
The input arrays must be the same size and 1-dimensional. The array size need not
be a power of 2.
polartorect is the inverse function of recttopolar.
recttopolar (real array, imaginary array) Function

Translates complex values of the form a + b %i to the form r %e^(%i t). load
("fft") loads this function into Maxima. See also fft.
The real and imaginary parts, a and b, are taken from real array and imaginary array,
respectively. The original values of the input arrays are replaced by the magnitude
and angle, r and t, on return. The outputs are calculated as
r: sqrt (a^2 + b^2)
t: atan2 (b, a)
The computed angle is in the range -%pi to %pi.
The input arrays must be the same size and 1-dimensional. The array size need not
be a power of 2.
recttopolar is the inverse function of polartorect.
200 Maxima Manual
ift (real array, imaginary array) Function

Fast inverse discrete Fourier transform. load ("fft") loads this function into Max-
ima.
ift carries out the inverse complex fast Fourier transform on 1-dimensional floating
point arrays. The inverse transform is defined as
x[j]: sum (y[j] exp (+2 %i %pi j k / n), k, 0, n-1)
See fft for more details.
fft (real array, imaginary array) Function

ift (real array, imaginary array) Function
recttopolar (real array, imaginary array) Function
polartorect (magnitude array, phase array) Function
Fast Fourier transform and related functions. load ("fft") loads these functions
into Maxima.
fft and ift carry out the complex fast Fourier transform and inverse transform,
respectively, on 1-dimensional floating point arrays. The size of imaginary array
must equal the size of real array.
fft and ift operate in-place. That is, on return from fft or ift, the original content
of the input arrays is replaced by the output. The fillarray function can make a
copy of an array, should it be necessary.
The discrete Fourier transform and inverse transform are defined as follows. Let x be
the original data, with
x[i]: real_array[i] + %i imaginary_array[i]
Let y be the transformed data. The forward and inverse transforms are
y[k]: (1/n) sum (x[j] exp (-2 %i %pi j k / n), j, 0, n-1)
x[j]: sum (y[j] exp (+2 %i %pi j k / n), k, 0, n-1)

Suitable arrays can be allocated by the array function. For example:
array (my_array, float, n-1)$
declares a 1-dimensional array with n elements, indexed from 0 through n-1 inclusive.
The number of elements n must be equal to 2^m for some m.
fft can be applied to real data (imaginary array all zeros) to obtain sine and cosine
coefficients. After calling fft, the sine and cosine coefficients, say a and b, can be
calculated as
a[0]: real_array[0]
b[0]: 0
and
a[j]: real_array[j] + real_array[n-j]
b[j]: imaginary_array[j] - imaginary_array[n-j]
for j equal to 1 through n/2-1, and
a[n/2]: real_array[n/2]
b[n/2]: 0
recttopolar translates complex values of the form a + b %i to the form r %e^(%i
t). See recttopolar.
polartorect translates complex values of the form r %e^(%i t) to the form a + b

%i. See polartorect.
demo ("fft") displays a demonstration of the fft package.
fortindent Variable
Default value: 0
fortindent controls the left margin indentation of expressions printed out by the
fortran command. 0 gives normal printout (i.e., 6 spaces), and positive values will
causes the expressions to be printed farther to the right.
fortran (expr) Function

Prints expr as a Fortran statement. The output line is indented with spaces. If the
line is too long, fortran prints continuation lines. fortran prints the exponentiation
operator ^ as **, and prints a complex number a + b %i in the form (a,b).
expr may be an equation. If so, fortran prints an assignment statement, assigning the
right-hand side of the equation to the left-hand side. In particular, if the right-hand
side of expr is the name of a matrix, then fortran prints an assignment statement
for each element of the matrix.
If expr is not something recognized by fortran, the expression is printed in grind
format without complaint. fortran does not know about lists, arrays, or functions.
fortindent controls the left margin of the printed lines. 0 is the normal margin (i.e.,
indented 6 spaces). Increasing fortindent causes expressions to be printed further
to the right.
When fortspaces is true, fortran fills out each printed line with spaces to 80
columns.
fortran evaluates its arguments; quoting an argument defeats evaluation. fortran
always returns done.
Examples:
(%i1) expr: (a + b)^12$
(%i2) fortran (expr);
(b+a)**12
(%o2) done
(%i3) fortran (’x=expr);
x = (b+a)**12
(%o3) done
(%i4) fortran (’x=expand (expr));
x = b**12+12*a*b**11+66*a**2*b**10+220*a**3*b**9+495*a**4*b**8+792
1 *a**5*b**7+924*a**6*b**6+792*a**7*b**5+495*a**8*b**4+220*a**9*b
2 **3+66*a**10*b**2+12*a**11*b+a**12
(%o4) done
(%i5) fortran (’x=7+5*%i);
x = (7,5)
(%o5) done
(%i6) fortran (’x=[1,2,3,4]);
x = [1,2,3,4]
(%o6) done
202 Maxima Manual
(%i7) f(x) := x^2$

(%i8) fortran (f);
f
(%o8) done
fortspaces Variable
When fortspaces is true, fortran fills out each printed line with spaces to 80
columns.
horner (expr, x) Function

horner (expr) Function
Returns a rearranged representation of expr as in Horner’s rule, using x as the main
variable if it is specified. x may be omitted in which case the main variable of the
canonical rational expression form of expr is used.
horner sometimes improves stability if expr is to be numerically evaluated. It is
also useful if Maxima is used to generate programs to be run in Fortran. See also
stringout.
(%i1) expr: 1e-155*x^2 - 5.5*x + 5.2e155;
2
(%o1) 1.0E-155 x - 5.5 x + 5.2E+155
(%i2) expr2: horner (%, x), keepfloat: true;
(%o2) (1.0E-155 x - 5.5) x + 5.2E+155
(%i3) ev (expr, x=1e155);
Maxima encountered a Lisp error:
floating point overflow
Automatically continuing.
To reenable the Lisp debugger set *debugger-hook* to nil.
(%i4) ev (expr2, x=1e155);
(%o4) 7.0E+154
interpolate (f (x), x, a, b) Function

interpolate (f, a, b) Function
Finds the zero of function f as variable x varies over the range [a, b]. The function
must have a different sign at each endpoint. If this condition is not met, the action
of the of the function is governed by intpolerror. If intpolerror is true then
an error occurs, otherwise the value of intpolerror is returned (thus for plotting
intpolerror might be set to 0.0). Otherwise (given that Maxima can evaluate the
first argument in the specified range, and that it is continuous) interpolate is guar-
anteed to come up with the zero (or one of them if there is more than one zero).
The accuracy of interpolate is governed by intpolabs and intpolrel which must
be non-negative floating point numbers. interpolate will stop when the first arg
evaluates to something less than or equal to intpolabs or if successive approximants
to the root differ by no more than intpolrel * <one of the approximants>. The
default values of intpolabs and intpolrel are 0.0 so interpolate gets as good an
answer as is possible with the single precision arithmetic we have. The first arg may
be an equation. The order of the last two args is irrelevant. Thus
interpolate (sin(x) = x/2, x, %pi, 0.1);
is equivalent to
interpolate (sin(x) = x/2, x, 0.1, %pi);
The method used is a binary search in the range specified by the last two args. When it
thinks the function is close enough to being linear, it starts using linear interpolation.
(%i1) f(x) := sin(x) - x/2;
x
(%o1) f(x) := sin(x) - -
2
(%i2) interpolate (sin(x) - x/2, x, 0.1, %pi);
(%o2) 1.895494267033981
(%i3) interpolate (sin(x) = x/2, x, 0.1, %pi);
(%o3) 1.895494267033981
(%i4) interpolate (f(x), x, 0.1, %pi);
(%o4) 1.895494267033981
(%i5) interpolate (f, 0.1, %pi);
(%o5) 1.895494267033981
There is also a Newton method interpolation routine. See newton.
intpolabs Variable
Default value: 0.0
intpolabs is the accuracy of the interpolate command is governed by intpolabs
and intpolrel which must be non-negative floating point numbers. interpolate
will stop when the first arg evaluates to something less than or equal to intpolabs
or if successive approximants to the root differ by no more than intpolrel * <one
of the approximants>. The default values of intpolabs and intpolrel are 0.0 so
interpolate gets as good an answer as is possible with the single precision arithmetic
we have.
intpolerror Variable
Default value: true
intpolerror governs the behavior of interpolate. When interpolate is called, it
determines whether or not the function to be interpolated satisfies the condition that
the values of the function at the endpoints of the interpolation interval are opposite
in sign. If they are of opposite sign, the interpolation proceeds. If they are of like
sign, and intpolerror is true, then an error is signaled. If they are of like sign and
intpolerror is not true, the value of intpolerror is returned. Thus for plotting,
intpolerror might be set to 0.0.
intpolrel Variable
Default value: 0.0
intpolrel is the accuracy of the interpolate command is governed by intpolabs
and intpolrel which must be non-negative floating point numbers. interpolate
204 Maxima Manual
will stop when the first arg evaluates to something less than or equal to intpolabs
or if successive approximants to the root differ by no more than intpolrel * <one
of the approximants>. The default values of intpolabs and intpolrel are 0.0 so
interpolate gets as good an answer as is possible with the single precision arithmetic
we have.
newton (expr, x, x 0, eps) Function

Interpolation by Newton’s method. load ("newton1") loads this function.
newton can handle some expressions that interpolate refuses to handle, since
interpolate requires that everything evaluate to a floating point number.
Thus newton (x^2 - a^2, x, a/2, a^2/100) complains that it can’t tell if
6.098490481853958E-4 a^2 < a^2/100. After assume (a>0), the same function call
succeeds, yielding a symbolic result, 1.00030487804878 a.
On the other hand, interpolate (x^2 - a^2, x, a/2, 2*a) complains that 0.5 a is
not a floating point number.
An adaptive integrator which uses the Newton-Cotes 8 panel quadrature rule is avail-
able. See qq.
24.4 Definitions for Fourier Series
equalp (x, y) Function

Returns true if equal (x, y) otherwise false (doesn’t give an error message like
equal (x, y) would do in this case).
remfun (f, expr) Function

remfun (f, expr, x) Function
remfun (f, expr) replaces all occurrences of f (arg) by arg in expr.
remfun (f, expr, x) replaces all occurrences of f (arg) by arg in expr only if arg
contains the variable x.
funp (f, expr) Function

funp (f, expr, x) Function
funp (f, expr) returns true if expr contains the function f.
funp (f, expr, x) returns true if expr contains the function f and the variable x is
somewhere in the argument of one of the instances of f.
absint (f, x, halfplane) Function

absint (f, x) Function
absint (f, x, a, b) Function
absint (f, x, halfplane) returns the indefinite integral of f with respect to x in the
given halfplane (pos, neg, or both). f may contain expressions of the form abs (x),
abs (sin (x)), abs (a) * exp (-abs (b) * abs (x)).
absint (f, x) is equivalent to absint (f, x, pos).
absint (f, x, a, b) returns the definite integral of f with respect to x from a to b.
f may include absolute values.
fourier (f, x, p) Function

Returns a list of the Fourier coefficients of f (x) defined on the interval [-%pi, %pi].
foursimp (l) Function

Simplifies sin (n %pi) to 0 if sinnpiflag is true and cos (n %pi) to (-1)^n if
cosnpiflag is true.
sinnpiflag Variable
Default value: true
See foursimp.
cosnpiflag Variable
Default value: true
See foursimp.
fourexpand (l, x, p, limit) Function

Constructs and returns the Fourier series from the list of Fourier coefficients l up
through limit terms (limit may be inf). x and p have same meaning as in fourier.
fourcos (f, x, p) Function

Returns the Fourier cosine coefficients for f (x) defined on [0, %pi].
foursin (f, x, p) Function

Returns the Fourier sine coefficients for f (x) defined on [0, %pi].
totalfourier (f, x, p) Function

Returns fourexpand (foursimp (fourier (f, x, p)), x, p, ’inf).
fourint (f, x) Function

Constructs and returns a list of the Fourier integral coefficients of f (x) defined on
[minf, inf].
fourintcos (f, x) Function

Returns the Fourier cosine integral coefficients for f (x) on [0, inf].
fourintsin (f, x) Function

Returns the Fourier sine integral coefficients for f (x) on [0, inf].
206 Maxima Manual
Chapter 25: Statistics 207
25 Statistics
25.1 Definitions for Statistics
gauss (mean, sd) Function

Returns a random floating point number from a normal distribution with mean mean
and standard deviation sd.
208 Maxima Manual
Chapter 26: Arrays and Tables 209
26 Arrays and Tables
26.1 Definitions for Arrays and Tables
array (name, dim 1, ..., dim n) Function

array (name, type, dim 1, ..., dim n) Function
array ([name 1, ..., name m], dim 1, ..., dim n) Function
Creates an n-dimensional array. n may be less than or equal to 5. The subscripts for
the i’th dimension are the integers running from 0 to dim i.
array (name, dim 1, ..., dim n) creates a general array.
array (name, type, dim 1, ..., dim n) creates an array, with elements of a speci-
fied type. type can be fixnum for integers of limited size or flonum for floating-point
numbers.
array ([name 1, ..., name m], dim 1, ..., dim n) creates m arrays, all of the
same dimensions.
If the user assigns to a subscripted variable before declaring the corresponding array,
an undeclared array is created. Undeclared arrays, otherwise known as hashed arrays
(because hash coding is done on the subscripts), are more general than declared
arrays. The user does not declare their maximum size, and they grow dynamically
by hashing as more elements are assigned values. The subscripts of undeclared arrays
need not even be numbers. However, unless an array is rather sparse, it is probably
more efficient to declare it when possible than to leave it undeclared. The array
function can be used to transform an undeclared array into a declared array.
arrayapply (A, [i 1, ..., i n]) Function

Evaluates A [i 1, ..., i n], where A is an array and i 1, ..., i n are integers.
This is reminiscent of apply, except the first argument is an array instead of a func-
tion.
arrayinfo (A) Function

Returns a list of information about the array A. For hashed arrays it returns a list
of hashed, the number of subscripts, and the subscripts of every element which has
a value. For declared arrays it returns a list of declared, the number of subscripts,
and the bounds that were given the the array function when it was called on A. Do
example(arrayinfo); for an example.
arraymake (name, [i 1, ..., i n]) Function

Returns the expression name [i 1, ..., i n].
This is reminiscent of funmake, except the return value is an unevaluated array ref-
erence instead of an unevaluated function call.
210 Maxima Manual
arrays system variable

Default value: []
arrays is a list of all the arrays that have been allocated, both declared and unde-
clared.
See also array, arrayapply, arrayinfo, arraymake, fillarray, listarray, and
rearray.
bashindices (expr) Function

Transforms the expression expr by giving each summation and product a unique in-
dex. This gives changevar greater precision when it is working with summations or
products. The form of the unique index is jnumber. The quantity number is deter-
mined by referring to gensumnum, which can be changed by the user. For example,
gensumnum:0$ resets it.
fillarray (A, B) Function

Fills array A from B, which is a list or an array.
If A is a floating-point (integer) array then B should be either a list of floating-point
(integer) numbers or another floating-point (integer) array.
If the dimensions of the arrays are different A is filled in row-major order. If there
are not enough elements in B the last element is used to fill out the rest of A. If there
are too many the remaining ones are thrown away.
fillarray returns its first argument.
getchar (a, i) Function

Returns the i’th character of the quoted string or atomic name a. This function is
useful in manipulating the labels list.
listarray (A) Function

Returns a list of the elements of a declared or hashed array A. The order is row-major.
Elements which are not yet defined are represented by #####.
make array (type, dim 1, ..., dim n) Function

Creates and returns a Lisp array. type may be any, flonum, fixnum, hashed or
functional. There are n indices, and the i’th index runs from from 0 to dim i − 1.
The advantage of make_array over array is that the return value doesn’t have a
name, and once a pointer to it goes away, it will also go away. For example, if y:
make_array (...) then y points to an object which takes up space, but after y:
false, y no longer points to that object, so the object can be garbage collected.
y: make_array (’functional, ’f, ’hashed, 1) - the second argument to make_
array in this case is the function to call to calculate array elements, and the rest
of the arguments are passed recursively to make_array to generate the "memory" for
the array function object.
Chapter 26: Arrays and Tables 211
rearray (A, dim 1, ..., dim n) Function

Changes the dimensions of an array. The new array will be filled with the elements of
the old one in row-major order. If the old array was too small, the remaining elements
are filled with false, 0.0 or 0, depending on the type of the array. The type of the
array cannot be changed.
remarray (A 1, ..., A n) Function

remarray (all) Function
Removes arrays and array associated functions and frees the storage occupied.
remarray (all) removes all items in the global list arrays.
It may be necessary to use this function if it is desired to redefine the values in a
hashed array.
remarray returns the list of arrays removed.
use fast arrays option variable

- if true then only two types of arrays are recognized.
1) The art-q array (t in Common Lisp) which may have several dimensions indexed
by integers, and may hold any Lisp or Maxima object as an entry. To construct such
an array, enter a:make_array(any,3,4); then a will have as value, an array with
twelve slots, and the indexing is zero based.
2) The Hash table array which is the default type of array created if one does
b[x+1]:y^2 (and b is not already an array, a list, or a matrix – if it were one of
these an error would be caused since x+1 would not be a valid subscript for an art-q
array, a list or a matrix). Its indices (also known as keys) may be any object. It only
takes one key at a time (b[x+1,u]:y would ignore the u). Referencing is done by
b[x+1] ==> y^2. Of course the key may be a list, e.g. b[[x+1,u]]:y would be valid.
This is incompatible with the old Maxima hash arrays, but saves consing.
An advantage of storing the arrays as values of the symbol is that the usual conven-
tions about local variables of a function apply to arrays as well. The Hash table type
also uses less consing and is more efficient than the old type of Maxima hashar. To
obtain consistent behaviour in translated and compiled code set translate_fast_
arrays to be true.
212 Maxima Manual
Chapter 27: Matrices and Linear Algebra 213
27 Matrices and Linear Algebra
27.1 Introduction to Matrices and Linear Algebra
27.1.1 Dot
The operator . represents noncommutative multiplication and scalar product. When
the operands are 1-column or 1-row matrices a and b, the expression a.b is equivalent to
sum (a[i]*b[i], i, 1, length(a)). If a and b are not complex, this is the scalar product,
also called the inner product or dot product, of a and b. The scalar product is defined as
conjugate(a).b when a and b are complex; innerproduct in the eigen package provides
the complex scalar product.
When the operands are more general matrices, the product is the matrix product a and
b. The number of rows of b must equal the number of columns of a, and the result has
number of rows equal to the number of rows of a and number of columns equal to the
number of columns of b.
To distinguish . as an arithmetic operator from the decimal point in a floating point
number, it may be necessary to leave spaces on either side. For example, 5.e3 is 5000.0
but 5 . e3 is 5 times e3.
There are several flags which govern the simplification of expressions involving .,
namely dot, dot0nscsimp, dot0simp, dot1simp, dotassoc, dotconstrules, dotdistrib,
dotexptsimp, dotident, and dotscrules.
27.1.2 Vectors
vect is a package of functions for vector analysis. load ("vect") loads this package,
and demo ("vect") displays a demonstration.
The vector analysis package can combine and simplify symbolic expressions including dot
products and cross products, together with the gradient, divergence, curl, and Laplacian
operators. The distribution of these operators over sums or products is governed by several
flags, as are various other expansions, including expansion into components in any specific
orthogonal coordinate systems. There are also functions for deriving the scalar or vector
potential of a field.
The vect package contains these functions: vectorsimp, scalefactors, express,
potential, and vectorpotential.
Warning: the vect package declares the dot operator . to be a commutative operator.
27.1.3 eigen
The package eigen contains several functions devoted to the symbolic computation
of eigenvalues and eigenvectors. Maxima loads the package automatically if one of the
functions eigenvalues or eigenvectors is invoked. The package may be loaded explicitly
as load ("eigen").
214 Maxima Manual
demo ("eigen") displays a demonstration of the capabilities of this package. batch

("eigen") executes the same demonstration, but without the user prompt between succes-
sive computations.
The functions in the eigen package are conjugate, innerproduct, unitvector,
columnvector, gramschmidt, eigenvalues, eigenvectors, uniteigenvectors, and
similaritytransform.
27.2 Definitions for Matrices and Linear Algebra
addcol (M, list 1, ..., list n) Function

Appends the column(s) given by the one or more lists (or matrices) onto the matrix
M.
addrow (M, list 1, ..., list n) Function

Appends the row(s) given by the one or more lists (or matrices) onto the matrix M.
adjoint (M ) Function
Returns the adjoint of the matrix M.
augcoefmatrix ([eqn 1, ..., eqn m], [x 1, ..., x n]) Function

Returns the augmented coefficient matrix for the variables x 1, ..., x n of the system
of linear equations eqn 1, ..., eqn m. This is the coefficient matrix with a column
adjoined for the constant terms in each equation (i.e., those terms not dependent
upon x 1, ..., x n).
(%i1) m: [2*x - (a - 1)*y = 5*b, c + b*y + a*x = 0]$
(%i2) augcoefmatrix (m, [x, y]);
[ 2 1 - a - 5 b ]
(%o2) [ ]
[ a b c ]
charpoly (M, x) Function

Returns the characteristic polynomial for the matrix M with respect to variable x.
That is, determinant (M - diagmatrix (length (M ), x)).
(%i1) a: matrix ([3, 1], [2, 4]);
[ 3 1 ]
(%o1) [ ]
[ 2 4 ]
(%i2) expand (charpoly (a, lambda));
2
(%o2) lambda - 7 lambda + 10
(%i3) (programmode: true, solve (%));
(%o3) [lambda = 5, lambda = 2]
(%i4) matrix ([x1], [x2]);
[ x1 ]
(%o4) [ ]
[ x2 ]
(%i5) ev (a . % - lambda*%, %th(2)[1]);

[ x2 - 2 x1 ]
(%o5) [ ]
[ 2 x1 - x2 ]
(%i6) %[1, 1] = 0;
(%o6) x2 - 2 x1 = 0
(%i7) x2^2 + x1^2 = 1;
2 2
(%o7) x2 + x1 = 1
(%i8) solve ([%th(2), %], [x1, x2]);
1 2
(%o8) [[x1 = - -------, x2 = - -------],
sqrt(5) sqrt(5)
1 2
[x1 = -------, x2 = -------]]
sqrt(5) sqrt(5)
coefmatrix ([eqn 1, ..., eqn m], [x 1, ..., x n]) Function

Returns the coefficient matrix for the variables eqn 1, ..., eqn m of the system of
linear equations x 1, ..., x n.
col (M, i) Function

Returns the i’th column of the matrix M. The return value is a matrix.
columnvector (L) Function

covect (L) Function
Returns a matrix of one column and length (L) rows, containing the elements of the
list L.
covect is a synonym for columnvector.
load ("eigen") loads this function.
This is useful if you want to use parts of the outputs of the functions in this package
in matrix calculations.
Example:
(%i1) load ("eigen")$
Warning - you are redefining the Macsyma function eigenvalues
Warning - you are redefining the Macsyma function eigenvectors
(%i2) columnvector ([aa, bb, cc, dd]);
[ aa ]
[ ]
[ bb ]
(%o2) [ ]
[ cc ]
[ ]
[ dd ]
216 Maxima Manual
conjugate (x) Function

conj (x) Function
Substitutes -%i for %i in x. Depending on x, the result may be the complex conjugate
of x.
conj is a synonym for conjugate.
copymatrix (M ) Function
Returns a copy of the matrix M. This is the only way to make a copy aside from
copying M element by element.
Note that an assignment of one matrix to another, as in m2: m1, does not copy m1. An
assignment m2 [i,j]: x or setelmx (x, i, j, m2 also modifies m1 [i,j]. Creating
a copy with copymatrix and then using assignment creates a separate, modified copy.
determinant (M ) Function
Computes the determinant of M by a method similar to Gaussian elimination.
The form of the result depends upon the setting of the switch ratmx.
There is a special routine for computing sparse determinants which is called when the
switches ratmx and sparse are both true.
detout Variable
When detout is true, the determinant of a matrix whose inverse is computed is
factored out of the inverse.
For this switch to have an effect DOALLMXOPS and DOSCMXOPS should be false
(see their descriptions). Alternatively this switch can be given to EV which causes
the other two to be set correctly.
Example:
(%i1) m: matrix ([a, b], [c, d]);
[ a b ]
(%o1) [ ]
[ c d ]
(%i2) detout: true$
(%i3) doallmxops: false$
(%i4) doscmxops: false$
(%i5) invert (m);
[ d - b ]
[ ]
[ - c a ]
(%o5) ------------
a d - b c
diagmatrix (n, x) Function

Returns a diagonal matrix of size n by n with the diagonal elements all equal to x.
diagmatrix (n, 1) returns an identity matrix (same as ident (n)).
n must evaluate to an integer, otherwise diagmatrix complains with an error message.

x can be any kind of expression, including another matrix. If x is a matrix, it is not
copied; all diagonal elements refer to the same instance, x.
doallmxops Variable
Default value: true
When doallmxops is true, all operations relating to matrices are carried out. When
it is false then the setting of the individual dot switches govern which operations
are performed.
domxexpt Variable
Default value: true
When domxexpt is true, a matrix exponential, exp (M ) where M is a matrix, is
interpreted as a matrix with element [i,j equal to exp (m[i,j]). Otherwise exp
(M ) evaluates to exp (ev(M).
domxexpt affects all expressions of the form base^power where base is an expression
assumed scalar or constant, and power is a list or matrix.
Example:
(%i1) m: matrix ([1, %i], [a+b, %pi]);
[ 1 %i ]
(%o1) [ ]
[ b + a %pi ]
(%i2) domxexpt: false$
(%i3) (1 - c)^m;
[ 1 %i ]
[ ]
[ b + a %pi ]
(%o3) (1 - c)
(%i4) domxexpt: true$
(%i5) (1 - c)^m;
[ %i ]
[ 1 - c (1 - c) ]
(%o5) [ ]
[ b + a %pi ]
[ (1 - c) (1 - c) ]
domxmxops Variable
Default value: true
When domxmxops is true, all matrix-matrix or matrix-list operations are carried out
(but not scalar-matrix operations); if this switch is false such operations are not
carried out.
domxnctimes Variable
When domxnctimes is true, non-commutative products of matrices are carried out.
218 Maxima Manual
dontfactor Variable
Default value: []
dontfactor may be set to a list of variables with respect to which factoring is not to
occur. (The list is initially empty.) Factoring also will not take place with respect to
any variables which are less important, according the variable ordering assumed for
canonical rational expression (CRE) form, than those on the dontfactor list.
doscmxops Variable
When doscmxops is true, scalar-matrix operations are carried out.
doscmxplus Variable
When doscmxplus is true, scalar-matrix operations yield a matrix result. This switch
is not subsumed under doallmxops.
dot0nscsimp Variable
Default value: true
When dot0nscsimp is true, a non-commutative product of zero and a nonscalar term
is simplified to a commutative product.
dot0simp Variable
Default value: true
When dot0simp is true, a non-commutative product of zero and a scalar term is
simplified to a commutative product.
dot1simp Variable
Default value: true
When dot1simp is true, a non-commutative product of one and another term is
simplified to a commutative product.
dotassoc Variable
Default value: true
When dotassoc is true, an expression (A.B).C simplifies to A.(B.C).
dotconstrules Variable
Default value: true
When dotconstrules is true, a non-commutative product of a constant and another
term is simplified to a commutative product. Turning on this flag effectively turns on
dot0simp, dot0nscsimp, and dot1simp as well.
dotdistrib Variable
When dotdistrib is true, an expression A.(B + C) simplifies to A.B + A.C.
dotexptsimp Variable
Default value: true
When dotexptsimp is true, an expression A.A simplifies to A^^2.
dotident Variable
Default value: 1
dotident is the value returned by X^^0.
dotscrules Variable
When dotscrules is true, an expression A.SC or SC.A simplifies to SC*A and
A.(SC*B) simplifies to SC*(A.B).
echelon (M ) Function
Returns the echelon form of the matrix M. The echelon form is computed from M
by elementary row operations such that the first non-zero element in each row in the
resulting matrix is a one and the column elements under the first one in each row are
all zero.
(%i1) m: matrix ([2, 1-a, -5*b], [a, b, c]);
[ 2 1 - a - 5 b ]
(%o1) [ ]
[ a b c ]
(%i2) echelon (m);
[ a - 1 5 b ]
[ 1 - ----- - --- ]
[ 2 2 ]
(%o2)/R/ [ ]
[ 2 c + 5 a b ]
[ 0 1 ------------ ]
[ 2 ]
[ 2 b + a - a ]
eigenvalues (M ) Function
eivals (M ) Function
Returns a list of two lists containing the eigenvalues of the matrix M. The first sublist
of the return value is the list of eigenvalues of the matrix, and the second sublist is
the list of the multiplicities of the eigenvalues in the corresponding order.
eivals is a synonym for eigenvalues.
eigenvalues calls the function solve to find the roots of the characteristic polynomial
of the matrix. Sometimes solve may not be able to find the roots of the polynomial;
in that case some other functions in this package (except conjugate, innerproduct,
unitvector, columnvector and gramschmidt) will not work.
In some cases the eigenvalues found by solve may be complicated expressions. (This
may happen when solve returns a not-so-obviously real expression for an eigenvalue
which is known to be real.) It may be possible to simplify the eigenvalues using some
other functions.
220 Maxima Manual
The package eigen.mac is loaded automatically when eigenvalues or eigenvectors

is referenced. If eigen.mac is not already loaded, load ("eigen") loads it. After
loading, all functions and variables in the package are available.
eigenvectors (M ) Function
eivects (M ) Function
takes a matrix M as its argument and returns a list of lists the first sublist of which is
the output of eigenvalues and the other sublists of which are the eigenvectors of the
matrix corresponding to those eigenvalues respectively. The calculated eigenvectors
and the unit eigenvectors of the matrix are the right eigenvectors and the right unit
eigenvectors respectively.
eivects is a synonym for eigenvectors.
The package eigen.mac is loaded automatically when eigenvalues or eigenvectors
is referenced. If eigen.mac is not already loaded, load ("eigen") loads it. After
loading, all functions and variables in the package are available.
The flags that affect this function are:
nondiagonalizable is set to true or false depending on whether the matrix is
nondiagonalizable or diagonalizable after eigenvectors returns.
hermitianmatrix when true, causes the degenerate eigenvectors of the Hermitian
matrix to be orthogonalized using the Gram-Schmidt algorithm.
knowneigvals when true causes the eigen package to assume the eigenvalues of
the matrix are known to the user and stored under the global name listeigvals.
listeigvals should be set to a list similar to the output eigenvalues.
The function algsys is used here to solve for the eigenvectors. Sometimes if the
eigenvalues are messy, algsys may not be able to find a solution. In some cases, it
may be possible to simplify the eigenvalues by first finding them using eigenvalues
command and then using other functions to reduce them to something simpler. Fol-
lowing simplification, eigenvectors can be called again with the knowneigvals flag
set to true.
ematrix (m, n, x, i, j) Function

Returns an m by n matrix, all elements of which are zero except for the [i, j] element
which is x.
entermatrix (m, n) Function

Returns an m by n matrix, reading the elements interactively.
If n is equal to m, Maxima prompts for the type of the matrix (diagonal, symmetric,
antisymmetric, or general) and for each element. Each response is terminated by a
semicolon ; or dollar sign $.
If n is not equal to m, Maxima prompts for each element.
The elements may be any expressions, which are evaluated. entermatrix evaluates
its arguments.
(%i1) n: 3$
(%i2) m: entermatrix (n, n)$
Is the matrix 1. Diagonal 2. Symmetric 3. Antisymmetric 4. General

Answer 1, 2, 3 or 4 :
1$
Row 1 Column 1:
(a+b)^n$
Row 2 Column 2:
(a+b)^(n+1)$
Row 3 Column 3:
(a+b)^(n+2)$
Matrix entered.
(%i3) m;
[ 3 ]
[ (b + a) 0 0 ]
[ ]
(%o3) [ 4 ]
[ 0 (b + a) 0 ]
[ ]
[ 5 ]
[ 0 0 (b + a) ]
genmatrix (a, i 2, j 2, i 1, j 1) Function

genmatrix (a, i 2, j 2, i 1) Function
genmatrix (a, i 2, j 2) Function
Returns a matrix generated from a, taking element a[i 1,j 1] as the upper-left el-
ement and a[i 2,j 2] as the lower-right element of the matrix. Here a is an array
(created by array but not by make_array) or an array function. (An array function is
created like other functions with := or define, but arguments are enclosed in square
brackets instead of parentheses.)
If j 1 is omitted, it is assumed equal to i 1. If both j 1 and i 1 are omitted, both are
assumed equal to 1.
If a selected element i,j of the array is undefined, the matrix will contain a symbolic
element a[i,j].
(%i1) h[i,j] := 1/(i+j-1)$
(%i2) genmatrix (h, 3, 3);
[ 1 1 ]
[ 1 - - ]
[ 2 3 ]
[ ]
[ 1 1 1 ]
(%o2) [ - - - ]
[ 2 3 4 ]
[ ]
[ 1 1 1 ]
[ - - - ]
[ 3 4 5 ]
(%i3) array (a, fixnum, 2, 2)$
222 Maxima Manual
(%i4) a[1,1]: %e$

(%i5) a[2,2]: %pi$
(%i6) kill (a[1,2], a[2,1])$
(%i7) genmatrix (a, 2, 2);
[ %e a ]
[ 1, 2 ]
(%o7) [ ]
[ a %pi ]
[ 2, 1 ]
gramschmidt (x) Function

gschmit (x) Function
Carries out the Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization algorithm on x, which is either a
matrix or a list of lists. x is not modified by gramschmidt.
If x is a matrix, the algorithm is applied to the rows of x. If x is a list of lists, the
algorithm is applied to the sublists, which must have equal numbers of elements. In
either case, the return value is a list of lists, the sublists of which are orthogonal and
span the same space as x. If the dimension of the span of x is less than the number
of rows or sublists, some sublists of the return value are zero.
factor is called at each stage of the algorithm to simplify intermediate results. As a
consequence, the return value may contain factored integers.
gschmit (note spelling) is a synonym for gramschmidt.
Example:
(%i1) load ("eigen")$
Warning - you are redefining the Macsyma function eigenvalues
Warning - you are redefining the Macsyma function eigenvectors
(%i2) x: matrix ([1, 2, 3], [9, 18, 30], [12, 48, 60]);
[ 1 2 3 ]
[ ]
(%o2) [ 9 18 30 ]
[ ]
[ 12 48 60 ]
(%i3) y: gramschmidt (x);
2 2 4 3
3 3 3 5 2 3 2 3
(%o3) [[1, 2, 3], [- ---, - --, ---], [- ----, ----, 0]]
2 7 7 2 7 5 5
(%i4) i: innerproduct$
(%i5) [i (y[1], y[2]), i (y[2], y[3]), i (y[3], y[1])];
(%o5) [0, 0, 0]
hach (a, b, m, n, l) Function

hach is an implementation of Hacijan’s linear programming algorithm.
load ("kach") loads this function. demo ("kach") executes a demonstration of this
function.
ident (n) Function

Returns an n by n identity matrix.
innerproduct (x, y) Function

inprod (x, y) Function
Returns the inner product (also called the scalar product or dot product) of x and y,
which are lists of equal length, or both 1-column or 1-row matrices of equal length.
The return value is conjugate (x) . y, where . is the noncommutative multiplication
operator.
inprod is a synonym for innerproduct.
invert (M ) Function
Returns the inverse of the matrix M. The inverse is computed by the adjoint method.
This allows a user to compute the inverse of a matrix with bfloat entries or polynomials
with floating pt. coefficients without converting to cre-form.
Cofactors are computed by the determinant function, so if ratmx is false the inverse
is computed without changing the representation of the elements.
The current implementation is inefficient for matrices of high order.
When detout is true, the determinant is factored out of the inverse.
The elements of the inverse are not automatically expanded. If M has polynomial ele-
ments, better appearing output can be generated by expand (invert (m)), detout.
If it is desirable to then divide through by the determinant this can be accomplished
by xthru (%) or alternatively from scratch by
expand (adjoint (m)) / expand (determinant (m))
invert (m) := adjoint (m) / determinant (m)
See ^^ (noncommutative exponent) for another method of inverting a matrix.
lmxchar Variable
Default value: [
lmxchar is the character displayed as the left delimiter of a matrix. See also rmxchar.
Example:
(%i1) lmxchar: "|"$
(%i2) matrix ([a, b, c], [d, e, f], [g, h, i]);
| a b c ]
| ]
(%o2) | d e f ]
| ]
| g h i ]
matrix (row 1, ..., row n) Function

Returns a rectangular matrix which has the rows row 1, ..., row n. Each row is a list
of expressions. All rows must be the same length.
224 Maxima Manual
The operations + (addition), - (subtraction), * (multiplication), and / (division), are

carried out element by element when the operands are two matrices, a scalar and a
matrix, or a matrix and a scalar. The operation ^ (exponentiation, equivalently **) is
carried out element by element if the operands are a scalar and a matrix or a matrix
and a scalar, but not if the operands are two matrices. All operations are normally
carried out in full, including . (noncommutative multiplication).
Matrix multiplication is represented by the noncommutative multiplication operator
.. The corresponding noncommutative exponentiation operator is ^^. For a matrix
A, A.A = A^^2 and A^^-1 is the inverse of A, if it exists.
There are switches for controlling simplification of expressions involving dot and
matrix-list operations. These are doallmxops, domxexpt domxmxops, doscmxops,
and doscmxplus.
There are additional options which are related to matrices. These are: lmxchar,
rmxchar, ratmx, listarith, detout, scalarmatrix, and sparse.
There are a number of functions which take matrices as arguments or yield ma-
trices as return values. See eigenvalues, eigenvectors, determinant, charpoly,
genmatrix, addcol, addrow, copymatrix, transpose, echelon, and rank.
Examples:
• Construction of matrices from lists.
(%i1) x: matrix ([17, 3], [-8, 11]);
[ 17 3 ]
(%o1) [ ]
[ - 8 11 ]
(%i2) y: matrix ([%pi, %e], [a, b]);
[ %pi %e ]
(%o2) [ ]
[ a b ]
• Addition, element by element.
(%i3) x + y;
[ %pi + 17 %e + 3 ]
(%o3) [ ]
[ a - 8 b + 11 ]
• Subtraction, element by element.
(%i4) x - y;
[ 17 - %pi 3 - %e ]
(%o4) [ ]
[ - a - 8 11 - b ]
• Multiplication, element by element.
(%i5) x * y;
[ 17 %pi 3 %e ]
(%o5) [ ]
[ - 8 a 11 b ]
• Division, element by element.
(%i6) x / y;
[ 17 - 1 ]
[ --- 3 %e ]
[ %pi ]
(%o6) [ ]
[ 8 11 ]
[ - - -- ]
[ a b ]
• Matrix to a scalar exponent, element by element.
(%i7) x ^ 3;
[ 4913 27 ]
(%o7) [ ]
[ - 512 1331 ]
• Scalar base to a matrix exponent, element by element.
(%i8) exp(y);
[ %pi %e ]
[ %e %e ]
(%o8) [ ]
[ a b ]
[ %e %e ]
• Matrix base to a matrix exponent. This is not carried out element by element.
(%i9) x ^ y;
[ %pi %e ]
[ ]
[ a b ]
[ 17 3 ]
(%o9) [ ]
[ - 8 11 ]
• Noncommutative matrix multiplication.
(%i10) x . y;
[ 3 a + 17 %pi 3 b + 17 %e ]
(%o10) [ ]
[ 11 a - 8 %pi 11 b - 8 %e ]
(%i11) y . x;
[ 17 %pi - 8 %e 3 %pi + 11 %e ]
(%o11) [ ]
[ 17 a - 8 b 11 b + 3 a ]
• Noncommutative matrix exponentiation. A scalar base b to a matrix power M
is carried out element by element and so b^^m is the same as b^m.
(%i12) x ^^ 3;
[ 3833 1719 ]
(%o12) [ ]
[ - 4584 395 ]
(%i13) %e ^^ y;
[ %pi %e ]
[ %e %e ]
(%o13) [ ]
[ a b ]
[ %e %e ]
226 Maxima Manual
• A matrix raised to a -1 exponent with noncommutative exponentiation is the

matrix inverse, if it exists.
(%i14) x ^^ -1;
[ 11 3 ]
[ --- - --- ]
[ 211 211 ]
(%o14) [ ]
[ 8 17 ]
[ --- --- ]
[ 211 211 ]
(%i15) x . (x ^^ -1);
[ 1 0 ]
(%o15) [ ]
[ 0 1 ]
matrixmap (f, M ) Function

Returns a matrix with element i,j equal to f (M [i,j]).
See also map, fullmap, fullmapl, and apply.
matrixp (expr) Function

Returns true if expr is a matrix, otherwise false.
matrix element add Variable

Default value: +
matrix_element_add is the operation invoked in place of addition in a matrix mul-
tiplication. matrix_element_add can be assigned any n-ary operator (that is, a
function which handles any number of arguments). The assigned value may be the
name of an operator enclosed in quote marks, the name of a function, or a lambda
expression.
See also matrix_element_mult and matrix_element_transpose.
Example:
(%i1) matrix_element_add: "*"$
(%i2) matrix_element_mult: "^"$
(%i3) aa: matrix ([a, b, c], [d, e, f]);
[ a b c ]
(%o3) [ ]
[ d e f ]
(%i4) bb: matrix ([u, v, w], [x, y, z]);
[ u v w ]
(%o4) [ ]
[ x y z ]
(%i5) aa . transpose (bb);
[ u v w x y z ]
[ a b c a b c ]
(%o5) [ ]
[ u v w x y z ]
[ d e f d e f ]
matrix element mult Variable

Default value: *
matrix_element_mult is the operation invoked in place of multiplication in a matrix
multiplication. matrix_element_mult can be assigned any binary operator. The
assigned value may be the name of an operator enclosed in quote marks, the name of
a function, or a lambda expression.
The dot operator . is a useful choice in some contexts.
See also matrix_element_add and matrix_element_transpose.
Example:
(%i1) matrix_element_add: lambda ([[x]], sqrt (apply ("+", x)))$
(%i2) matrix_element_mult: lambda ([x, y], (x - y)^2)$
(%i3) [a, b, c] . [x, y, z];
2 2 2
(%o3) sqrt((c - z) + (b - y) + (a - x) )
(%i4) aa: matrix ([a, b, c], [d, e, f]);
[ a b c ]
(%o4) [ ]
[ d e f ]
(%i5) bb: matrix ([u, v, w], [x, y, z]);
[ u v w ]
(%o5) [ ]
[ x y z ]
(%i6) aa . transpose (bb);
[ 2 2 2 ]
[ sqrt((c - w) + (b - v) + (a - u) ) ]
(%o6) Col 1 = [ ]
[ 2 2 2 ]
[ sqrt((f - w) + (e - v) + (d - u) ) ]
[ 2 2 2 ]
[ sqrt((c - z) + (b - y) + (a - x) ) ]
Col 2 = [ ]
[ 2 2 2 ]
[ sqrt((f - z) + (e - y) + (d - x) ) ]
matrix element transpose Variable

matrix_element_transpose is the operation applied to each element of a matrix
when it is transposed. matrix_element_mult can be assigned any unary operator.
The assigned value may be the name of an operator enclosed in quote marks, the
name of a function, or a lambda expression.
When matrix_element_transpose equals transpose, the transpose function is ap-
plied to every element. When matrix_element_transpose equals nonscalars, the
transpose function is applied to every nonscalar element. If some element is an atom,
the nonscalars option applies transpose only if the atom is declared nonscalar, while
the transpose option always applies transpose.
228 Maxima Manual
The default value, false, means no operation is applied.

See also matrix_element_add and matrix_element_mult.
Examples:
(%i1) declare (a, nonscalar)$
(%i2) transpose ([a, b]);
[ transpose(a) ]
(%o2) [ ]
[ b ]
(%i3) matrix_element_transpose: nonscalars$
[ transpose(a) ]
(%o4) [ ]
[ b ]
(%i5) matrix_element_transpose: transpose$
[ transpose(a) ]
(%o6) [ ]
[ transpose(b) ]
(%i7) matrix_element_transpose: lambda ([x], realpart(x) - %i*imagpart(x))$
(%i8) m: matrix ([1 + 5*%i, 3 - 2*%i], [7*%i, 11]);
[ 5 %i + 1 3 - 2 %i ]
(%o8) [ ]
[ 7 %i 11 ]
(%i9) transpose (m);
[ 1 - 5 %i - 7 %i ]
(%o9) [ ]
[ 2 %i + 3 11 ]
mattrace (M ) Function
Returns the trace (that is, the sum of the elements on the main diagonal) of the
square matrix M.
mattrace is called by ncharpoly, an alternative to Maxima’s charpoly.
load ("nchrpl") loads this function.
minor (M, i, j) Function

Returns the i, j minor of the matrix M. That is, M with row i and column j removed.
ncexpt (a, b) Function

If a non-commutative exponential expression is too wide to be displayed as a^^b it
appears as ncexpt (a,b).
ncexpt is not the name of a function or operator; the name only appears in output,
and is not recognized in input.
ncharpoly (M, x) Function

Returns the characteristic polynomial of the matrix M with respect to x. This is an
alternative to Maxima’s charpoly.
ncharpoly works by computing traces of powers of the given matrix, which are known
to be equal to sums of powers of the roots of the characteristic polynomial. From
these quantities the symmetric functions of the roots can be calculated, which are
nothing more than the coefficients of the characteristic polynomial. charpoly works
by forming the determinant of x * ident [n] - a. Thus ncharpoly wins, for example,
in the case of large dense matrices filled with integers, since it avoids polynomial
arithmetic altogether.
load ("nchrpl") loads this file.
newdet (M, n) Function

Computes the determinant of the matrix or array M by the Johnson-Gentleman tree
minor algorithm. The argument n is the order; it is optional if M is a matrix.
nonscalar declaration
Makes atoms behave as does a list or matrix with respect to the dot operator.
nonscalarp (expr) Function

Returns true if expr is a non-scalar, i.e., it contains atoms declared as non-scalars,
lists, or matrices.
permanent (M, n) Function

Computes the permanent of the matrix M. A permanent is like a determinant but
with no sign changes.
rank (M ) Function
Computes the rank of the matrix M. That is, the order of the largest non-singular
subdeterminant of M.
rank may return the wrong answer if it cannot determine that a matrix element that
is equivalent to zero is indeed so.
ratmx Variable
When ratmx is false, determinant and matrix addition, subtraction, and multiplica-
tion are performed in the representation of the matrix elements and cause the result
of matrix inversion to be left in general representation.
When ratmx is true, the 4 operations mentioned above are performed in CRE form
and the result of matrix inverse is in CRE form. Note that this may cause the elements
to be expanded (depending on the setting of ratfac) which might not always be
desired.
row (M, i) Function

Returns the i’th row of the matrix M. The return value is a matrix.
230 Maxima Manual
scalarmatrixp Variable
Default value: true
When scalarmatrixp is true, then whenever a 1 x 1 matrix is produced as a result
of computing the dot product of matrices it is simplified to a scalar, namely the sole
element of the matrix.
When scalarmatrixp is all, then all 1 x 1 matrices are simplified to scalars.
When scalarmatrixp is false, 1 x 1 matrices are not simplified to scalars.
scalefactors (coordinatetransform) Function

Here coordinatetransform evaluates to the form [[expression1, expression2, ...], in-
determinate1, indeterminat2, ...], where indeterminate1, indeterminate2, etc. are
the curvilinear coordinate variables and where a set of rectangular Cartesian compo-
nents is given in terms of the curvilinear coordinates by [expression1, expression2, ...].
coordinates is set to the vector [indeterminate1, indeterminate2,...], and dimension
is set to the length of this vector. SF[1], SF[2], ..., SF[DIMENSION] are set to the co-
ordinate scale factors, and sfprod is set to the product of these scale factors. Initially,
coordinates is [X, Y, Z], dimension is 3, and SF[1]=SF[2]=SF[3]=SFPROD=1, cor-
responding to 3-dimensional rectangular Cartesian coordinates. To expand an expres-
sion into physical components in the current coordinate system, there is a function
with usage of the form
setelmx (x, i, j, M ) Function

Assigns x to the (i, j)’th element of the matrix M, and returns the altered matrix.
M [i, j]: x has the same effect, but returns x instead of M.
similaritytransform (M ) Function
simtran (M ) Function
similaritytransform computes a similarity transform of the matrix M. It returns a
list which is the output of the uniteigenvectors command. In addition if the flag
nondiagonalizable is false two global matrices leftmatrix and rightmatrix are
computed. These matrices have the property that leftmatrix . M . rightmatrix is
a diagonal matrix with the eigenvalues of M on the diagonal. If nondiagonalizable
is true the left and right matrices are not computed.
If the flag hermitianmatrix is true then leftmatrix is the complex conjugate of
the transpose of rightmatrix. Otherwise leftmatrix is the inverse of rightmatrix.
rightmatrix is the matrix the columns of which are the unit eigenvectors of M.
The other flags (see eigenvalues and eigenvectors) have the same effects since
similaritytransform calls the other functions in the package in order to be able to
form rightmatrix.
simtran is a synonym for similaritytransform.
sparse Variable
When sparse is true, and if ratmx is true, then determinant will use special routines
for computing sparse determinants.
submatrix (i 1, ..., i m, M, j 1, ..., j n) Function

submatrix (i 1, ..., i m, M ) Function
submatrix (M, j 1, ..., j n) Function
Returns a new matrix composed of the matrix M with rows i 1, ..., i m deleted, and
columns j 1, ..., j n deleted.
transpose (M ) Function
Returns the transpose of M.
If M is a matrix, the return value is another matrix N such that N[i,j] = M[j,i].
Otherwise M is a list, and the return value is a matrix N of length (m) rows and 1
column, such that N[i,1] = M[i].
triangularize (M ) Function
Returns the upper triangular form of the matrix M.
M need not be square.
uniteigenvectors (M ) Function
ueivects (M ) Function
Computes unit eigenvectors of the matrix M. The return value is a list of lists, the first
sublist of which is the output of the eigenvalues command, and the other sublists
of which are the unit eigenvectors of the matrix corresponding to those eigenvalues
respectively.
The flags mentioned in the description of the eigenvectors command have the same
effects in this one as well.
When knowneigvects is true, the eigen package assumes that the eigenvectors of the
matrix are known to the user and are stored under the global name listeigvects.
listeigvects should be set to a list similar to the output of the eigenvectors
command.
If knowneigvects is set to true and the list of eigenvectors is given the setting of the
flag nondiagonalizable may not be correct. If that is the case please set it to the
correct value. The author assumes that the user knows what he is doing and will not
try to diagonalize a matrix the eigenvectors of which do not span the vector space of
the appropriate dimension.
ueivects is a synonym for uniteigenvectors.
unitvector (x) Function

uvect (x) Function
Returns x/norm(x); this is a unit vector in the same direction as x.
uvect is a synonym for unitvector.
232 Maxima Manual
vectorsimp (expr) Function

Applies simplifications and expansions according to the following global flags:
expandall, expanddot, expanddotplus, expandcross, expandcrossplus,
expandcrosscross, expandgrad, expandgradplus, expandgradprod, expanddiv,
expanddivplus, expanddivprod, expandcurl, expandcurlplus, expandcurlcurl,
expandlaplacian, expandlaplacianplus, and expandlaplacianprod.
All these flags have default value false. The plus suffix refers to employing additivity
or distributivity. The prod suffix refers to the expansion for an operand that is any
kind of product.
expandcrosscross
Simplifies p (q r) to (p.r) ∗ q − (p.q) ∗ r.
expandcurlcurl
Simplifies curlcurlp to graddivp + divgradp.
expandlaplaciantodivgrad
Simplifies laplacianp to divgradp.
expandcross
Enables expandcrossplus and expandcrosscross.
expandplus
Enables expanddotplus, expandcrossplus, expandgradplus,
expanddivplus, expandcurlplus, and expandlaplacianplus.
expandprod
Enables expandgradprod, expanddivprod, and expandlaplacianprod.
These flags have all been declared evflag.
vect cross Variable

When vect_cross is true, it allows DIFF(X~Y,T) to work where ~ is defined in
SHARE;VECT (where VECT CROSS is set to true, anyway.)
zeromatrix (m, n) Function

Returns an m by n matrix, all elements of which are zero.
"[" special symbol

[ and ] mark the beginning and end, respectively, of a list.
[ and ] also enclose the subscripts of a list, array, hash array, or array function.
Examples:
(%i1) x: [a, b, c];
(%o1) [a, b, c]
(%i2) x[3];
(%o2) c
(%i3) array (y, fixnum, 3);
(%o3) y
(%i4) y[2]: %pi;

(%o4) %pi
(%i5) y[2];
(%o5) %pi
(%i6) z[’foo]: ’bar;
(%o6) bar
(%i7) z[’foo];
(%o7) bar
(%i8) g[k] := 1/(k^2+1);
1
(%o8) g := ------
k 2
k + 1
(%i9) g[10];
1
(%o9) ---
101
234 Maxima Manual
Chapter 28: Affine 235
28 Affine
28.1 Definitions for Affine
fast linsolve ([expr 1, ..., expr m], [x 1, ..., x n]) Function

Solves the simultaneous linear equations expr 1, ..., expr m for the variables x 1, ...,
x n. Each expr i may be an equation or a general expression; if given as a general
expression, it is treated as an equation of the form expr i = 0.
The return value is a list of equations of the form [x 1 = a 1, ..., x n = a n] where
a 1, ..., a n are all free of x 1, ..., x n.
fast_linsolve is faster than linsolve for system of equations which are sparse.
grobner basis ([expr 1, ..., expr m]) Function

Returns a Groebner basis for the equations expr 1, ..., expr m. The function polysimp
can then be used to simplify other functions relative to the equations.
grobner_basis ([3*x^2+1, y*x])$
polysimp (y^2*x + x^3*9 + 2) ==> -3*x + 2

polysimp(f) yields 0 if and only if f is in the ideal generated by expr 1, ..., expr m,
that is, if and only if f is a polynomial combination of the elements of expr 1, ...,
expr m.
set up dot simplifications (eqns, check through degree) Function

set up dot simplifications (eqns) Function
The eqns are polynomial equations in non commutative variables. The value of
current_variables is the list of variables used for computing degrees. The equations
must be homogeneous, in order for the procedure to terminate.
If you have checked overlapping simplifications in dot_simplifications above the
degree of f, then the following is true: dotsimp (f) yields 0 if and only if f is in the
ideal generated by the equations, i.e., if and only if f is a polynomial combination of
the elements of the equations.
The degree is that returned by nc_degree. This in turn is influenced by the weights
of individual variables.
declare weight (x 1, w 1, ..., x n, w n) Function

Assigns weights w 1, ..., w n to x 1, ..., x n, respectively. These are the weights used
in computing nc_degree.
nc degree (p) Function

Returns the degree of a noncommutative polynomial p. See declare_weights.
dotsimp (f ) Function
Returns 0 if and only if f is in the ideal generated by the equations, i.e., if and only
if f is a polynomial combination of the elements of the equations.
236 Maxima Manual
fast central elements ([x 1, ..., x n], n) Function

If set_up_dot_simplifications has been previously done, finds the central polyno-
mials in the variables x 1, ..., x n in the given degree, n.
For example:
set_up_dot_simplifications ([y.x + x.y], 3);
fast_central_elements ([x, y], 2);
[y.y, x.x];
check overlaps (n, add to simps) Function

Checks the overlaps thru degree n, making sure that you have sufficient simplification
rules in each degree, for dotsimp to work correctly. This process can be speeded
up if you know before hand what the dimension of the space of monomials is. If it
is of finite global dimension, then hilbert should be used. If you don’t know the
monomial dimensions, do not specify a rank_functiion. An optional third argument
reset, false says don’t bother to query about resetting things.
mono ([x 1, ..., x n], n) Function

Returns the list of independent monomials relative to the current dot simplifications
of degree n in the variables x 1, ..., x n.
monomial dimensions (n) Function

Compute the Hilbert series through degree n for the current algebra.
extract linear equations ([p 1, ..., p n], [m 1, ..., m n]) Function

Makes a list of the coefficients of the noncommutative polynomials p 1, ..., p n of the
noncommutative monomials m 1, ..., m n. The coefficients should be scalars. Use
list_nc_monomials to build the list of monomials.
list nc monomials ([p 1, ..., p n]) Function

list nc monomials (p) Function
Returns a list of the non commutative monomials occurring in a polynomial p or a
list of polynomials p 1, ..., p n.
create list (form, x 1, list 1, ..., x n, list n) Function

Create a list by evaluating form with x 1 bound to each element of list 1, and for
each such binding bind x 2 to each element of list 2, .... The number of elements in
the result will be the product of the number of elements in each list. Each variable
x i must actually be a symbol–it will not be evaluated. The list arguments will be
evaluated once at the beginning of the iteration.
(%i82) create_list1(xî,i,[1,3,7]);
(%o82) [x,x^3,x^7]
With a double iteration:
(%i79) create_list([i,j],i,[a,b],j,[e,f,h]);
(%o79) [[a,e],[a,f],[a,h],[b,e],[b,f],[b,h]]
Instead of list i two args may be supplied each of which should evaluate to a number.
These will be the inclusive lower and upper bounds for the iteration.
Chapter 28: Affine 237
(%i81) create_list([i,j],i,[1,2,3],j,1,i);
(%o81) [[1,1],[2,1],[2,2],[3,1],[3,2],[3,3]]
Note that the limits or list for the j variable can depend on the current value of i.
all dotsimp denoms Variable

When all_dotsimp_denoms is a list, the denominators encountered by dotsimp are
appended to the list. all_dotsimp_denoms may be initialized to an empty list []
before calling dotsimp.
By default, denominators are not collected by dotsimp.
238 Maxima Manual
Chapter 29: itensor 239
29 itensor
29.1 Introduction to itensor

Maxima implements symbolic tensor manipulation of two distinct types: component ten-
sor manipulation (ctensor package) and indicial tensor manipulation (itensor package).
Nota bene: Please see the note on ’new tensor notation’ below.
Component tensor manipulation means that geometrical tensor objects are represented
as arrays or matrices. Tensor operations such as contraction or covariant differentiation are
carried out by actually summing over repeated (dummy) indices with do statements. That
is, one explicitly performs operations on the appropriate tensor components stored in an
array or matrix.
Indicial tensor manipulation is implemented by representing tensors as functions of their
covariant, contravariant and derivative indices. Tensor operations such as contraction or
covariant differentiation are performed by manipulating the indices themselves rather than
the components to which they correspond.
These two approaches to the treatment of differential, algebraic and analytic processes
in the context of Riemannian geometry have various advantages and disadvantages which
reveal themselves only through the particular nature and difficulty of the user’s problem.
However, one should keep in mind the following characteristics of the two implementations:
The representation of tensors and tensor operations explicitly in terms of their compo-
nents makes ctensor easy to use. Specification of the metric and the computation of the
induced tensors and invariants is straightforward. Although all of Maxima’s powerful sim-
plification capacity is at hand, a complex metric with intricate functional and coordinate
dependencies can easily lead to expressions whose size is excessive and whose structure is
hidden. In addition, many calculations involve intermediate expressions which swell causing
programs to terminate before completion. Through experience, a user can avoid avoid many
of these difficulties.
Because of the special way in which tensors and tensor operations are represented in
terms of symbolic operations on their indices, expressions which in the component repre-
sentation would be unmanageable can sometimes be greatly simplified by using the special
routines for symmetrical objects in itensor. In this way the structure of a large expression
may be more transparent. On the other hand, because of the the special indicial represen-
tation in itensor, in some cases the user may find difficulty with the specification of the
metric, function definition, and the evaluation of differentiated "indexed" objects.
29.1.1 New tensor notation

Until now, the itensor package in Maxima has used a notation that sometimes led to
incorrect index ordering. Consider the following, for instance:
(%i2) imetric(g);
(%o2) done
(%i3) ishow(g([],[j,k])*g([],[i,l])*a([i,j],[]))$
i l j k
(%t3) g g a
240 Maxima Manual
i j
(%i4) ishow(contract(%))$
k l
(%t4) a
This result is incorrect unless a happens to be a symmetric tensor. The reason why this
happens is that although itensor correctly maintains the order within the set of covariant
and contravariant indices, once an index is raised or lowered, its position relative to the
other set of indices is lost.
To avoid this problem, a new notation has been developed that remains fully compatible
with the existing notation and can be used interchangeably. In this notation, contravariant
indices are inserted in the appropriate positions in the covariant index list, but with a
minus sign prepended. Functions like contract and ishow are now aware of this new index
notation and can process tensors appropriately.
In this new notation, the previous example yields a correct result:
(%i5) ishow(g([-j,-k],[])*g([-i,-l],[])*a([i,j],[]))$
i l j k
(%t5) g a g
i j
(%i6) ishow(contract(%))$
l k
(%t6) a
Presently, the only code that makes use of this notation is the lc2kdt function. Through
this notation, it achieves consistent results as it applies the metric tensor to resolve Levi-
Civita symbols without resorting to numeric indices.
Since this code is brand new, it probably contains bugs. While it has been tested to make
sure that it doesn’t break anything using the "old" tensor notation, there is a considerable
chance that "new" tensors will fail to interoperate with certain functions or features. These
bugs will be fixed as they are encountered... until then, caveat emptor!
29.1.2 Indicial tensor manipulation

The indicial tensor manipulation package may be loaded by load(itensor). Demos are
also available: try demo(tensor).
In itensor a tensor is represented as an "indexed object" . This is a function of 3
groups of indices which represent the covariant, contravariant and derivative indices. The
covariant indices are specified by a list as the first argument to the indexed object, and the
contravariant indices by a list as the second argument. If the indexed object lacks either of
these groups of indices then the empty list [] is given as the corresponding argument. Thus,
g([a,b],[c]) represents an indexed object called g which has two covariant indices (a,b),
one contravariant index (c) and no derivative indices.
The derivative indices, if they are present, are appended as additional arguments to the
symbolic function representing the tensor. They can be explicitly specified by the user or
be created in the process of differentiation with respect to some coordinate variable. Since
ordinary differentiation is commutative, the derivative indices are sorted alphanumerically,
unless iframe_flag is set to true, indicating that a frame metric is being used.. This canon-
ical ordering makes it possible for Maxima to recognize that, for example, t([a],[b],i,j)
is the same as t([a],[b],j,i). Differentiation of an indexed object with respect to some

coordinate whose index does not appear as an argument to the indexed object would nor-
mally yield zero. This is because Maxima would not know that the tensor represented by
the indexed object might depend implicitly on the corresponding coordinate. By modify-
ing the existing Maxima function diff in itensor, Maxima now assumes that all indexed
objects depend on any variable of differentiation unless otherwise stated. This makes it
possible for the summation convention to be extended to derivative indices. It should be
noted that itensor does not possess the capabilities of raising derivative indices, and so
they are always treated as covariant.
The following functions are available in the tensor package for manipulating indexed
objects. At present, with respect to the simplification routines, it is assumed that indexed
objects do not by default possess symmetry properties. This can be overridden by setting the
variable allsym[false] to true, which will result in treating all indexed objects completely
symmetric in their lists of covariant indices and symmetric in their lists of contravariant
indices.
The itensor package generally treats tensors as opaque objects. Tensorial equations
are manipulated based on algebraic rules, specifically symmetry and contraction rules. In
addition, the itensor package understands covariant differentiation, curvature, and torsion.
Calculations can be performed relative to a metric of moving frame, depending on the setting
of the iframe_flag variable.
A sample session below demonstrates how to load the itensor package, specify the name
of the metric, and perform some simple calculations.
(%i1) load(itensor);
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) imetric(g);
(%o2) done
(%i3) components(g([i,j],[]),p([i,j],[])*e([],[]))$
(%i4) ishow(g([k,l],[]))$
(%t4) e p
k l
(%i5) ishow(diff(v([i],[]),t))$
(%t5) 0
(%i6) depends(v,t);
(%o6) [v(t)]
(%i7) ishow(diff(v([i],[]),t))$
d
(%t7) -- (v )
dt i
(%i8) ishow(idiff(v([i],[]),j))$
(%t8) v
i,j
(%i9) ishow(extdiff(v([i],[]),j))$
(%t9) v - v
j,i i,j
-----------
2
(%i10) ishow(liediff(v,w([i],[])))$
242 Maxima Manual
%3 %3
(%t10) v w + v w
i,%3 ,i %3
(%i11) ishow(covdiff(v([i],[]),j))$
%4
(%t11) v - v ichr2
i,j %4 i j
(%i12) ishow(ev(%,ichr2))$
%4 %5
(%t12) v - g v (e p + e p - e p - e p
i,j %4 j %5,i ,i j %5 i j,%5 ,%5 i j
+ e p + e p )/2
i %5,j ,j i %5
(%i13) iframe_flag:true;
(%o13) true
(%i14) ishow(covdiff(v([i],[]),j))$
%6
(%t14) v - v icc2
i,j %6 i j
(%i15) ishow(ev(%,icc2))$
%6
(%t15) v - v ifc2
i,j %6 i j
(%i16) ishow(radcan(ev(%,ifc2,ifc1)))$
%6 %8 %6 %8
(%t16) - (ifg v ifb + ifg v ifb - 2 v
%6 j %8 i %6 i j %8 i,j
%6 %8
- ifg v ifb )/2
%6 %8 i j
(%i17) ishow(canform(s([i,j],[])-s([j,i])))$
(%t17) s - s
i j j i
(%i18) decsym(s,2,0,[sym(all)],[]);
(%o18) done
(%i19) ishow(canform(s([i,j],[])-s([j,i])))$
(%t19) 0
(%i20) ishow(canform(a([i,j],[])+a([j,i])))$
(%t20) a + a
j i i j
(%i21) decsym(a,2,0,[anti(all)],[]);
(%o21) done
(%i22) ishow(canform(a([i,j],[])+a([j,i])))$
(%t22) 0
29.2 Definitions for itensor

29.2.1 Managing indexed objects
entertensor (name) Function

is a function which, by prompting, allows one to create an indexed object called name
with any number of tensorial and derivative indices. Either a single index or a list of
indices (which may be null) is acceptable input (see the example under covdiff).
changename (old, new, expr) Function

will change the name of all indexed objects called old to new in expr. old may be
either a symbol or a list of the form [name, m, n] in which case only those indexed
objects called name with m covariant and n contravariant indices will be renamed to
new.
listoftens Function
Lists all tensors in a tensorial expression, complete with their indices. E.g.,
(%i6) ishow(a([i,j],[k])*b([u],[],v)+c([x,y],[])*d([],[])*e)$
k
(%t6) d e c + a b
x y i j u,v
(%i7) ishow(listoftens(%))$
k
(%t7) [a , b , c , d]
i j u,v x y
ishow (expr) Function

displays expr with the indexed objects in it shown having their covariant indices
as subscripts and contravariant indices as superscripts. The derivative indices are
displayed as subscripts, separated from the covariant indices by a comma (see the
examples throughout this document).
indices (expr) Function

Returns a list of two elements. The first is a list of the free indices in expr (those
that occur only once). The second is the list of the dummy indices in expr (those
that occur exactly twice) as the following example demonstrates.
(%i2) ishow(a([i,j],[k,l],m,n)*b([k,o],[j,m,p],q,r))$
k l j m p
(%t2) a b
i j,m n k o,q r
(%i3) indices(%);
(%o3) [[l, p, i, n, o, q, r], [k, j, m]]
244 Maxima Manual
A tensor product containing the same index more than twice is syntactically illegal.
indices attempts to deal with these expressions in a reasonable manner; however,
when it is called to operate upon such an illegal expression, its behavior should be
considered undefined.
rename (expr) Function

rename (expr, count) Function
Returns an expression equivalent to expr but with the dummy indices in each term
chosen from the set [%1, %2,...], if the optional second argument is omitted. Oth-
erwise, the dummy indices are indexed beginning at the value of count. Each dummy
index in a product will be different. For a sum, rename will operate upon each term
in the sum resetting the counter with each term. In this way rename can serve as a
tensorial simplifier. In addition, the indices will be sorted alphanumerically (if allsym
is true) with respect to covariant or contravariant indices depending upon the value
of flipflag. If flipflag is false then the indices will be renamed according to
the order of the contravariant indices. If flipflag is true the renaming will occur
according to the to the order of the contravariant indices. It often happens that the
combined effect of the two renamings will reduce an expression more than either one
by itself.
(%i2) allsym:true;
(%o2) true
(%i3) g([],[%4,%5])*g([],[%6,%7])*ichr2([%1,%4],[%3])*
ichr2([%2,%3],[u])*ichr2([%5,%6],[%1])*ichr2([%7,r],[%2])-
g([],[%4,%5])*g([],[%6,%7])*ichr2([%1,%2],[u])*
ichr2([%3,%5],[%1])*ichr2([%4,%6],[%3])*ichr2([%7,r],[%2]),noeval$
(%i4) expr:ishow(%)$
%4 %5 %6 %7 %3 u %1 %2
(%t4) g g ichr2 ichr2 ichr2 ichr2
%1 %4 %2 %3 %5 %6 %7 r
%4 %5 %6 %7 u %1 %3 %2
- g g ichr2 ichr2 ichr2 ichr2
%1 %2 %3 %5 %4 %6 %7 r
(%i5) flipflag:true;
(%o5) true
(%i6) ishow(rename(expr))$
%2 %5 %6 %7 %4 u %1 %3
%1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 r
%4 %5 %6 %7 u %1 %3 %2
%1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 r
(%i7) flipflag:false;
(%o7) false
(%i8) rename(%th(2));
(%o8) 0
(%i9) ishow(rename(expr))$
%1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 u
%1 %6 %2 %3 %4 r %5 %7
%1 %2 %3 %4 %6 %5 %7 u
%1 %3 %2 %6 %4 r %5 %7
flipflag Variable
Default: false. if false then the indices will be renamed according to the order of the
contravariant indices, otherwise according to the order of the covariant indices. The
function influences rename in the following way: If flipflag is false then rename
forms a list of the contravariant indices as they are encountered from left to right (if
true then of the covariant indices). The first dummy index in the list is renamed to
%1, the next to %2, etc. Then sorting occurs after the rename-ing (see the example
under rename).
defcon (tensor 1) Function

defcon (tensor 1, tensor 2, tensor 3) Function
gives tensor 1 the property that the contraction of a product of tensor 1 and tensor 2
results in tensor 3 with the appropriate indices. If only one argument, tensor 1, is
given, then the contraction of the product of tensor 1 with any indexed object having
the appropriate indices (say my_tensor) will yield an indexed object with that name,
i.e. my_tensor, and with a new set of indices reflecting the contractions performed.
For example, if imetric:g, then defcon(g) will implement the raising and lowering
of indices through contraction with the metric tensor. More than one defcon can be
given for the same indexed object; the latest one given which applies in a particular
contraction will be used. contractions is a list of those indexed objects which have
been given contraction properties with defcon.
remcon (tensor 1, ..., tensor n) Function

remcon (all) Function
removes all the contraction properties from the tensor 1, ..., tensor n). remcon(all)
removes all contraction properties from all indexed objects.
contract (expr) Function

Carries out the tensorial contractions in expr which may be any combination of sums
and products. This function uses the information given to the defcon function. For
best results, expr should be fully expanded. ratexpand is the fastest way to expand
products and powers of sums if there are no variables in the denominators of the
terms. The gcd switch should be false if GCD cancellations are unnecessary.
246 Maxima Manual
indexed tensor (tensor) Function

Must be executed before assigning components to a tensor for which a built in value
already exists as with ichr1, ichr2, icurvature. See the example under icurvature.
components (tensor, expr) Function

permits one to assign an indicial value to an expression expr giving the values of the
components of tensor. These are automatically substituted for the tensor whenever
it occurs with all of its indices. The tensor must be of the form t([...],[...])
where either list may be empty. expr can be any indexed expression involving other
objects with the same free indices as tensor. When used to assign values to the metric
tensor wherein the components contain dummy indices one must be careful to define
these indices to avoid the generation of multiple dummy indices. Removal of this
assignment is given to the function remcomps.
It is important to keep in mind that components cares only about the valence of a
tensor, not about any particular index ordering. Thus assigning components to, say,
x([i,-j],[]), x([-j,i],[]), or x([i],[j]) all produce the same result, namely
components being assigned to a tensor named x with valence (1,1).
Components can be assigned to an indexed expression in four ways, two of which
involve the use of the components command:
1) As an indexed expression. For instance:
(%i2) components(g([],[i,j]),e([],[i])*p([],[j]))$
(%i3) ishow(g([],[i,j]))$
i j
(%t3) e p
2) As a matrix:
(%i6) components(g([i,j],[]),lg);
(%o6) done
(%i7) ishow(g([i,j],[]))$
(%t7) g
i j
(%i8) g([3,3],[]);
(%o8) 1
(%i9) g([4,4],[]);
(%o9) - 1
3) As a function. You can use a Maxima function to specify the components of a

tensor based on its indices. For instance, the following code assigns kdelta to h if h
has the same number of covariant and contravariant indices and no derivative indices,
and g otherwise:
(%i4) h(l1,l2,[l3]):=if length(l1)=length(l2) and length(l3)=0

then kdelta(l1,l2) else apply(g,append([l1,l2], l3))$
(%i5) ishow(h([i],[j]))$
j
(%t5) kdelta
i
(%i6) ishow(h([i,j],[k],l))$
k
(%t6) g
i j,l
4) Using Maxima’s pattern matching capabilities, specifically the defrule and

applyb1 commands:
(%i2) matchdeclare(l1,listp);
(%o2) done
(%i3) defrule(r1,m(l1,[]),(i1:idummy(),
g([l1[1],l1[2]],[])*q([i1],[])*e([],[i1])))$
(%i4) defrule(r2,m([],l1),(i1:idummy(),
w([],[l1[1],l1[2]])*e([i1],[])*q([],[i1])))$
(%i5) ishow(m([i,n],[])*m([],[i,m]))$
i m
(%t5) m m
i n
(%i6) ishow(rename(applyb1(%,r1,r2)))$
%1 %2 %3 m
(%t6) e q w q e g
%1 %2 %3 n
remcomps (tensor) Function

Unbinds all values from tensor which were assigned with the components function.
showcomps Function
Shows component assignments of a tensor, as made using the components command.
This function can be particularly useful when a matrix is assigned to an indicial tensor
using components, as demonstrated by the following example:
(%i1) load(ctensor);
(%o1) /share/tensor/ctensor.mac
(%i3) lg:matrix([sqrt(r/(r-2*m)),0,0,0],[0,r,0,0],
[0,0,sin(theta)*r,0],[0,0,0,sqrt((r-2*m)/r)]);
[ r ]
[ sqrt(-------) 0 0 0 ]
248 Maxima Manual
[ r - 2 m ]
[ ]
[ 0 r 0 0 ]
(%o3) [ ]
[ 0 0 r sin(theta) 0 ]
[ ]
[ r - 2 m ]
[ 0 0 0 sqrt(-------) ]
[ r ]
(%i4) components(g([i,j],[]),lg);
(%o4) done
(%i5) showcomps(g([i,j],[]));
[ r ]
[ sqrt(-------) 0 0 0 ]
[ r - 2 m ]
[ ]
[ 0 r 0 0 ]
(%t5) g = [ ]
i j [ 0 0 r sin(theta) 0 ]
[ ]
[ r - 2 m ]
[ 0 0 0 sqrt(-------) ]
[ r ]
(%o5) false
The showcomps command can also display components of a tensor of rank higher than
2.
idummy () Function
Increments icounter and returns as its value an index of the form %n where n is
a positive integer. This guarantees that dummy indices which are needed in form-
ing expressions will not conflict with indices already in use (see the example under
indices).
idummyx Variable
Is the prefix for dummy indices (see the example under indices).
icounter Variable
default: [1] determines the numerical suffix to be used in generating the next dummy
index in the tensor package. The prefix is determined by the option idummy (default:
%).
kdelta (L1, L2) Function

is the generalized Kronecker delta function defined in the itensor package with L1
the list of covariant indices and L2 the list of contravariant indices. kdelta([i],[j])
returns the ordinary Kronecker delta. The command ev(expr,kdelta) causes the
evaluation of an expression containing kdelta([],[]) to the dimension of the man-
ifold.
In what amounts to an abuse of this notation, itensor also allows kdelta to have 2
covariant and no contravariant, or 2 contravariant and no covariant indices, in effect
providing a co(ntra)variant "unit matrix" capability. This is strictly considered a
programming aid and not meant to imply that kdelta([i,j],[]) is a valid tensorial
object.
kdels (L1, L2) Function

Symmetricized Kronecker delta, used in some calculations. For instance:
(%i2) kdelta([1,2],[2,1]);
(%o2) - 1
(%i3) kdels([1,2],[2,1]);
(%o3) 1
(%i4) ishow(kdelta([a,b],[c,d]))$
c d d c
(%t4) kdelta kdelta - kdelta kdelta
a b a b
(%i4) ishow(kdels([a,b],[c,d]))$
c d d c
(%t4) kdelta kdelta + kdelta kdelta
a b a b
levi civita (L) Function

is the permutation (or Levi-Civita) tensor which yields 1 if the list L consists of an
even permutation of integers, -1 if it consists of an odd permutation, and 0 if some
indices in L are repeated.
lc2kdt (expr) Function

Simplifies expressions containing the Levi-Civita symbol, converting these to
Kronecker-delta expressions when possible. The main difference between this
function and simply evaluating the Levi-Civita symbol is that direct evaluation
often results in Kronecker expressions containing numerical indices. This is often
undesirable as it prevents further simplification. The lc2kdt function avoids
this problem, yielding expressions that are more easily simplified with rename or
contract.
(%i2) expr:ishow(’levi_civita([],[i,j])*’levi_civita([k,l],[])*a([j],[k]))$
i j k
(%t2) levi_civita a levi_civita
j k l
(%i3) ishow(ev(expr,levi_civita))$
i j k 1 2
250 Maxima Manual
(%t3) kdelta a kdelta

1 2 j k l
(%i4) ishow(ev(%,kdelta))$
i j j i k
(%t4) (kdelta kdelta - kdelta kdelta ) a
1 2 1 2 j
1 2 2 1
(kdelta kdelta - kdelta kdelta )
k l k l
(%i5) ishow(lc2kdt(expr))$
k i j k j i
(%t5) a kdelta kdelta - a kdelta kdelta
j k l j k l
(%i6) ishow(contract(expand(%)))$
i i
(%t6) a - a kdelta
l l
The lc2kdt function sometimes makes use of the metric tensor. If the metric tensor
was not defined previously with imetric, this results in an error.
(%i7) expr:ishow(’levi_civita([],[i,j])*’levi_civita([],[k,l])*a([j,k],[]))$
i j k l
(%t7) levi_civita levi_civita a
j k
Error in $IMETRIC [or a callee]: $IMETRIC [or a callee] requires less than two
(%i9) imetric(g);
(%o9) done
%3 i k %4 j l %3 i l %4 j k
(%t10) (g kdelta g kdelta - g kdelta g kdelta ) a
%3 %4 %3 %4 j k
(%i11) ishow(contract(expand(%)))$
l i l i
(%t11) a - a g
lc l Function
Simplification rule used for expressions containing the unevaluated Levi-Civita symbol
(levi_civita). Along with lc_u, it can be used to simplify many expressions more
efficiently than the evaluation of levi_civita. For example:
(%i2) el1:ishow(’levi_civita([i,j,k],[])*a([],[i])*a([],[j]))$
i j
(%t2) a a levi_civita
i j k
(%i3) el2:ishow(’levi_civita([],[i,j,k])*a([i])*a([j]))$
i j k
(%t3) levi_civita a a
i j
(%i4) ishow(canform(contract(expand(applyb1(el1,lc_l,lc_u)))))$
(%t4) 0
(%i5) ishow(canform(contract(expand(applyb1(el2,lc_l,lc_u)))))$
(%t5) 0
lc u Function
Simplification rule used for expressions containing the unevaluated Levi-Civita symbol
(levi_civita). Along with lc_u, it can be used to simplify many expressions more
efficiently than the evaluation of levi_civita. For details, see lc_l.
canten (expr) Function

Simplifies expr by renaming (see rename) and permuting dummy indices. rename is
restricted to sums of tensor products in which no derivatives are present. As such
it is limited and should only be used if canform is not capable of carrying out the
required simplification.
29.2.2 Tensor symmetries
allsym Variable
Default: false. if true then all indexed objects are assumed symmetric in all of
their covariant and contravariant indices. If false then no symmetries of any kind
are assumed in these indices. Derivative indices are always taken to be symmetric
unless iframe_flag is set to true.
decsym (tensor, m, n, [cov 1, cov 2, ...], [contr 1, contr 2, ...]) Function

Declares symmetry properties for tensor of m covariant and n contravariant
indices. The cov i and contr i are pseudofunctions expressing symmetry relations
among the covariant and contravariant indices respectively. These are of the form
symoper(index 1, index 2,...) where symoper is one of sym, anti or cyc and
the index i are integers indicating the position of the index in the tensor. This
will declare tensor to be symmetric, antisymmetric or cyclic respectively in the
index i. symoper(all) is also an allowable form which indicates all indices obey
the symmetry condition. For example, given an object b with 5 covariant indices,
decsym(b,5,3,[sym(1,2),anti(3,4)],[cyc(all)]) declares b symmetric in its
first and second and antisymmetric in its third and fourth covariant indices, and
252 Maxima Manual
cyclic in all of its contravariant indices. Either list of symmetry declarations may
be null. The function which performs the simplifications is canform as the example
below illustrates.
(%i2) expr:contract(expand(a([i1,j1,k1],[])*kdels([i,j,k],[i1,j1,k1])))$
(%i3) ishow(expr)$
(%t3) a + a + a + a + a + a
k j i k i j j k i j i k i k j i j k
(%i4) decsym(a,3,0,[sym(all)],[]);
(%o4) done
(%i5) ishow(canform(expr))$
(%t5) 6 a
i j k
(%i6) remsym(a,3,0);
(%o6) done
(%o7) done
(%t8) 0
(%i9) remsym(a,3,0);
(%o9) done
(%i10) decsym(a,3,0,[cyc(all)],[]);
(%o10) done
(%t11) 3 a + 3 a
i k j i j k
(%i12) dispsym(a,3,0);
(%o12) [[cyc, [[1, 2, 3]], []]]
remsym (tensor, m, n) Function

Removes all symmetry properties from tensor which has m covariant indices and n
contravariant indices.
canform (expr) Function

Simplifies expr by renaming dummy indices and reordering all indices as dictated by
symmetry conditions imposed on them. If allsym is true then all indices are assumed
symmetric, otherwise symmetry information provided by decsym declarations will
be used. The dummy indices are renamed in the same manner as in the rename
function. When canform is applied to a large expression the calculation may take a
considerable amount of time. This time can be shortened by calling rename on the
expression first. Also see the example under decsym. Note: canform may not be able
to reduce an expression completely to its simplest form although it will always return
a mathematically correct result.
29.2.3 Indicial tensor calculus

diff (expr, v 1, [n 1, [v 2, n 2] ...]) Function

is the usual Maxima differentiation function which has been expanded in its abilities
for itensor. It takes the derivative of expr with respect to v 1 n 1 times, with
respect to v 2 n 2 times, etc. For the tensor package, the function has been modified
so that the v i may be integers from 1 up to the value of the variable dim. This will
cause the differentiation to be carried out with respect to the v ith member of the
list vect_coords. If vect_coords is bound to an atomic variable, then that variable
subscripted by v i will be used for the variable of differentiation. This permits an
array of coordinate names or subscripted names like x[1], x[2], ... to be used.
idiff (expr, v 1, [n 1, [v 2, n 2] ...]) Function

Indicial differentiation. Unlike diff, which differentiates with respect to an indepen-
dent variable, idiff) can be used to differentiate with respect to a coordinate. For an
indexed object, this amounts to appending the v i as derivative indices. Subsequently,
derivative indices will be sorted, unless iframe_flag is set to true.
idiff can also differentiate the determinant of the metric tensor. Thus, if
imetric has been bound to G then idiff(determinant(g),k) will return
2*determinant(g)*ichr2([%i,k],[%i]) where the dummy index %i is chosen
appropriately.
liediff (v, ten) Function

Computes the Lie-derivative of the tensorial expression ten with respect to the vector
field v. ten should be any indexed tensor expression; v should be the name (without
indices) of a vector field. For example:
(%i2) ishow(liediff(v,a([i,j],[])*b([],[k],l)))$
k %2 %2 %2
(%t2) b (v a + v a + v a )
,l i j,%2 ,j i %2 ,i %2 j
%1 k %1 k %1 k
+ (v b - b v + v b ) a
,%1 l ,l ,%1 ,l ,%1 i j
rediff (ten) Function

Evaluates all occurrences of the idiff command in the tensorial expression ten.
undiff (expr) Function

Returns an expression equivalent to expr but with all derivatives of indexed objects
replaced by the noun form of the idiff function. Its arguments would yield that
indexed object if the differentiation were carried out. This is useful when it is desired
to replace a differentiated indexed object with some function definition resulting in
expr and then carry out the differentiation by saying ev(expr, idiff).
254 Maxima Manual
evundiff Function
Equivalent to the execution of undiff, followed by ev and rediff.
The point of this operation is to easily evalute expressions that cannot be directly
evaluated in derivative form. For instance, the following causes an error:
(%i2) icurvature([i,j,k],[l],m);
Error in $ICURVATURE [or a callee]: $ICURVATURE [or a callee] requires less th
However, if icurvature is entered in noun form, it can be evaluated using evundiff:
(%i3) ishow(’icurvature([i,j,k],[l],m))$
l
(%t3) icurvature
i j k,m
(%i4) ishow(evundiff(%))$
l l %1 l %1
(%t4) - ichr2 - ichr2 ichr2 - ichr2 ichr2
i k,j m %1 j i k,m %1 j,m i k
l l %1 l %1
+ ichr2 + ichr2 ichr2 + ichr2 ichr2
i j,k m %1 k i j,m %1 k,m i j
Note: In earlier versions of Maxima, derivative forms of the Christoffel-symbols also
could not be evaluated. This has been fixed now, so evundiff is no longer necessary
for expressions like this:
(%i5) imetric(g);
(%o5) done
(%i6) ishow(ichr2([i,j],[k],l))$
k %3
g (g - g + g )
j %3,i l i j,%3 l i %3,j l
(%t6) -----------------------------------------
2
k %3
g (g - g + g )
,l j %3,i i j,%3 i %3,j
+ -----------------------------------
2
flush (expr, tensor 1, tensor 2, ...) Function

Set to zero, in expr, all occurrences of the tensor i that have no derivative indices.
flushd (expr, tensor 1, tensor 2, ...) Function

Set to zero, in expr, all occurrences of the tensor i that have derivative indices.
flushnd (expr, tensor, n) Function

Set to zero, in expr, all occurrences of the differentiated object tensor that have n or
more derivative indices as the following example demonstrates.
(%i2) ishow(a([i],[J,r],k,r)+a([i],[j,r,s],k,r,s))$
J r j r s
(%t2) a + a
i,k r i,k r s
(%i3) ishow(flushnd(%,a,3))$
J r
(%t3) a
i,k r
coord (tensor 1, tensor 2, ...) Function

Gives tensor i the coordinate differentiation property that the derivative of contravari-
ant vector whose name is one of the tensor i yields a Kronecker delta. For example, if
coord(x) has been done then idiff(x([],[i]),j) gives kdelta([i],[j]). coord
is a list of all indexed objects having this property.
remcoord (tensor 1, tensor 2, ...) Function

remcoord (all) Function
Removes the coordinate differentiation property from the tensor_i that was estab-
lished by the function coord. remcoord(all) removes this property from all indexed
objects.
makebox (expr) Function

Display expr in the same manner as show; however, any tensor d’Alembertian oc-
curring in expr will be indicated using the symbol []. For example, []p([m],[n])
represents g([],[i,j])*p([m],[n],i,j).
conmetderiv (expr, tensor) Function

Simplifies expressions containing ordinary derivatives of both covariant and
contravariant forms of the metric tensor (the current restriction). For example,
conmetderiv can relate the derivative of the contravariant metric tensor with the
Christoffel symbols as seen from the following:
(%i2) ishow(g([],[a,b],c))$
a b
(%t2) g
,c
256 Maxima Manual
(%i3) ishow(conmetderiv(%,g))$
%1 b a %1 a b
(%t3) - g ichr2 - g ichr2
%1 c %1 c
flush1deriv (expr, tensor) Function

Set to zero, in expr, all occurrences of tensor that have exactly one derivative index.
29.2.4 Tensors in curved spaces
imetric (g) Function

Specifies the metric by assigning the variable imetric:g in addition, the
contraction properties of the metric g are set up by executing the commands
defcon(g),defcon(g,g,kdelta). The variable imetric, default: [], is bound to the
metric, assigned by the imetric(g) command.
ichr1 ([i, j, k]) Function

Yields the Christoffel symbol of the first kind via the definition
(g + g - g )/2 .
ik,j jk,i ij,k
To evaluate the Christoffel symbols for a particular metric, the variable imetric must
be assigned a name as in the example under chr2.
ichr2 ([i, j], [k]) Function

Yields the Christoffel symbol of the second kind defined by the relation
ks
ichr2([i,j],[k]) = g (g + g - g )/2
is,j js,i ij,s
icurvature ([i, j, k], [h]) Function

Yields the Riemann curvature tensor in terms of the Christoffel symbols of the second
kind (ichr2). The following notation is used:
h h h %1 h
icurvature = - ichr2 - ichr2 ichr2 + ichr2
i j k i k,j %1 j i k i j,k
h %1
+ ichr2 ichr2
%1 k i j
covdiff (expr, v 1, v 2, ...) Function

Yields the covariant derivative of expr with respect to the variables v i in terms of
the Christoffel symbols of the second kind (ichr2). In order to evaluate these, one
should use ev(expr,ichr2).
(%i2) entertensor()$
Enter tensor name: a;
Enter a list of the covariant indices: [i,j];
Enter a list of the contravariant indices: [k];
Enter a list of the derivative indices: [];
k
(%t2) a
i j
(%i3) ishow(covdiff(%,s))$
k %1 k %1 k k %1
(%t3) - a ichr2 - a ichr2 + a + ichr2 a
i %1 j s %1 j i s i j,s %1 s i j
lorentz gauge (expr) Function

Imposes the Lorentz condition by substituting 0 for all indexed objects in expr that
have a derivative index identical to a contravariant index.
igeodesic coords (expr, name) Function

Causes undifferentiated Christoffel symbols and first derivatives of the metric tensor
vanish in expr. The name in the igeodesic_coords function refers to the metric
name (if it appears in expr) while the connection coefficients must be called with the
names ichr1 and/or ichr2. The following example demonstrates the verification of
the cyclic identity satisfied by the Riemann curvature tensor using the igeodesic_
coords function.
(%i2) ishow(icurvature([r,s,t],[u]))$
u u %1 u u %1
(%t2) - ichr2 - ichr2 ichr2 + ichr2 + ichr2 ichr2
r t,s %1 s r t r s,t %1 t r s
(%i3) ishow(igeodesic_coords(%,ichr2))$
u u
(%t3) ichr2 - ichr2
r s,t r t,s
(%i4) ishow(igeodesic_coords(icurvature([r,s,t],[u]),ichr2)+
igeodesic_coords(icurvature([s,t,r],[u]),ichr2)+
igeodesic_coords(icurvature([t,r,s],[u]),ichr2))$
u u u u u
(%t4) - ichr2 + ichr2 + ichr2 - ichr2 - ichr2
t s,r t r,s s t,r s r,t r t,s
u
+ ichr2
258 Maxima Manual
r s,t
(%i5) canform(%);
(%o5) 0
29.2.5 Moving frames

Maxima now has the ability to perform calculations using moving frames. These can be
orthonormal frames (tetrads, vielbeins) or an arbitrary frame.
To use frames, you must first set iframe_flag to true. This causes the Christoffel-
symbols, ichr1 and ichr2, to be replaced by the more general frame connection coefficients
icc1 and icc2 in calculations. Speficially, the behavior of covdiff and icurvature is
changed.
The frame is defined by two tensors: the inverse frame field (ifri), and the frame metric
ifg. The frame metric is the identity matrix for orthonormal frames, or the Lorentz metric
for orthonormal frames in Minkowski spacetime. The inverse frame field defines the frame
base (unit vectors). Contraction properties are defined for the frame field and the frame
metric.
When iframe_flag is true, many itensor expressions use the frame metric ifg instead
of the metric defined by imetric for raising and lowerind indices.
IMPORTANT: Setting the variable iframe_flag to true does NOT undefine the con-
traction properties of a metric defined by a call to defcon or imetric. If a frame field is
used, it is best to define the metric by assigning its name to the variable imetric and NOT
invoke the imetric function.
Maxima uses these two tensors to define the frame coefficients (ifc1 and ifc2) which
form part of the connection coefficients (icc1 and icc2), as the following example demon-
strates:
(%i2) iframe_flag:true;
(%o2) true
(%i3) ishow(covdiff(v([],[i]),j))$
i i %1
(%t3) v + icc2 v
,j %1 j
(%i4) ishow(ev(%,icc2))$
%1 i i i
(%t4) v (ifc2 + ichr2 ) + v
%1 j %1 j ,j
(%i5) ishow(ev(%,ifc2))$
%1 i %2
v ifg (ifb - ifb + ifb )
j %2 %1 %2 %1 j %1 j %2 i
(%t5) -------------------------------------------------- + v
2 ,j
(%i6) ishow(ifb([a,b,c]))$
%5 %4
(%t6) ifr ifr (ifri - ifri )
a b c %4,%5 c %5,%4
An alternate method is used to compute the frame bracket (ifb) if the iframe_bracket_
form flag is set to false:
(%i8) block([iframe_bracket_form:false],ishow(ifb([a,b,c])))$
%7 %6 %6 %7
(%t8) (ifr ifr - ifr ifr ) ifri
a b,%7 a,%7 b c %6
iframes () Function
Since in this version of Maxima, contraction identities for ifr and ifri are always
defined, as is the frame bracket (ifb), this function does nothing.
ifb Variable
The frame bracket. The contribution of the frame metric to the connection coefficients
is expressed using the frame bracket:
- ifb + ifb + ifb

c a b b c a a b c
ifc1 = --------------------------------
abc 2
The frame bracket itself is defined in terms of the frame field and frame metric.
Two alternate methods of computation are used depending on the value of frame_
bracket_form. If true (the default) or if the itorsion_flag is true:
d e f
ifb = ifr ifr (ifri - ifri - ifri itr )
abc b c a d,e a e,d a f d e
Otherwise:
e d d e
ifb = (ifr ifr - ifr ifr ) ifri
abc b c,e b,e c a d
icc1 Variable
Connection coefficients of the first kind. In itensor, defined as
icc1 = ichr1 - ikt1 - inmc1

260 Maxima Manual
abc abc abc abc
In this expression, if iframe_flag is true, the Christoffel-symbol ichr1 is replaced

with the frame connection coefficient ifc1. If itorsion_flag is false, ikt1 will be
omitted. It is also omitted if a frame base is used, as the torsion is already calculated
as part of the frame bracket. Lastly, of inonmet_flag is false, inmc1 will not be
present.
icc2 Variable
Connection coefficients of the second kind. In itensor, defined as
c c c c
icc2 = ichr2 - ikt2 - inmc2
ab ab ab ab
In this expression, if iframe_flag is true, the Christoffel-symbol ichr2 is replaced

with the frame connection coefficient ifc2. If itorsion_flag is false, ikt2 will be
omitted. It is also omitted if a frame base is used, as the torsion is already calculated
as part of the frame bracket. Lastly, of inonmet_flag is false, inmc2 will not be
present.
ifc1 Variable
Frame coefficient of the first kind (also known as Ricci-rotation coefficients.) This
tensor represents the contribution of the frame metric to the connection coefficient of
the first kind. Defined as:
- ifb + ifb + ifb

c a b b c a a b c
ifc1 = --------------------------------
abc 2
ifc2 Variable
Frame coefficient of the first kind. This tensor represents the contribution of the frame
metric to the connection coefficient of the first kind. Defined as a permutation of the
frame bracket (ifb) with the appropriate indices raised and lowered as necessary:
c cd
ifc2 = ifg ifc1
ab abd
ifr Variable
The frame field. Contracts with the inverse frame field (ifri) to form the frame
metric (ifg).
ifri Variable
The inverse frame field. Specifies the frame base (basis vectors). Along with the
frame metric, it forms the basis of all calculations based on frames.
ifg Variable
The frame metric. Defaults to kdelta, but can be changed using components.
ifgi Variable
The inverse frame metric. Contracts with the frame metric (ifg) to kdelta.
iframe bracket form Variable

Specifies how the frame bracket (ifb) is computed. Default is true.
29.2.6 Torsion and nonmetricity

Maxima can now take into account torsion and nonmetricity. When the flag itorsion_
flag is set to true, the contribution of torsion is added to the connection coefficients.
Similarly, when the flag inonmet_flag is true, nonmetricity components are included.
inm Variable
The nonmetricity vector. Conformal nonmetricity is defined through the covariant
derivative of the metric tensor. Normally zero, the metric tensor’s covariant derivative
will evaluate to the following when inonmet_flag is set to true:
g =- g nm
ij;k ij k
inmc1 Variable
Covariant permutation of the nonmetricity vector components. Defined as
g inm - inm g - g inm

ab c a bc ac b
inmc1 = ------------------------------
abc 2
(Substitute ifg in place of g if a frame metric is used.)
inmc2 Variable
Contravariant permutation of the nonmetricity vector components. Used in the con-
nection coefficients if inonmet_flag is true. Defined as:
c c cd
-inm kdelta - kdelta inm + g inm g
c a b a b d ab
inmc2 = -------------------------------------------
ab 2

262 Maxima Manual
ikt1 Variable
Covariant permutation of the torsion tensor (also known as contorsion). Defined as:
d d d
-g - gitr itr - itr g
ad cb bd ca ab cd
ikt1 = ----------------------------------
abc 2
ikt2 Variable
Contravariant permutation of the torsion tensor (also known as contorsion). Defined
as:
c cd
ikt2 = g ikt1
ab abd
itr Variable
The torsion tensor. For a metric with torsion, repeated covariant differentiation on a
scalar function will not commute, as demonstrated by the following example:
(%i2) imetric:g;
(%o2) g
(%i3) covdiff(covdiff(f([],[]),i),j)-covdiff(covdiff(f([],[]),j),i)$
(%i4) ishow(%)$
%4 %2
(%t4) f ichr2 - f ichr2
,%4 j i ,%2 i j
(%i5) canform(%);
(%o5) 0
(%i6) itorsion_flag:true;
(%o6) true
(%i7) covdiff(covdiff(f([],[]),i),j)-covdiff(covdiff(f([],[]),j),i)$
(%i8) ishow(%)$
%8 %6
(%t8) f icc2 - f icc2 - f + f
,%8 j i ,%6 i j ,j i ,i j
(%i9) ishow(canform(%))$
%1 %1
(%t9) f icc2 - f icc2
,%1 j i ,%1 i j
(%i10) ishow(canform(ev(%,icc2)))$
%1 %1
(%t10) f ikt2 - f ikt2
,%1 i j ,%1 j i
(%i11) ishow(canform(ev(%,ikt2)))$
%2 %1 %2 %1
(%t11) f g ikt1 - f g ikt1
,%2 i j %1 ,%2 j i %1
(%i12) ishow(factor(canform(rename(expand(ev(%,ikt1))))))$
%3 %2 %1 %1
f g g (itr - itr )
,%3 %2 %1 j i i j
(%t12) ------------------------------------
2
(%i13) decsym(itr,2,1,[anti(all)],[]);
(%o13) done
(%i14) defcon(g,g,kdelta);
(%o14) done
(%i15) subst(g,nounify(g),%th(3))$
(%i16) ishow(canform(contract(%)))$
%1
(%t16) - f itr
,%1 i j
29.2.7 Exterior algebra

The itensor package can perform operations on totally antisymmetric covariant tensor
fields. A totally antisymmetric tensor field of rank (0,L) corresponds with a differential
L-form. On these objects, a multiplication operation known as the exterior product, or
wedge product, is defined.
Unfortunately, not all authors agree on the definition of the wedge product. Some
authors prefer a definition that corresponds with the notion of antisymmetrization: in these
works, the wedge product of two vector fields, for instance, would be defined as
a a - a a
i j j i
a /\ a = -----------
i j 2
More generally, the product of a p-form and a q-form would be defined as
1 k1..kp l1..lq
A /\ B = ------ D A B
i1..ip j1..jq (p+q)! i1..ip j1..jq k1..kp l1..lq
where D stands for the Kronecker-delta.
Other authors, however, prefer a “geometric” definition that corresponds with the notion
of the volume element:
a /\ a = a a - a a
i j i j j i
264 Maxima Manual
and, in the general case

1 k1..kp l1..lq
A /\ B = ----- D A B
i1..ip j1..jq p! q! i1..ip j1..jq k1..kp l1..lq
Since itensor is a tensor algebra package, the first of these two definitions appears to
be the more natural one. Many applications, however, utilize the second definition. To
resolve this dilemma, a flag has been implemented that controls the behavior of the wedge
product: if igeowedge_flag is false (the default), the first, "tensorial" definition is used,
otherwise the second, "geometric" definition will be applied.
"~" special symbol

The wedge product operator is denoted by the tilde ~. This is a binary operator. Its
arguments should be expressions involving scalars, covariant tensors of rank one, or
covariant tensors of rank l that have been declared antisymmetric in all covariant
indices.
The behavior of the wedge product operator is controlled by the igeowedge_flag
flag, as in the following example:
(%i2) ishow(a([i])~b([j]))$
a b - b a
i j i j
(%t2) -------------
2
(%o3) done
(%i4) ishow(a([i,j])~b([k]))$
a b + b a - a b
i j k i j k i k j
(%t4) ---------------------------
3
(%i5) igeowedge_flag:true;
(%o5) true
(%i6) ishow(a([i])~b([j]))$
(%t6) a b - b a
i j i j
(%i7) ishow(a([i,j])~b([k]))$
(%t7) a b + b a - a b
i j k i j k i k j
"|" special symbol

The vertical bar | denotes the "contraction with a vector" binary operation. When a
totally antisymmetric covariant tensor is contracted with a contravariant vector, the
result is the same regardless which index was used for the contraction. Thus, it is
possible to define the contraction operation in an index-free manner.
In the itensor package, contraction with a vector is always carried out with respect
to the first index in the literal sorting order. This ensures better simplification of
expressions involving the | operator. For instance:
(%o2) done
(%i3) ishow(a([i,j],[])|v)$
%1
(%t3) v a
%1 j
(%i4) ishow(a([j,i],[])|v)$
%1
(%t4) - v a
%1 j
Note that it is essential that the tensors used with the | operator be declared totally
antisymmetric in their covariant indices. Otherwise, the results will be incorrect.
extdiff (expr, i) Function

Computes the exterior derivative of expr with respect to the index i. The exterior
derivative is formally defined as the wedge product of the partial derivative operator
and a differential form. As such, this operation is also controlled by the setting of
igeowedge_flag. For instance:
(%i2) ishow(extdiff(v([i]),j))$
v - v
j,i i,j
(%t2) -----------
2
(%o3) done
(%i4) ishow(extdiff(a([i,j]),k))$
a - a + a
j k,i i k,j i j,k
(%t4) ------------------------
3
(%i5) igeowedge_flag:true;
(%o5) true
(%i6) ishow(extdiff(v([i]),j))$
(%t6) v - v
j,i i,j
(%i7) ishow(extdiff(a([i,j]),k))$
(%t7) a - a + a
j k,i i k,j i j,k
igeowedge flag Variable

Controls the behavior of the wedge product and exterior derivative. When set to
false (the default), the notion of differential forms will correspond with that of a
totally antisymmetric covariant tensor field. When set to true, differential forms will
agree with the notion of the volume element.
266 Maxima Manual
29.2.8 Exporting TeX expressions

The itensor package provides limited support for exporting tensor expressions to TeX.
Since itensor expressions appear as function calls, the regular Maxima tex command
will not produce the expected output. You can try instead the tentex command, which
attempts to translate tensor expressions into appropriately indexed TeX objects.
tentex (expr) Function

To use the tentex function, you must first load tentex, as in the following example:
(%i2) load(tentex);
(%o2) /share/tensor/tentex.lisp
(%i3) idummyx:m;
(%o3) m
(%i4) ishow(icurvature([j,k,l],[i]))$
m1 i m1 i i i
(%t4) ichr2 ichr2 - ichr2 ichr2 - ichr2 + ichr2
j k m1 l j l m1 k j l,k j k,l
(%i5) tentex(%)$
$$\Gamma_{j\,k}^{m_1}\,\Gamma_{l\,m_1}^{i}-\Gamma_{j\,l}^{m_1}\,
\Gamma_{k\,m_1}^{i}-\Gamma_{j\,l,k}^{i}+\Gamma_{j\,k,l}^{i}$$
Note the use of the idummyx assignment, to avoid the appearance of the percent sign
in the TeX expression, which may lead to compile errors.
NB: This version of the tentex function is somewhat experimental.
29.2.9 Interfacing with ctensor

The itensor package has the ability to generate Maxima code that can then be executed
in the context of the ctensor package. The function that performs this task is ic_convert.
ic convert (eqn) Function

Converts the itensor equation eqn to a ctensor assignment statement. Implied
sums over dummy indices are made explicit while indexed objects are transformed
into arrays (the array subscripts are in the order of covariant followed by contravariant
indices of the indexed objects). The derivative of an indexed object will be replaced by
the noun form of diff taken with respect to ct_coords subscripted by the derivative
index. The Christoffel symbols ichr1 and ichr2 will be translated to lcs and mcs,
respectively and if metricconvert is true then all occurrences of the metric with two
covariant (contravariant) indices will be renamed to lg (ug). In addition, do loops
will be introduced summing over all free indices so that the transformed assignment
statement can be evaluated by just doing ev. The following examples demonstrate
the features of this function.
(%i2) eqn:ishow(t([i,j],[k])=f([],[])*g([l,m],[])*a([],[m],j)*b([i],[l,k]))$
k m l k
(%t2) t = f a b g
i j ,j i l m
(%i3) ic_convert(eqn);
(%o3) for i thru dim do (for j thru dim
do (for k thru dim do t : f sum(sum(diff(a , ct_coords ) b

i, j, k m j i, l, k
g , l, 1, dim), m, 1, dim)))
l, m
(%i4) imetric(g);
(%o4) done
(%i5) metricconvert:true;
(%o5) true
(%i6) ic_convert(eqn);
(%o6) for i thru dim do (for j thru dim
do (for k thru dim do t : f sum(sum(diff(a , ct_coords ) b

i, j, k m j i, l, k
lg , l, 1, dim), m, 1, dim)))
l, m
29.2.10 Reserved words

The following Maxima words are used by the itensor package internally and should not
be redefined:
Keyword Comments
------------------------------------------
indices2() Internal version of indices()
conti Lists contravariant indices
covi Lists covariant indices of a indexed object
deri Lists derivative indices of an indexed object
name Returns the name of an indexed object
concan
irpmon
lc0
_lc2kdt0
_lcprod
_extlc
268 Maxima Manual
Chapter 30: ctensor 269
30 ctensor
30.1 Introduction to ctensor

ctensor is a component tensor manipulation package. To use the ctensor package,
type load(ctensor). To begin an interactive session with ctensor, type csetup(). You
are first asked to specify the dimension of the manifold. If the dimension is 2, 3 or 4 then
the list of coordinates defaults to [x,y], [x,y,z] or [x,y,z,t] respectively. These names
may be changed by assigning a new list of coordinates to the variable ct_coords (described
below) and the user is queried about this. ** Care must be taken to avoid the coordinate
names conflicting with other object definitions **.
Next, the user enters the metric either directly or from a file by specifying its ordinal
position. As an example of a file of common metrics, see share/tensor/metrics.mac. The
metric is stored in the matrix LG. Finally, the metric inverse is computed and stored in the
matrix UG. One has the option of carrying out all calculations in a power series.
A sample protocol is begun below for the static, spherically symmetric metric (standard
coordinates) which will be applied to the problem of deriving Einstein’s vacuum equations
(which lead to the Schwarzschild solution) as an example. Many of the functions in ctensor
will be displayed for the standard metric as examples.
(%o1) /usr/local/lib/maxima/share/tensor/ctensor.mac
(%i2) csetup();
Enter the dimension of the coordinate system:
4;
Do you wish to change the coordinate names?
n;
Do you want to
1. Enter a new metric?
2. Enter a metric from a file?
3. Approximate a metric with a Taylor series?

1;
Is the matrix 1. Diagonal 2. Symmetric 3. Antisymmetric 4. General

Answer 1, 2, 3 or 4
1;
Row 1 Column 1:
a;
Row 2 Column 2:
x^2;
Row 3 Column 3:
x^2*sin(y)^2;
Row 4 Column 4:
-d;
Matrix entered.
270 Maxima Manual
Enter functional dependencies with the DEPENDS function or ’N’ if none

depends([a,d],x);
Do you wish to see the metric?
y;
[ a 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 2 ]
[ 0 x 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 2 2 ]
[ 0 0 x sin (y) 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 - d ]
(%o2) done
(%i3) christof(mcs);
a
x
(%t3) mcs = ---
1, 1, 1 2 a
1
(%t4) mcs = -
1, 2, 2 x
1
(%t5) mcs = -
1, 3, 3 x
d
x
(%t6) mcs = ---
1, 4, 4 2 d
x
(%t7) mcs = - -
2, 2, 1 a
cos(y)
(%t8) mcs = ------
2, 3, 3 sin(y)
2
x sin (y)
(%t9) mcs = - ---------
3, 3, 1 a
(%t10) mcs = - cos(y) sin(y)

3, 3, 2
d
x
(%t11) mcs = ---
4, 4, 1 2 a
(%o11) done
30.2 Definitions for ctensor
30.2.1 Initialization and setup
csetup () Function
A function in the ctensor (component tensor) package which initializes the package
and allows the user to enter a metric interactively. See ctensor for more details.
cmetric (dis) Function

cmetric () Function
A function in the ctensor (component tensor) package that computes the metric
inverse and sets up the package for further calculations.
If cframe_flag is false, the function computes the inverse metric ug from the (user-
defined) matrix lg. The metric determinant is also computed and stored in the
variable gdet. Furthermore, the package determines if the metric is diagonal and sets
the value of diagmetric accordingly. If the optional argument dis is present and not
equal to false, the user is prompted to see the metric inverse.
If cframe_flag is true, the function expects that the values of fri (the inverse frame
matrix) and lfg (the frame metric) are defined. From these, the frame matrix fr and
the inverse frame metric ufg are computed.
ct coordsys (coordinate system, extra arg) Function

ct coordsys (coordinate system) Function
Sets up a predefined coordinate system and metric. The argument coordinate system
can be one of the following symbols:
SYMBOL Dim Coordinates Description/comments

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
cartesian2d 2 [x,y] Cartesian 2D coordinate system
polar 2 [r,phi] Polar coordinate system
elliptic 2 [u,v]
confocalelliptic 2 [u,v]
bipolar 2 [u,v]
parabolic 2 [u,v]
cartesian3d 3 [x,y,z] Cartesian 3D coordinate system
polarcylindrical 3 [r,theta,z]
ellipticcylindrical 3 [u,v,z] Elliptic 2D with cylindrical Z
confocalellipsoidal 3 [u,v,w]
272 Maxima Manual
bipolarcylindrical 3 [u,v,z] Bipolar 2D with cylintrical Z

paraboliccylindrical 3 [u,v,z] Parabolic 2D with cylindrical Z
paraboloidal 3 [u,v,phi]
conical 3 [u,v,w]
toroidal 3 [u,v,phi]
spherical 3 [r,theta,phi] Spherical coordinate system
oblatespheroidal 3 [u,v,phi]
oblatespheroidalsqrt 3 [u,v,phi]
prolatespheroidal 3 [u,v,phi]
prolatespheroidalsqrt 3 [u,v,phi]
ellipsoidal 3 [r,theta,phi]
cartesian4d 4 [x,y,z,t] Cartesian 4D coordinate system
spherical4d 4 [r,theta,eta,phi]
exteriorschwarzschild 4 [t,r,theta,phi] Schwarzschild metric
interiorschwarzschild 4 [t,z,u,v] Interior Schwarzschild metric
kerr_newman 4 [t,r,theta,phi] Charged axially symmetric metric
coordinate_system can also be a list of transformation functions, followed by a list

containing the coordinate variables. For instance, you can specify a spherical metric
as follows:
(%i2) ct_coordsys([r*cos(theta)*cos(phi),r*cos(theta)*sin(phi),
r*sin(theta),[r,theta,phi]]);
(%o2) done
(%i3) lg:trigsimp(lg);
[ 1 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 2 ]
(%o3) [ 0 r 0 ]
[ ]
[ 2 2 ]
[ 0 0 r cos (theta) ]
(%i4) ct_coords;
(%o4) [r, theta, phi]
(%i5) dim;
(%o5) 3
Transformation functions can also be used when cframe_flag is true:
(%i2) cframe_flag:true;
(%o2) true
(%i3) ct_coordsys([r*cos(theta)*cos(phi),r*cos(theta)*sin(phi),
r*sin(theta),[r,theta,phi]]);
(%o3) done
(%i4) fri;
[ cos(phi) cos(theta) - cos(phi) r sin(theta) - sin(phi) r cos(theta) ]
[ ]
(%o4) [ sin(phi) cos(theta) - sin(phi) r sin(theta) cos(phi) r cos(theta) ]
[ ]
[ sin(theta) r cos(theta) 0 ]
(%i5) cmetric();
(%o5) false
(%i6) lg:trigsimp(lg);
[ 1 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 2 ]
(%o6) [ 0 r 0 ]
[ ]
[ 2 2 ]
[ 0 0 r cos (theta) ]
The optional argument extra arg can be any one of the following:
cylindrical tells ct_coordsys to attach an additional cylindrical coordinate.
minkowski tells ct_coordsys to attach an additional coordinate with negative metric
signature.
all tells ct_coordsys to call cmetric and christof(false) after setting up the
metric.
If the global variable verbose is set to true, ct_coordsys displays the values of dim,
ct_coords, and either lg or lfg and fri, depending on the value of cframe_flag.
init ctensor () Function

Initializes the ctensor package.
The init_ctensor function reinitializes the ctensor package. It removes all arrays
and matrices used by ctensor, resets all flags, resets dim to 4, and resets the frame
metric to the Lorentz-frame.
30.2.2 The tensors of curved space

The main purpose of the ctensor package is to compute the tensors of curved
space(time), most notably the tensors used in general relativity.
When a metric base is used, ctensor can compute the following tensors:
lg -- ug
\ \
lcs -- mcs -- ric -- uric
\ \ \
\ tracer - ein -- lein
\
riem -- lriem -- weyl
\
274 Maxima Manual
uriem
ctensor can also work using moving frames. When cframe_flag is set to true, the
following tensors can be calculated:
lfg -- ufg
\
fri -- fr -- lcs -- mcs -- lriem -- ric -- uric
\ | \ \ \
lg -- ug | weyl tracer - ein -- lein
|\
| riem
|
\uriem
christof (dis) Function

A function in the ctensor (component tensor) package. It computes the Christoffel
symbols of both kinds. The argument dis determines which results are to be imme-
diately displayed. The Christoffel symbols of the first and second kinds are stored
in the arrays lcs[i,j,k] and mcs[i,j,k] respectively and defined to be symmetric
in the first two indices. If the argument to christof is lcs or mcs then the unique
non-zero values of lcs[i,j,k] or mcs[i,j,k], respectively, will be displayed. If the
argument is all then the unique non-zero values of lcs[i,j,k] and mcs[i,j,k] will
be displayed. If the argument is false then the display of the elements will not occur.
The array elements mcs[i,j,k] are defined in such a manner that the final index is
contravariant.
ricci (dis) Function

A function in the ctensor (component tensor) package. ricci computes the covariant
(symmetric) components ric[i,j] of the Ricci tensor. If the argument dis is true,
then the non-zero components are displayed.
uricci (dis) Function

This function first computes the covariant components ric[i,j] of the Ricci tensor.
Then the mixed Ricci tensor is computed using the contravariant metric tensor. If
the value of the argument dis is true, then these mixed components, uric[i,j]
(the index i is covariant and the index j is contravariant), will be displayed directly.
Otherwise, ricci(false) will simply compute the entries of the array uric[i,j]
without displaying the results.
scurvature () Function
returns the scalar curvature (obtained by contracting the Ricci tensor) of the Rie-
mannian manifold with the given metric.
einstein (dis) Function

A function in the ctensor (component tensor) package. einstein computes the
mixed Einstein tensor after the Christoffel symbols and Ricci tensor have been ob-
tained (with the functions christof and ricci). If the argument dis is true, then
the non-zero values of the mixed Einstein tensor ein[i,j] will be displayed where
j is the contravariant index. The variable rateinstein will cause the rational sim-
plification on these components. If ratfac is true then the components will also be
factored.
leinstein (dis) Function

Covariant Einstein-tensor. leinstein stores the values of the covariant Einstein
tensor in the array lein. The covariant Einstein-tensor is computed from the mixed
Einstein tensor ein by multiplying it with the metric tensor. If the argument dis is
true, then the non-zero values of the covariant Einstein tensor are displayed.
riemann (dis) Function

A function in the ctensor (component tensor) package. riemann computes the Rie-
mann curvature tensor from the given metric and the corresponding Christoffel sym-
bols. The following index conventions are used:
l _l _l _l _m _l _m
R[i,j,k,l] = R = | - | + | | - | |
ijk ij,k ik,j mk ij mj ik
This notation is consistent with the notation used by the ITENSOR package and its
icurvature function. If the optional argument dis is true, the non-zero components
riem[i,j,k,l] will be displayed. As with the Einstein tensor, various switches set
by the user control the simplification of the components of the Riemann tensor. If
ratriemann is true, then rational simplification will be done. If ratfac is true then
each of the components will also be factored.
If the variable cframe_flag is false, the Riemann tensor is computed directly from
the Christoffel-symbols. If cframe_flag is false, the covariant Riemann-tensor is
computed first from the frame field coefficients.
lriemann (dis) Function

Covariant Riemann-tensor (lriem[]).
Computes the covariant Riemann-tensor as the array lriem. If the argument dis is
true, unique nonzero values are displayed.
If the variable cframe_flag is true, the covariant Riemann tensor is computed di-
rectly from the frame field coefficients. Otherwise, the (3,1) Riemann tensor is com-
puted first.
For information on index ordering, see riemann.
uriemann (dis) Function

Computes the contravariant components of the Riemann curvature tensor as array
elements uriem[i,j,k,l]. These are displayed if dis is true.
276 Maxima Manual
rinvariant () Function
Forms the Kretchmann-invariant (kinvariant) obtained by contracting the tensors
lriem[i,j,k,l]*uriem[i,j,k,l].
This object is not automatically simplified since it can be very large.
weyl (dis) Function

Computes the Weyl conformal tensor. If the argument dis is true, the non-zero com-
ponents weyl[i,j,k,l] will be displayed to the user. Otherwise, these components
will simply be computed and stored. If the switch ratweyl is set to true, then the
components will be rationally simplified; if ratfac is true then the results will be
factored as well.
30.2.3 Taylor series expansion

The ctensor package has the ability to truncate results by assuming that they are Taylor-
series approximations. This behavior is controlled by the ctayswitch variable; when set to
true, ctensor makes use internally of the function ctaylor when simplifying results.
The ctaylor function is invoked by the following ctensor functions:
Function Comments
---------------------------------
christof() For mcs only
ricci()
uricci()
einstein()
riemann()
weyl()
checkdiv()
ctaylor () Function
The ctaylor function truncates its argument by converting it to a Taylor-series using
taylor, and then calling ratdisrep. This has the combined effect of dropping terms
higher order in the expansion variable ctayvar. The order of terms that should be
dropped is defined by ctaypov; the point around which the series expansion is carried
out is specified in ctaypt.
As an example, consider a simple metric that is a perturbation of the Minkowski
metric. Without further restrictions, even a diagonal metric produces expressions for
the Einstein tensor that are far too complex:
(%i2) ratfac:true;
(%o2) true
(%i3) derivabbrev:true;
(%o3) true
(%i4) ct_coords:[t,r,theta,phi];
(%o4) [t, r, theta, phi]
(%i5) lg:matrix([-1,0,0,0],[0,1,0,0],[0,0,r^2,0],[0,0,0,r^2*sin(theta)^2]);
[ - 1 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 1 0 0 ]
[ ]
(%o5) [ 2 ]
[ 0 0 r 0 ]
[ ]
[ 2 2 ]
[ 0 0 0 r sin (theta) ]
(%i6) h:matrix([h11,0,0,0],[0,h22,0,0],[0,0,h33,0],[0,0,0,h44]);
[ h11 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 h22 0 0 ]
(%o6) [ ]
[ 0 0 h33 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 h44 ]
(%i7) depends(l,r);
(%o7) [l(r)]
(%i8) lg:lg+l*h;
[ h11 l - 1 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 h22 l + 1 0 0 ]
[ ]
(%o8) [ 2 ]
[ 0 0 r + h33 l 0 ]
[ ]
[ 2 2 ]
[ 0 0 0 r sin (theta) + h44 l ]
(%i9) cmetric(false);
(%o9) done
(%i10) einstein(false);
(%o10) done
(%i11) ntermst(ein);
[[1, 1], 62]
[[1, 2], 0]
[[1, 3], 0]
[[1, 4], 0]
[[2, 1], 0]
[[2, 2], 24]
[[2, 3], 0]
[[2, 4], 0]
[[3, 1], 0]
[[3, 2], 0]
[[3, 3], 46]
[[3, 4], 0]
[[4, 1], 0]
[[4, 2], 0]
278 Maxima Manual
[[4, 3], 0]
[[4, 4], 46]
(%o12) done
However, if we recompute this example as an approximation that is linear in the

variable l, we get much simpler expressions:
(%i14) ctayswitch:true;
(%o14) true
(%i15) ctayvar:l;
(%o15) l
(%i16) ctaypov:1;
(%o16) 1
(%i17) ctaypt:0;
(%o17) 0
(%i18) christof(false);
(%o18) done
(%i19) ricci(false);
(%o19) done
(%o20) done
(%i21) ntermst(ein);
[[1, 1], 6]
[[1, 2], 0]
[[1, 3], 0]
[[1, 4], 0]
[[2, 1], 0]
[[2, 2], 13]
[[2, 3], 2]
[[2, 4], 0]
[[3, 1], 0]
[[3, 2], 2]
[[3, 3], 9]
[[3, 4], 0]
[[4, 1], 0]
[[4, 2], 0]
[[4, 3], 0]
[[4, 4], 9]
(%o21) done
(%i22) ratsimp(ein[1,1]);
2 2 4 2 2
(%o22) - (((h11 h22 - h11 ) (l ) r - 2 h33 l r ) sin (theta)
r r r
2 2 4 2
- 2 h44 l r - h33 h44 (l ) )/(4 r sin (theta))
r r r
This capability can be useful, for instance, when working in the weak field limit far
from a gravitational source.
30.2.4 Frame fields

When the variable cframe_flag is set to true, the ctensor package performs its calcu-
lations using a moving frame.
frame bracket (fr, fri, diagframe) Function

The frame bracket (fb[]).
Computes the frame bracket according to the following definition:
c c c d e
ifb = ( ifri - ifri ) ifr ifr
ab d,e e,d a b
30.2.5 Algebraic classification

A new feature (as of November, 2004) of ctensor is its ability to compute the Petrov
classification of a 4-dimensional spacetime metric. For a demonstration of this capability,
see the file share/tensor/petrov.dem.
nptetrad () Function
Computes a Newman-Penrose null tetrad (np) and its raised-index counterpart (npi).
See petrov for an example.
The null tetrad is constructed on the assumption that a four-diemensional orthonor-
mal frame metric with metric signature (-,+,+,+) is being used. The components of
the null tetrad are related to the inverse frame matrix as follows:
np = (fri + fri ) / sqrt(2)

1 1 2
np = (fri - fri ) / sqrt(2)

2 1 2
np = (fri + %i fri ) / sqrt(2)

3 3 4
np = (fri - %i fri ) / sqrt(2)

4 3 4
psi (dis) Function

Computes the five Newman-Penrose coefficients psi[0]...psi[4]. If psi is set to
true, the coefficients are displayed. See petrov for an example.
These coefficients are computed from the Weyl-tensor in a coordinate base. If a frame
base is used, the Weyl-tensor is first converted to a coordinate base, which can be a
280 Maxima Manual
computationally expensive procedure. For this reason, in some cases it may be more
advantageous to use a coordinate base in the first place before the Weyl tensor is
computed. Note however, that constructing a Newman-Penrose null tetrad requires a
frame base. Therefore, a meaningful computation sequence may begin with a frame
base, which is then used to compute lg (computed automatically by cmetric and
then ug. At this point, you can switch back to a coordinate base by setting cframe_
flag to false before beginning to compute the Christoffel symbols. Changing to a
frame base at a later stage could yield inconsistent results, as you may end up with
a mixed bag of tensors, some computed in a frame base, some in a coordinate base,
with no means to distinguish between the two.
petrov () Function
Computes the Petrov classification of the metric characterized by psi[0]...psi[4].
For example, the following demonstrates how to obtain the Petrov-classification of
the Kerr metric:
(%i2) (cframe_flag:true,gcd:spmod,ctrgsimp:true,ratfac:true);
(%o2) true
(%i3) ct_coordsys(exteriorschwarzschild,all);
(%o3) done
(%i4) ug:invert(lg)$
(%i5) weyl(false);
(%o5) done
(%i6) nptetrad(true);
(%t6) np =
[ sqrt(r - 2 m) sqrt(r) ]
[ --------------- --------------------- 0 0 ]
[ sqrt(2) sqrt(r) sqrt(2) sqrt(r - 2 m) ]
[ ]
[ sqrt(r - 2 m) sqrt(r) ]
[ --------------- - --------------------- 0 0 ]
[ sqrt(2) sqrt(r) sqrt(2) sqrt(r - 2 m) ]
[ ]
[ r %i r sin(theta) ]
[ 0 0 ------- --------------- ]
[ sqrt(2) sqrt(2) ]
[ ]
[ r %i r sin(theta) ]
[ 0 0 ------- - --------------- ]
[ sqrt(2) sqrt(2) ]
sqrt(r) sqrt(r - 2 m)
(%t7) npi = matrix([- ---------------------, ---------------, 0, 0],
sqrt(2) sqrt(r - 2 m) sqrt(2) sqrt(r)
sqrt(r) sqrt(r - 2 m)
[- ---------------------, - ---------------, 0, 0],

sqrt(2) sqrt(r - 2 m) sqrt(2) sqrt(r)
1 %i
[0, 0, ---------, --------------------],
sqrt(2) r sqrt(2) r sin(theta)
1 %i
[0, 0, ---------, - --------------------])
sqrt(2) r sqrt(2) r sin(theta)
(%o7) done
(%i7) psi(true);
(%t8) psi = 0
0
(%t9) psi = 0
1
m
(%t10) psi = --
2 3
r
(%t11) psi = 0
3
(%t12) psi = 0
4
(%o12) done
(%i12) petrov();
(%o12) D
The Petrov classification function is based on the algorithm published in "Classifying

geometries in general relativity: III Classification in practice" by Pollney, Skea, and
d’Inverno, Class. Quant. Grav. 17 2885-2902 (2000). Except for some simple test
cases, the implementation is untested as of December 19, 2004, and is likely to contain
errors.
30.2.6 Torsion and nonmetricity

ctensor has the ability to compute and include torsion and nonmetricity coefficients in
the connection coefficients.
The torsion coefficients are calculated from a user-supplied tensor tr, which should be
a rank (2,1) tensor. From this, the torsion coefficients kt are computed according to the
following formulae:
m m m
282 Maxima Manual
- g tr - g tr - tr g
im kj jm ki ij km
kt = -------------------------------
ijk 2
k km
kt = g kt
ij ijm
Note that only the mixed-index tensor is calculated and stored in the array kt.
The nonmetricity coefficients are calculated from the user-supplied nonmetricity vector
nm. From this, the nonmetricity coefficients nmc are computed as follows:
k k km
-nm D - D nm + g nm g
k i j i j m ij
nmc = ------------------------------
ij 2
where D stands for the Kronecker-delta.

When ctorsion_flag is set to true, the values of kt are substracted from the mixed-
indexed connection coefficients computed by christof and stored in mcs. Similarly, if
cnonmet_flag is set to true, the values of nmc are substracted from the mixed-indexed
connection coefficients.
If necessary, christof calls the functions contortion and nonmetricity in order to
compute kt and nm.
contortion (tr) Function

Computes the (2,1) contortion coefficients from the torsion tensor tr.
nonmetricity (nm) Function

Computes the (2,1) nonmetricity coefficients from the nonmetricity vector nm.
30.2.7 Miscellaneous features
ctransform (M ) Function
A function in the ctensor (component tensor) package which will perform a coordi-
nate transformation upon an arbitrary square symmetric matrix M. The user must
input the functions which define the transformation. (Formerly called transform.)
findde (A, n) Function

returns a list of the unique differential equations (expressions) corresponding to the
elements of the n dimensional square array A. Presently, n may be 2 or 3. deindex
is a global list containing the indices of A corresponding to these unique differential
equations. For the Einstein tensor (ein), which is a two dimensional array, if com-
puted for the metric in the example below, findde gives the following independent
differential equations:
(%o2) true
(%i3) dim:4;
(%o3) 4
(%i4) lg:matrix([a,0,0,0],[0,x^2,0,0],[0,0,x^2*sin(y)^2,0],[0,0,0,-d]);
[ a 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 2 ]
[ 0 x 0 0 ]
(%o4) [ ]
[ 2 2 ]
[ 0 0 x sin (y) 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 - d ]
(%i5) depends([a,d],x);
(%o5) [a(x), d(x)]
(%i6) ct_coords:[x,y,z,t];
(%o6) [x, y, z, t]
(%i7) cmetric();
(%o7) done
(%o8) done
(%i9) findde(ein,2);
2
(%o9) [d x - a d + d, 2 a d d x - a (d ) x - a d d x + 2 a d d
x x x x x x x
2 2
- 2 a d , a x + a - a]
x x
(%i10) deindex;
(%o10) [[1, 1], [2, 2], [4, 4]]
cograd () Function
Computes the covariant gradient of a scalar function allowing the user to choose the
corresponding vector name as the example under contragrad illustrates.
contragrad () Function
Computes the contravariant gradient of a scalar function allowing the user to choose
the corresponding vector name as the example below for the Schwarzschild metric
illustrates:
284 Maxima Manual
(%o2) true
(%o3) done
(%i4) depends(f,r);
(%o4) [f(r)]
(%i5) cograd(f,g1);
(%o5) done
(%i6) listarray(g1);
(%o6) [0, f , 0, 0]
r
(%i7) contragrad(f,g2);
(%o7) done
(%i8) listarray(g2);
f r - 2 f m
r r
(%o8) [0, -------------, 0, 0]
r
dscalar () Function
computes the tensor d’Alembertian of the scalar function once dependencies have
been declared upon the function. For example:
(%o2) true
(%o3) done
(%i4) depends(p,r);
(%o4) [p(r)]
(%i5) factor(dscalar(p));
2
p r - 2 m p r + 2 p r - 2 m p
r r r r r r
(%o5) --------------------------------------
2
r
checkdiv () Function
computes the covariant divergence of the mixed second rank tensor (whose first index
must be covariant) by printing the corresponding n components of the vector field (the
divergence) where n = dim. If the argument to the function is g then the divergence
of the Einstein tensor will be formed and must be zero. In addition, the divergence
(vector) is given the array name div.
cgeodesic (dis) Function

A function in the ctensor (component tensor) package. cgeodesic computes the
geodesic equations of motion for a given metric. They are stored in the array geod[i].
If the argument dis is true then these equations are displayed.
bdvac (f ) Function
generates the covariant components of the vacuum field equations of the Brans- Dicke
gravitational theory. The scalar field is specified by the argument f, which should be
a (quoted) function name with functional dependencies, e.g., ’p(x).
The components of the second rank covariant field tensor are represented by the array
bd.
invariant1 () Function
generates the mixed Euler- Lagrange tensor (field equations) for the invariant density
of R^2. The field equations are the components of an array named inv1.
invariant2 () Function
*** NOT YET IMPLEMENTED ***
generates the mixed Euler- Lagrange tensor (field equations) for the invariant density
of ric[i,j]*uriem[i,j]. The field equations are the components of an array named
inv2.
bimetric () Function
*** NOT YET IMPLEMENTED ***
generates the field equations of Rosen’s bimetric theory. The field equations are the
components of an array named rosen.
30.2.8 Utility functions
diagmatrixp (M ) Function
Returns true if M is a diagonal matrix or (2D) array.
symmetricp (M ) Function
Returns true if M is a symmetric matrix or (2D) array.
ntermst (f ) Function
gives the user a quick picture of the "size" of the doubly subscripted tensor (array) f.
It prints two element lists where the second element corresponds to NTERMS of the
components specified by the first elements. In this way, it is possible to quickly find
the non-zero expressions and attempt simplification.
cdisplay (ten) Function

displays all the elements of the tensor ten, as represented by a multidimensional
array. Tensors of rank 0 and 1, as well as other types of variables, are displayed
as with ldisplay. Tensors of rank 2 are displayed as 2-dimensional matrices, while
tensors of higher rank are displayed as a list of 2-dimensional matrices. For instance,
the Riemann-tensor of the Schwarzschild metric can be viewed as:
286 Maxima Manual
(%i2) ratfac:true;
(%o2) true
(%o3) done
(%i4) riemann(false);
(%o4) done
(%i5) cdisplay(riem);
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 2 ]
[ 3 m (r - 2 m) m 2 m ]
[ 0 - ------------- + -- - ---- 0 0 ]
[ 4 3 4 ]
[ r r r ]
[ ]
riem = [ m (r - 2 m) ]
1, 1 [ 0 0 ----------- 0 ]
[ 4 ]
[ r ]
[ ]
[ m (r - 2 m) ]
[ 0 0 0 ----------- ]
[ 4 ]
[ r ]
[ 2 m (r - 2 m) ]
[ 0 ------------- 0 0 ]
[ 4 ]
[ r ]
riem = [ ]
1, 2 [ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ m (r - 2 m) ]
[ 0 0 - ----------- 0 ]
[ 4 ]
[ r ]
riem = [ ]
1, 3 [ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ m (r - 2 m) ]
[ 0 0 0 - ----------- ]
[ 4 ]
[ r ]
riem = [ ]
1, 4 [ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 2 m ]
[ - ------------ 0 0 0 ]
riem = [ 2 ]
2, 1 [ r (r - 2 m) ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ 2 m ]
[ ------------ 0 0 0 ]
[ 2 ]
[ r (r - 2 m) ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
riem = [ m ]
2, 2 [ 0 0 - ------------ 0 ]
[ 2 ]
[ r (r - 2 m) ]
[ ]
[ m ]
[ 0 0 0 - ------------ ]
[ 2 ]
[ r (r - 2 m) ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ m ]
[ 0 0 ------------ 0 ]
riem = [ 2 ]
2, 3 [ r (r - 2 m) ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
288 Maxima Manual
[ 0 0 0 0]
[ ]
[ m ]
[ 0 0 0 ------------ ]
riem = [ 2 ]
2, 4 [ r (r - 2 m) ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
riem = [ m ]
3, 1 [ - 0 0 0 ]
[ r ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
riem = [ m ]
3, 2 [ 0 - 0 0 ]
[ r ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ m ]
[ - - 0 0 0
]
[ r ]
[ ]
[ m ]
[ 0 - - 0 0 ]
riem = [ r ]
3, 3 [ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 2 m - r ]
[ 0 0 0 ------- + 1 ]
[ r ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
riem = [ 2 m ]
3, 4 [ 0 0 0 - --- ]
[ r ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
riem = [ 0 0 0 0 ]
4, 1 [ ]
[ 2 ]
[ m sin (theta) ]
[ ------------- 0 0 0 ]
[ r ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
riem = [ 0 0 0 0 ]
4, 2 [ ]
[ 2 ]
[ m sin (theta) ]
[ 0 ------------- 0 0 ]
[ r ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
riem = [ 0 0 0 0 ]
4, 3 [ ]
[ 2 ]
[ 2 m sin (theta) ]
[ 0 0 - --------------- 0 ]
[ r ]
[ 2 ]
[ m sin (theta) ]
[ - ------------- 0 0 0 ]
[ r ]
[ ]
[ 2 ]
[ m sin (theta) ]
riem = [ 0 - ------------- 0 0 ]
4, 4 [ r ]
290 Maxima Manual
[ ]
[ 2 ]
[ 2 m sin (theta) ]
[ 0 0 --------------- 0 ]
[ r ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
(%o5) done
deleten (L, n) Function

Returns a new list consisting of L with the n’th element deleted.
30.2.9 Variables used by ctensor
dim Variable
Default value: 4
An option in the ctensor (component tensor) package. dim is the dimension of the
manifold with the default 4. The command dim: n will reset the dimension to any
other value n.
diagmetric Variable
An option in the ctensor (component tensor) package. If diagmetric is true special
routines compute all geometrical objects (which contain the metric tensor explicitly)
by taking into consideration the diagonality of the metric. Reduced run times will, of
course, result. Note: this option is set automatically by csetup if a diagonal metric
is specified.
ctrgsimp Variable
Causes trigonometric simplifications to be used when tensors are computed. Presently,
ctrgsimp affects only computations involving a moving frame.
cframe flag Variable

Causes computations to be performed relative to a moving frame as opposed to a
holonomic metric. The frame is defined by the inverse frame array fri and the frame
metric lfg. For computations using a Cartesian frame, lfg should be the unit matrix
of the appropriate dimension; for computations in a Lorentz frame, lfg should have
the appropriate signature.
ctorsion flag Variable

Causes the contortion tensor to be included in the computation of the connection
coefficients. The contortion tensor itself is computed by contortion from the user-
supplied tensor tr.
cnonmet flag Variable

Causes the nonmetricity coefficients to be included in the computation of the connec-
tion coefficients. The nonmetricity coefficients are computed from the user-supplied
nonmetricity vector nm by the function nonmetricity.
ctayswitch Variable
If set to true, causes some ctensor computations to be carried out using Taylor-
series expansions. Presently, christof, ricci, uricci, einstein, and weyl take
into account this setting.
ctayvar Variable
Variable used for Taylor-series expansion if ctayswitch is set to true.
ctaypov Variable
Maximum power used in Taylor-series expansion when ctayswitch is set to true.
ctaypt Variable
Point around which Taylor-series expansion is carried out when ctayswitch is set to
true.
gdet Variable
The determinant of the metric tensor lg. Computed by cmetric when cframe_flag
is set to false.
ratchristof Variable
Causes rational simplification to be applied by christof.
rateinstein Variable
Default value: true
If true rational simplification will be performed on the non-zero components of Ein-
stein tensors; if ratfac is true then the components will also be factored.
ratriemann Variable
Default value: true
One of the switches which controls simplification of Riemann tensors; if true, then
rational simplification will be done; if ratfac is true then each of the components
will also be factored.
ratweyl Variable
Default value: true
If true, this switch causes the weyl function to apply rational simplification to the
values of the Weyl tensor. If ratfac is true, then the components will also be
factored.
292 Maxima Manual
lfg Variable
The covariant frame metric. By default, it is initialized to the 4-dimensional Lorentz
frame with signature (+,+,+,-). Used when cframe_flag is true.
ufg Variable
The inverse frame metric. Computed from lfg when cmetric is called while cframe_
flag is set to true.
riem Variable
The (3,1) Riemann tensor. Computed when the function riemann is invoked. For
information about index ordering, see the description of riemann.
if cframe_flag is true, riem is computed from the covariant Riemann-tensor lriem.
lriem Variable
The covariant Riemann tensor. Computed by lriemann.
uriem Variable
The contravariant Riemann tensor. Computed by uriemann.
ric Variable
The mixed Ricci-tensor. Computed by ricci.
uric Variable
The contravariant Ricci-tensor. Computed by uricci.
lg Variable
The metric tensor. This tensor must be specified (as a dim by dim matrix) before
other computations can be performed.
ug Variable
The inverse of the metric tensor. Computed by cmetric.
weyl Variable
The Weyl tensor. Computed by weyl.
fb Variable
Frame bracket coefficients, as computed by frame_bracket.
kinvariant Variable
The Kretchmann invariant. Computed by rinvariant.
np Variable
A Newman-Penrose null tetrad. Computed by nptetrad.
npi Variable
The raised-index Newman-Penrose null tetrad. Computed by nptetrad. Defined as
ug.np. The product np.transpose(npi) is constant:
(%i39) trigsimp(np.transpose(npi));
[ 0 - 1 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ - 1 0 0 0 ]
(%o39) [ ]
[ 0 0 0 1 ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 1 0 ]
tr Variable
User-supplied rank-3 tensor representing torsion. Used by contortion.
kt Variable
The contortion tensor, computed from tr by contortion.
nm Variable
User-supplied nonmetricity vector. Used by nonmetricity.
nmc Variable
The nonmetricity coefficients, computed from nm by nonmetricity.
tensorkill Variable
Variable indicating if the tensor package has been initialized. Set and used by csetup,
reset by init_ctensor.
ct coords Variable
Default value: []
An option in the ctensor (component tensor) package. ct_coords contains a list
of coordinates. While normally defined when the function csetup is called, one may
redefine the coordinates with the assignment ct_coords: [j1, j2, ..., jn] where
the j’s are the new coordinate names. See also csetup.
30.2.10 Reserved names

The following names are used internally by the ctensor package and should not be
redefined:
Name Description
---------------------------------------
_lg() Evaluates to lfg if frame metric used, lg otherwise
_ug() Evaluates to ufg if frame metric used, ug otherwise
cleanup() Removes items drom the deindex list
contract4() Used by psi()
filemet() Used by csetup() when reading the metric from a file
findde1() Used by findde()
294 Maxima Manual

kdelt() Kronecker-delta (not generalized)
newmet() Used by csetup() for setting up a metric interactively
setflags() Used by init_ctensor()
readvalue()
resimp()
sermet() Used by csetup() for entering a metric as Taylor-series
txyzsum()
tmetric() Frame metric, used by cmetric() when cframe_flag:true
triemann() Riemann-tensor in frame base, used when cframe_flag:true
tricci() Ricci-tensor in frame base, used when cframe_flag:true
trrc() Ricci rotation coefficients, used by christof()
yesp()
30.2.11 Changes
In November, 2004, the ctensor package was extensively rewritten. Many functions and
variables have been renamed in order to make the package compatible with the commercial
version of Macsyma.
New Name Old Name Description
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ctaylor() DLGTAYLOR() Taylor-series expansion of an expression
lgeod[] EM Geodesic equations
ein[] G[] Mixed Einstein-tensor
ric[] LR[] Mixed Ricci-tensor
ricci() LRICCICOM() Compute the mixed Ricci-tensor
ctaypov MINP Maximum power in Taylor-series expansion
cgeodesic() MOTION Compute geodesic equations
ct_coords OMEGA Metric coordinates
ctayvar PARAM Taylor-series expansion variable
lriem[] R[] Covariant Riemann-tensor
uriemann() RAISERIEMANN() Compute the contravariant Riemann-tensor
ratriemann RATRIEMAN Rational simplification of the Riemann-tensor
uric[] RICCI[] Contravariant Ricci-tensor
uricci() RICCICOM() Compute the contravariant Ricci-tensor
cmetric() SETMETRIC() Set up the metric
ctaypt TAYPT Point for Taylor-series expansion
ctayswitch TAYSWITCH Taylor-series setting switch
csetup() TSETUP() Start interactive setup session
ctransform() TTRANSFORM() Interactive coordinate transformation
uriem[] UR[] Contravariant Riemann-tensor
weyl[] W[] (3,1) Weyl-tensor
Chapter 31: atensor 295
31 atensor
31.1 Introduction to atensor

atensor is an algebraic tensor manipulation package. To use atensor, type
load(atensor), followed by a call to the init_atensor function.
The essence of atensor is a set of simplification rules for the noncommutative (dot)
product operator ("."). atensor recognizes several algebra types; the corresponding sim-
plification rules are put into effect when the init_atensor function is called.
The capabilities of atensor can be demonstrated by defining the algebra of quaternions
as a Clifford-algebra Cl(0,2) with two basis vectors. The three quaternionic imaginary units
are then the two basis vectors and their product, i.e.:
i = v j = v k = v . v
1 2 1 2
Although the atensor package has a built-in definition for the quaternion algebra, it
is not used in this example, in which we endeavour to build the quaternion multiplication
table as a matrix:
(%i1) load(atensor);
(%o1) /share/tensor/atensor.mac
(%i2) init_atensor(clifford,0,0,2);
(%o2) done
(%i3) atensimp(v[1].v[1]);
(%o3) - 1
(%i4) atensimp((v[1].v[2]).(v[1].v[2]));
(%o4) - 1
(%i5) q:zeromatrix(4,4);
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
(%o5) [ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 0 ]
(%i6) q[1,1]:1;
(%o6) 1
(%i7) for i thru adim do q[1,i+1]:q[i+1,1]:v[i];
(%o7) done
(%i8) q[1,4]:q[4,1]:v[1].v[2];
(%o8) v . v
1 2
(%i9) for i from 2 thru 4 do for j from 2 thru 4 do
q[i,j]:atensimp(q[i,1].q[1,j]);
(%o9) done
(%i10) q;
[ 1 v v v . v ]
296 Maxima Manual
[ 1 2 1 2 ]
[ ]
[ v - 1 v . v - v ]
[ 1 1 2 2 ]
(%o10) [ ]
[ v - v . v - 1 v ]
[ 2 1 2 1 ]
[ ]
[ v . v v - v - 1 ]
[ 1 2 2 1 ]
atensor recognizes as base vectors indexed symbols, where the symbol is that stored in
asymbol and the index runs between 1 and adim. For indexed symbols, and indexed symbols
only, the bilinear forms sf, af, and av are evaluated. The evaluation substitutes the value
of aform[i,j] in place of fun(v[i],v[j]) where v represents the value of asymbol and
fun is either af or sf; or, it substitutes v[aform[i,j]] in place of av(v[i],v[j]).
Needless to say, the functions sf, af and av can be redefined.
When the atensor package is loaded, the following flags are set:
dotscrules:true;
dotdistrib:true;
dotexptsimp:false;
If you wish to experiment with a nonassociative algebra, you may also consider setting
dotassoc to false. In this case, however, atensimp will not always be able to obtain the
desired simplifications.
31.2 Definitions for atensor
init atensor (alg type, opt dims) Function

init atensor (alg type) Function
Initializes the atensor package with the specified algebra type. alg type can be one
of the following:
universal: The universal algebra has no commutation rules.
grassmann: The Grassman algebra is defined by the commutation relation u.v+v.u=0.
clifford: The Clifford algebra is defined by the commutation relation u.v+v.u=-
2*sf(u,v) where sf is a symmetric scalar-valued function. For this algebra, opt dims
can be up to three nonnegative integers, representing the number of positive, degen-
erate, and negative dimensions of the algebra, respectively. If any opt dims values
are supplied, atensor will configure the values of adim and aform appropriately.
Otherwise, adim will default to 0 and aform will not be defined.
symmetric: The symmetric algebra is defined by the commutation relation u.v-
v.u=0.
symplectic: The symplectic algebra is defined by the commutation relation u.v-
v.u=2*af(u,v) where af is an antisymmetric scalar-valued function. For the sym-
plectic algebra, opt dims can be up to two nonnegative integers, representing the
nondegenerate and degenerate dimensions, respectively. If any opt dims values are
Chapter 31: atensor 297
supplied, atensor will configure the values of adim and aform appropriately. Other-
wise, adim will default to 0 and aform will not be defined.
lie_envelop: The algebra of the Lie envelope is defined by the commutation relation
u.v-v.u=2*av(u,v) where av is an antisymmetric function.
The init_atensor function also recognizes several predefined algebra types:
complex implements the algebra of complex numbers as the Clifford algebra Cl(0,1).
The call init_atensor(complex) is equivalent to init_atensor(clifford,0,0,1).
quaternion implements the algebra of quaternions. The call init_
atensor(quaternion) is equivalent to init_atensor(clifford,0,0,2).
pauli implements the algebra of Pauli-spinors as the Clifford-algebra Cl(3,0). A call
to init_atensor(pauli) is equivalent to init_atensor(clifford,3).
dirac implements the algebra of Dirac-spinors as the Clifford-algebra Cl(3,1). A call
to init_atensor(dirac) is equivalent to init_atensor(clifford,3,0,1).
atensimp (expr) Function

Simplifies an algebraic tensor expression expr according to the rules configured by a
call to init_atensor. Simplification includes recursive application of commutation
relations and resolving calls to sf, af, and av where applicable. A safeguard is used
to ensure that the function always terminates, even for complex expressions.
alg type Function

The algebra type. Valid values are universal, grassmann, clifford, symmetric,
symplectic and lie_envelop.
adim Variable
The dimensionality of the algebra. atensor uses the value of adim to determine if an
indexed object is a valid base vector. Defaults to 0.
aform Variable
Default values for the bilinear forms sf, af, and av. The default is the identity matrix
ident(3).
asymbol Variable
The symbol for base vectors. Defaults to v.
sf (u, v) Function
A symmetric scalar function that is used in commutation relations. The default
implementation checks if both arguments are base vectors using abasep and if that
is the case, substitutes the corresponding value from the matrix aform.
af (u, v) Function
An antisymmetric scalar function that is used in commutation relations. The default
implementation checks if both arguments are base vectors using abasep and if that
is the case, substitutes the corresponding value from the matrix aform.
298 Maxima Manual
av (u, v) Function
An antisymmetric function that is used in commutation relations. The default imple-
mentation checks if both arguments are base vectors using abasep and if that is the
case, substitutes the corresponding value from the matrix aform.
For instance:
(%i1) load(atensor);
(%o1) /share/tensor/atensor.mac
(%i2) adim:3;
(%o2) 3
(%i3) aform:matrix([0,3,2],[3,0,1],[2,1,0]);
[ 0 3 2 ]
[ ]
(%o3) [ 3 0 1 ]
[ ]
[ 2 1 0 ]
(%i4) asymbol:x;
(%o4) x
(%i5) av(x[1],x[2]);
(%o5) x
3
abasep (v) Function

Checks if its argument is an atensor base vector. That is, if it is an indexed symbol,
with the symbol being the same as the value of asymbol, and the index having a
numeric value between 1 and adim.
Chapter 32: Series 299
32 Series
32.1 Introduction to Series

Maxima contains functions taylor and powerseries for finding the series of differen-
tiable functions. It also has tools such as nusum capable of finding the closed form of some
series. Operations such as addition and multiplication work as usual on series. This section
presents the various global various variables which control the expansion.
32.2 Definitions for Series
cauchysum Variable
When multiplying together sums with inf as their upper limit, if sumexpand is true
and cauchysum is true then the Cauchy product will be used rather than the usual
product. In the Cauchy product the index of the inner summation is a function of
the index of the outer one rather than varying independently.
Example:
(%i1) sumexpand: false$
(%i2) cauchysum: false$
(%i3) s: sum (f(i), i, 0, inf) * sum (g(j), j, 0, inf);
inf inf
==== ====
\ \
(%o3) ( > f(i)) > g(j)
/ /
==== ====
i = 0 j = 0
(%i4) sumexpand: true$
(%i5) cauchysum: true$
(%i6) ’’s;
inf i1
==== ====
\ \
(%o6) > > g(i1 - i2) f(i2)
/ /
==== ====
i1 = 0 i2 = 0
deftaylor (f 1(x 1), expr 1, ..., f n(x n), expr n) Function

For each function f i of one variable x i, deftaylor defines expr i as the Taylor series
about zero. expr i is typically a polynomial in x i or a summation; more general
expressions are accepted by deftaylor without complaint.
powerseries (f i(x i), x i, 0) returns the series defined by deftaylor.
300 Maxima Manual
deftaylor returns a list of the functions f 1, ..., f n. deftaylor evaluates its argu-
ments.
Example:
(%i1) deftaylor (f(x), x^2 + sum(xî/(2î*i!^2), i, 4, inf));
(%o1) [f]
(%i2) powerseries (f(x), x, 0);
inf
==== i1
\ x 2
(%o2) > -------- + x
/ i1 2
==== 2 i1!
i1 = 4
(%i3) taylor (exp (sqrt (f(x))), x, 0, 4);
2 3 4
x 3073 x 12817 x
(%o3)/T/ 1 + x + -- + ------- + -------- + . . .
2 18432 307200
maxtayorder Variable
Default value: true
When maxtayorder is true, then during algebraic manipulation of (truncated) Taylor
series, taylor tries to retain as many terms as are known to be correct.
niceindices (expr) Function

Renames the indices of sums and products in expr. niceindices attempts to rename
each index to the value of niceindicespref[1], unless that name appears in the
summand or multiplicand, in which case niceindices tries the succeeding elements
of niceindicespref in turn, until an unused variable is found. If the entire list is
exhausted, additional indices are constructed by appending integers to the value of
niceindicespref[1], e.g., i0, i1, i2, ....
niceindices returns an expression. niceindices evaluates its argument.
Example:
(%i1) niceindicespref;
(%o1) [i, j, k, l, m, n]
(%i2) product (sum (f (foo + i*j*bar), foo, 1, inf), bar, 1, inf);
inf inf
/===\ ====
! ! \
(%o2) ! ! > f(bar i j + foo)
! ! /
bar = 1 ====
foo = 1
(%i3) niceindices (%);
inf inf
/===\ ====
! ! \
(%o3) ! ! > f(i j l + k)

! ! /
l = 1 ====
k = 1
niceindicespref Variable
Default value: [i, j, k, l, m, n]
niceindicespref is the list from which niceindices takes the names of indices for
sums and products.
The elements of niceindicespref are typically names of variables, although that is
not enforced by niceindices.
Example:
(%i1) niceindicespref: [p, q, r, s, t, u]$
(%i2) product (sum (f (foo + i*j*bar), foo, 1, inf), bar, 1, inf);
inf inf
/===\ ====
! ! \
(%o2) ! ! > f(bar i j + foo)
! ! /
bar = 1 ====
foo = 1
(%i3) niceindices (%);
inf inf
/===\ ====
! ! \
(%o3) ! ! > f(i j q + p)
! ! /
q = 1 ====
p = 1
nusum (expr, x, i 0, i 1) Function

Carries out indefinite hypergeometric summation of expr with respect to x using a
decision procedure due to R.W. Gosper. expr and the result must be expressible as
products of integer powers, factorials, binomials, and rational functions.
The terms "definite" and "indefinite summation" are used analogously to "definite"
and "indefinite integration". To sum indefinitely means to give a symbolic result for
the sum over intervals of variable length, not just e.g. 0 to inf. Thus, since there is
no formula for the general partial sum of the binomial series, nusum can’t do it.
nusum and unsum know a little about sums and differences of finite products. See also
unsum.
Examples:
(%i1) nusum (n*n!, n, 0, n);
Dependent equations eliminated: (1)

(%o1) (n + 1)! - 1
(%i2) nusum (n^4*4^n/binomial(2*n,n), n, 0, n);
302 Maxima Manual
4 3 2 n
2 (n + 1) (63 n + 112 n + 18 n - 22 n + 3) 4 2
(%o2) ------------------------------------------------ - ------
693 binomial(2 n, n) 3 11 7
(%i3) unsum (%, n);
4 n
n 4
(%o3) ----------------
binomial(2 n, n)
(%i4) unsum (prod (i^2, i, 1, n), n);
n - 1
/===\
! ! 2
(%o4) ( ! ! i ) (n - 1) (n + 1)
! !
i = 1
(%i5) nusum (%, n, 1, n);
Dependent equations eliminated: (2 3)

n
/===\
! ! 2
(%o5) ! ! i - 1
! !
i = 1
pade (taylor series, numer deg bound, denom deg bound) Function
Returns a list of all rational functions which have the given Taylor series expansion
where the sum of the degrees of the numerator and the denominator is less than or
equal to the truncation level of the power series, i.e. are "best" approximants, and
which additionally satisfy the specified degree bounds.
taylor series is a univariate Taylor series. numer deg bound and denom deg bound
are positive integers specifying degree bounds on the numerator and denominator.
taylor series can also be a Laurent series, and the degree bounds can be inf which
causes all rational functions whose total degree is less than or equal to the length
of the power series to be returned. Total degree is defined as numer deg bound +
denom deg bound. Length of a power series is defined as "truncation level" + 1 -
min(0, "order of series").
(%i1) taylor (1 + x + x^2 + x^3, x, 0, 3);
2 3
(%o1)/T/ 1 + x + x + x + . . .
(%i2) pade (%, 1, 1);
1
(%o2) [- -----]
x - 1
(%i3) t: taylor(-(83787*x^10 - 45552*x^9 - 187296*x^8
+ 387072*x^7 + 86016*x^6 - 1507328*x^5
+ 1966080*x^4 + 4194304*x^3 - 25165824*x^2
+ 67108864*x - 134217728)
/134217728, x, 0, 10);
2 3 4 5 6 7
x 3 x x 15 x 23 x 21 x 189 x
(%o3)/T/ 1 - - + ---- - -- - ----- + ----- - ----- - ------
2 16 32 1024 2048 32768 65536
8 9 10
5853 x 2847 x 83787 x
+ ------- + ------- - --------- + . . .
4194304 8388608 134217728
(%i4) pade (t, 4, 4);
(%o4) []
There is no rational function of degree 4 numerator/denominator, with this power
series expansion. You must in general have degree of the numerator and degree of
the denominator adding up to at least the degree of the power series, in order to have
enough unknown coefficients to solve.
(%i5) pade (t, 5, 5);
5 4 3
(%o5) [- (520256329 x - 96719020632 x - 489651410240 x
2
- 1619100813312 x - 2176885157888 x - 2386516803584)
5 4 3
/(47041365435 x + 381702613848 x + 1360678489152 x
2
+ 2856700692480 x + 3370143559680 x + 2386516803584)]
powerdisp Variable
When powerdisp is true, a sum is displayed with its terms in order of increasing
power. Thus a polynomial is displayed as a truncated power series, with the constant
term first and the highest power last.
By default, terms of a sum are displayed in order of decreasing power.
powerseries (expr, x, a) Function

Returns the general form of the power series expansion for expr in the variable x
about the point a (which may be inf for infinity).
If powerseries is unable to expand expr, taylor may give the first several terms of
the series.
When verbose is true, powerseries prints progress messages.
(%i1) verbose: true$
(%i2) powerseries (log(sin(x)/x), x, 0);
can’t expand
304 Maxima Manual
log(sin(x))
so we’ll try again after applying the rule:
d
/ -- (sin(x))
[ dx
log(sin(x)) = i ----------- dx
] sin(x)
/
in the first simplification we have returned:
/
[
i cot(x) dx - log(x)
]
/
inf
==== i1 2 i1 2 i1
\ (- 1) 2 bern(2 i1) x
> ------------------------------
/ i1 (2 i1)!
====
i1 = 1
(%o2) -------------------------------------
2
psexpand Variable
When psexpand is true, an extended rational function expression is displayed fully
expanded. The switch ratexpand has the same effect.
When psexpand is false, a multivariate expression is displayed just as in the rational
function package.
When psexpand is multi, then terms with the same total degree in the variables are
grouped together.
revert (expr, x) Function

revert2 (expr, x, n) Function
These functions return the reversion of expr, a Taylor series about zero in the variable
x. revert returns a polynomial of degree equal to the highest power in expr. revert2
returns a polynomial of degree n, which may be greater than, equal to, or less than
the degree of expr.
load ("revert") loads these functions.
Examples:
(%i1) load ("revert")$
(%i2) t: taylor (exp(x) - 1, x, 0, 6);
2 3 4 5 6
x x x x x
(%o2)/T/ x + -- + -- + -- + --- + --- + . . .
2 6 24 120 720
(%i3) revert (t, x);

6 5 4 3 2
10 x - 12 x + 15 x - 20 x + 30 x - 60 x
(%o3)/R/ - --------------------------------------------
60
(%i4) ratexpand (%);
6 5 4 3 2
x x x x x
(%o4) - -- + -- - -- + -- - -- + x
6 5 4 3 2
(%i5) taylor (log(x+1), x, 0, 6);
2 3 4 5 6
x x x x x
(%o5)/T/ x - -- + -- - -- + -- - -- + . . .
2 3 4 5 6
(%i6) ratsimp (revert (t, x) - taylor (log(x+1), x, 0, 6));
(%o6) 0
(%i7) revert2 (t, x, 4);
4 3 2
x x x
(%o7) - -- + -- - -- + x
4 3 2
taylor (expr, x, a, n) Function

taylor (expr, [x 1, x 2, ...], a, n) Function
taylor (expr, [x, a, n, ’asymp]) Function
taylor (expr, [x 1, x 2, ...], [a 1, a 2, ...], [n 1, n 2, ...]) Function
taylor (expr, x, a, n) expands the expression expr in a truncated Taylor or Laurent
series in the variable x around the point a, containing terms through (x - a)^n.
If expr is of the form f (x)/g(x) and g(x) has no terms up to degree n then taylor
attempts to expand g(x) up to degree 2 n. If there are still no nonzero terms, taylor
doubles the degree of the expansion of g(x) so long as the degree of the expansion is
less than or equal to n 2^taylordepth.
taylor (expr, [x 1, x 2, ...], a, n) returns a truncated power series of degree n
in all variables x 1, x 2, ... about the point (a, a, ...).
taylor (expr, [x 1, a 1, n 1], [x 2, a 2, n 2], ...) returns a truncated power
series in the variables x 1, x 2, ... about the point (a 1, a 2, ...), truncated at n 1,
n 2, ....
taylor (expr, [x 1, x 2, ...], [a 1, a 2, ...], [n 1, n 2, ...]) returns a trun-
cated power series in the variables x 1, x 2, ... about the point (a 1, a 2, ...),
truncated at n 1, n 2, ....
taylor (expr, [x, a, n, ’asymp]) returns an expansion of expr in negative powers
of x - a. The highest order term is (x - a)^-n.
When maxtayorder is true, then during algebraic manipulation of (truncated) Taylor
series, taylor tries to retain as many terms as are known to be correct.
When psexpand is true, an extended rational function expression is displayed fully
expanded. The switch ratexpand has the same effect. When psexpand is false, a
306 Maxima Manual
multivariate expression is displayed just as in the rational function package. When

psexpand is multi, then terms with the same total degree in the variables are grouped
together.
See also the taylor_logexpand switch for controlling expansion.
Examples:
(%i1) taylor (sqrt (sin(x) + a*x + 1), x, 0, 3);
2 2
(a + 1) x (a + 2 a + 1) x
(%o1)/T/ 1 + --------- - -----------------
2 8
3 2 3
(3 a + 9 a + 9 a - 1) x
+ -------------------------- + . . .
48
(%i2) %^2;
3
x
(%o2)/T/ 1 + (a + 1) x - -- + . . .
6
(%i3) taylor (sqrt (x + 1), x, 0, 5);
2 3 4 5
x x x 5 x 7 x
(%o3)/T/ 1 + - - -- + -- - ---- + ---- + . . .
2 8 16 128 256
(%i4) %^2;
(%o4)/T/ 1 + x + . . .
(%i5) product ((1 + xî)^2.5, i, 1, inf)/(1 + x^2);
inf
/===\
! ! i 2.5
! ! (x + 1)
! !
i = 1
(%o5) -----------------
2
x + 1
(%i6) ev (taylor(%, x, 0, 3), keepfloat);
2 3
(%o6)/T/ 1 + 2.5 x + 3.375 x + 6.5625 x + . . .
(%i7) taylor (1/log (x + 1), x, 0, 3);
2 3
1 1 x x 19 x
(%o7)/T/ - + - - -- + -- - ----- + . . .
x 2 12 24 720
(%i8) taylor (cos(x) - sec(x), x, 0, 5);
4
2 x
(%o8)/T/ - x - -- + . . .
6
(%i9) taylor ((cos(x) - sec(x))^3, x, 0, 5);
(%o9)/T/ 0 + . . .
(%i10) taylor (1/(cos(x) - sec(x))^3, x, 0, 5);
2 4
1 1 11 347 6767 x 15377 x
(%o10)/T/ - -- + ---- + ------ - ----- - ------- - --------
6 4 2 15120 604800 7983360
x 2 x 120 x
+ . . .
(%i11) taylor (sqrt (1 - k^2*sin(x)^2), x, 0, 6);
2 2 4 2 4
k x (3 k - 4 k ) x
(%o11)/T/ 1 - ----- - ----------------
2 24
6 4 2 6
(45 k - 60 k + 16 k ) x
- -------------------------- + . . .
720
(%i12) taylor ((x + 1)^n, x, 0, 4);
2 2 3 2 3
(n - n) x (n - 3 n + 2 n) x
(%o12)/T/ 1 + n x + ----------- + --------------------
2 6
4 3 2 4
(n - 6 n + 11 n - 6 n) x
+ ---------------------------- + . . .
24
(%i13) taylor (sin (y + x), x, 0, 3, y, 0, 3);
3 2
y y
(%o13)/T/ y - -- + . . . + (1 - -- + . . .) x
6 2
3 2
y y 2 1 y 3
+ (- - + -- + . . .) x + (- - + -- + . . .) x + . . .
2 12 6 12
(%i14) taylor (sin (y + x), [x, y], 0, 3);
3 2 2 3
x + 3 y x + 3 y x + y
(%o14)/T/ y + x - ------------------------- + . . .
6
(%i15) taylor (1/sin (y + x), x, 0, 3, y, 0, 3);
1 y 1 1 1 2
308 Maxima Manual
(%o15)/T/ - + - + . . . + (- -- + - + . . .) x + (-- + . . .) x
y 6 2 6 3
y y
1 3
+ (- -- + . . .) x + . . .
4
y
(%i16) taylor (1/sin (y + x), [x, y], 0, 3);
3 2 2 3
1 x + y 7 x + 21 y x + 21 y x + 7 y
(%o16)/T/ ----- + ----- + ------------------------------- + . . .
x + y 6 360
taylordepth Variable
Default value: 3
If there are still no nonzero terms, taylor doubles the degree of the expansion of
g(x) so long as the degree of the expansion is less than or equal to n 2^taylordepth.
taylorinfo (expr) Function

Returns information about the Taylor series expr. The return value is a list of lists.
Each list comprises the name of a variable, the point of expansion, and the degree of
the expansion.
taylorinfo returns false if expr is not a Taylor series.
Example:
(%i1) taylor ((1 - y^2)/(1 - x), x, 0, 3, [y, a, inf]);
2 2
(%o1)/T/ - (y - a) - 2 a (y - a) + (1 - a )
2 2
+ (1 - a - 2 a (y - a) - (y - a) ) x
2 2 2
+ (1 - a - 2 a (y - a) - (y - a) ) x
2 2 3
+ (1 - a - 2 a (y - a) - (y - a) ) x + . . .
(%i2) taylorinfo(%);
(%o2) [[y, a, inf], [x, 0, 3]]
taylorp (expr) Function

Returns true if expr is a Taylor series, and false otherwise.
taylor logexpand Variable

Default value: true
taylor_logexpand controls expansions of logarithms in taylor series.
When taylor_logexpand is true, all logarithms are expanded fully so that zero-
recognition problems involving logarithmic identities do not disturb the expansion
process. However, this scheme is not always mathematically correct since it ignores
branch information.
When taylor_logexpand is set to false, then the only expansion of logarithms that
occur is that necessary to obtain a formal power series.
taylor order coefficients Variable

Default value: true
taylor_order_coefficients controls the ordering of coefficients in a Taylor series.
When taylor_order_coefficients is true, coefficients of taylor series are ordered
canonically.
taylor simplifier (expr) Function

Simplifies coefficients of the power series expr. taylor calls this function.
taylor truncate polynomials Variable

Default value: true
When taylor_truncate_polynomials is true, polynomials are truncated based
upon the input truncation levels.
Otherwise, polynomials input to taylor are considered to have infinite precison.
taytorat (expr) Function

Converts expr from taylor form to canonical rational expression (CRE) form. The
effect is the same as rat (ratdisrep (expr)), but faster.
trunc (expr) Function

Annotates the internal representation of the general expression expr so that it is
displayed as if its sums were truncated Taylor series. expr is not otherwise modified.
Example:
(%i1) expr: x^2 + x + 1;
2
(%o1) x + x + 1
(%i2) trunc (expr);
2
(%o2) 1 + x + x + . . .
(%i3) is (expr = trunc (expr));
(%o3) true
unsum (f, n) Function

Returns the first backward difference f (n) - f (n - 1). Thus unsum in a sense is the
inverse of sum.
See also nusum.
Examples:
310 Maxima Manual
(%i1) g(p) := p*4^n/binomial(2*n,n);

n
p 4
(%o1) g(p) := ----------------
binomial(2 n, n)
(%i2) g(n^4);
4 n
n 4
(%o2) ----------------
binomial(2 n, n)
(%i3) nusum (%, n, 0, n);
4 3 2 n
2 (n + 1) (63 n + 112 n + 18 n - 22 n + 3) 4 2
(%o3) ------------------------------------------------ - ------
693 binomial(2 n, n) 3 11 7
(%i4) unsum (%, n);
4 n
n 4
(%o4) ----------------
binomial(2 n, n)
verbose Variable
When verbose is true, powerseries prints progress messages.
Chapter 33: Number Theory 311
33 Number Theory
33.1 Definitions for Number Theory
bern (n) Function

Returns the n’th Bernoulli number for integer n. Bernoulli numbers equal to zero are
suppressed if zerobern is false.
See also burn.
(%i1) zerobern: true$
(%i2) map (bern, [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]);
1 1 1 1 1
(%o2) [1, - -, -, 0, - --, 0, --, 0, - --]
2 6 30 42 30
(%i3) zerobern: false$
(%i4) map (bern, [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]);
1 1 1 5 691 7 3617 43867
(%o4) [1, - -, -, - --, --, - ----, -, - ----, -----]
2 6 30 66 2730 6 510 798
bernpoly (x, n) Function

Returns the n’th Bernoulli polynomial in the variable x.
bfzeta (s, n) Function

Returns the Riemann zeta function for the argument s. The return value is a big float
(bfloat); n is the number of digits in the return value.
bfhzeta (s, h, n) Function

Returns the Hurwitz zeta function for the arguments s and h. The return value is a
big float (bfloat); n is the number of digits in the return value.
The Hurwitz zeta function is defined as
sum ((k+h)^-s, k, 0, inf)
binomial (x, y) Function

The binomial coefficient (x + y)!/(x! y!). If x and y are integers, then the numer-
ical value of the binomial coefficient is computed. If y, or x - y, is an integer, the
binomial coefficient is expressed as a polynomial.
burn (n) Function

Returns the n’th Bernoulli number for integer n. burn may be more efficient than
bern for large, isolated n (perhaps n greater than 105 or so), as bern computes all
the Bernoulli numbers up to index n before returning.
burn exploits the observation that (rational) Bernoulli numbers can be approximated
by (transcendental) zetas with tolerable efficiency.
312 Maxima Manual
cf (expr) Function
Converts expr into a continued fraction. expr is an expression comprising continued
fractions and square roots of integers. Operands in the expression may be combined
with arithmetic operators. Aside from continued fractions and square roots, factors
in the expression must be integer or rational numbers. Maxima does not know about
operations on continued fractions outside of cf.
cf evaluates its arguments after binding listarith to false. cf returns a continued
fraction, represented as a list.
A continued fraction a + 1/(b + 1/(c + ...)) is represented by the list [a, b, c,
...]. The list elements a, b, c, ... must evaluate to integers. expr may also contain
sqrt (n) where n is an integer. In this case cf will give as many terms of the continued
fraction as the value of the variable cflength times the period.
A continued fraction can be evaluated to a number by evaluating the arithmetic
representation returned by cfdisrep. See also cfexpand for another way to evaluate
a continued fraction.
See also cfdisrep, cfexpand, and cflength.
Examples:
• expr is an expression comprising continued fractions and square roots of integers.
(%i1) cf ([5, 3, 1]*[11, 9, 7] + [3, 7]/[4, 3, 2]);
(%o1) [59, 17, 2, 1, 1, 1, 27]
(%i2) cf ((3/17)*[1, -2, 5]/sqrt(11) + (8/13));
(%o2) [0, 1, 1, 1, 3, 2, 1, 4, 1, 9, 1, 9, 2]
• cflength controls how many periods of the continued fraction are computed for
algebraic, irrational numbers.
(%i1) cflength: 1$
(%i2) cf ((1 + sqrt(5))/2);
(%o2) [1, 1, 1, 1, 2]
(%i3) cflength: 2$
(%i4) cf ((1 + sqrt(5))/2);
(%o4) [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2]
(%i5) cflength: 3$
(%i6) cf ((1 + sqrt(5))/2);
(%o6) [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2]
• A continued fraction can be evaluated by evaluating the arithmetic representation
returned by cfdisrep.
(%i1) cflength: 3$
(%i2) cfdisrep (cf (sqrt (3)))$
(%i3) ev (%, numer);
(%o3) 1.731707317073171
• Maxima does not know about operations on continued fractions outside of cf.
(%i1) cf ([1,1,1,1,1,2] * 3);
(%o1) [4, 1, 5, 2]
(%i2) cf ([1,1,1,1,1,2]) * 3;
(%o2) [3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 6]
cfdisrep (list) Function

Constructs and returns an ordinary arithmetic expression of the form a + 1/(b + 1/(c
+ ...)) from the list representation of a continued fraction [a, b, c, ...].
(%i1) cf ([1, 2, -3] + [1, -2, 1]);
(%o1) [1, 1, 1, 2]
(%i2) cfdisrep (%);
1
(%o2) 1 + ---------
1
1 + -----
1
1 + -
2
cfexpand (x) Function

Returns a matrix of the numerators and denominators of the last (column 1) and
next-to-last (column 2) convergents of the continued fraction x.
(%i1) cf (rat (ev (%pi, numer)));
‘rat’ replaced 3.141592653589793 by 103993//33102 = 3.141592653011902

(%o1) [3, 7, 15, 1, 292]
(%i2) cfexpand (%);
[ 103993 355 ]
(%o2) [ ]
[ 33102 113 ]
(%i3) %[1,1]/%[2,1], numer;
(%o3) 3.141592653011902
cflength Variable
Default value: 1
cflength controls the number of terms of the continued fraction the function cf will
give, as the value cflength times the period. Thus the default is to give one period.
(%i1) cflength: 1$
(%i2) cf ((1 + sqrt(5))/2);
(%o2) [1, 1, 1, 1, 2]
(%i3) cflength: 2$
(%i4) cf ((1 + sqrt(5))/2);
(%o4) [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2]
(%i5) cflength: 3$
(%i6) cf ((1 + sqrt(5))/2);
(%o6) [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2]
divsum (n, k) Function

divsum (n) Function
divsum (n, k) returns the sum of the divisors of n raised to the k’th power.
divsum (n) returns the sum of the divisors of n.
314 Maxima Manual
(%i1) divsum (12);

(%o1) 28
(%i2) 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 6 + 12;
(%o2) 28
(%i3) divsum (12, 2);
(%o3) 210
(%i4) 1^2 + 2^2 + 3^2 + 4^2 + 6^2 + 12^2;
(%o4) 210
euler (n) Function

Returns the n’th Euler number for nonnegative integer n.
For the Euler-Mascheroni constant, see %gamma.
(%i1) map (euler, [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]);
(%o1) [1, 0, - 1, 0, 5, 0, - 61, 0, 1385, 0, - 50521]
%gamma Variable
The Euler-Mascheroni constant, 0.5772156649015329 ....
factorial (x) Function

Represents the factorial function. Maxima treats factorial (x) the same as x!. See
!.
fib (n) Function

Returns the n’th Fibonacci number. fib(0) equal to 0 and fib(1) equal to 1, and
fib (-n) equal to (-1)^(n + 1) * fib(n).
After calling fib, prevfib is equal to fib (x - 1), the Fibonacci number preceding
the last one computed.
(%i1) map (fib, [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]);
(%o1) [0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55]
fibtophi (expr) Function

Expresses Fibonacci numbers in terms of the constant %phi, which is (1 +
sqrt(5))/2, approximately 1.61803399.
By default, Maxima does not know about %phi. After executing tellrat (%phi^2 -
%phi - 1) and algebraic: true, ratsimp can simplify some expressions containing
%phi.
(%i1) fibtophi (fib (n));
n n
%phi - (1 - %phi)
(%o1) -------------------
2 %phi - 1
(%i2) fib (n-1) + fib (n) - fib (n+1);
(%o2) - fib(n + 1) + fib(n) + fib(n - 1)
(%i3) ratsimp (fibtophi (%));
(%o3) 0
inrt (x, n) Function

Returns the integer n’th root of the absolute value of x.
(%i1) l: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]$
(%i2) map (lambda ([a], inrt (10â, 3)), l);
(%o2) [2, 4, 10, 21, 46, 100, 215, 464, 1000, 2154, 4641, 10000]
jacobi (p, q) Function

Returns the Jacobi symbol of p and q.
(%i1) l: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]$
(%i2) map (lambda ([a], jacobi (a, 9)), l);
(%o2) [1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0]
lcm (expr 1, ..., expr n) Function

Returns the least common multiple of its arguments. The arguments may be general
expressions as well as integers.
load ("functs") loads this function.
minfactorial (expr) Function

Examines expr for occurrences of two factorials which differ by an integer.
minfactorial then turns one into a polynomial times the other.
(%i1) n!/(n+2)!;
n!
(%o1) --------
(n + 2)!
(%i2) minfactorial (%);
1
(%o2) ---------------
(n + 1) (n + 2)
partfrac (expr, var) Function

Expands the expression expr in partial fractions with respect to the main variable var.
partfrac does a complete partial fraction decomposition. The algorithm employed is
based on the fact that the denominators of the partial fraction expansion (the factors
of the original denominator) are relatively prime. The numerators can be written as
linear combinations of denominators, and the expansion falls out.
(%i1) 1/(1+x)^2 - 2/(1+x) + 2/(2+x);
2 2 1
(%o1) ----- - ----- + --------
x + 2 x + 1 2
(x + 1)
(%i2) ratsimp (%);
x
(%o2) - -------------------
3 2
x + 4 x + 5 x + 2
(%i3) partfrac (%, x);
2 2 1
316 Maxima Manual
(%o3) ----- - ----- + --------

x + 2 x + 1 2
(x + 1)
primep (n) Function

Returns true if n is a prime, false if not.
qunit (n) Function

Returns the principal unit of the real quadratic number field sqrt (n) where n is an
integer, i.e., the element whose norm is unity. This amounts to solving Pell’s equation
a^2 - n b^2 = 1.
(%i1) qunit (17);
(%o1) sqrt(17) + 4
(%i2) expand (% * (sqrt(17) - 4));
(%o2) 1
totient (n) Function

Returns the number of integers less than or equal to n which are relatively prime to
n.
zerobern Variable
Default value: true
When zerobern is false, bern excludes the Bernoulli numbers which are equal to
zero. See bern.
zeta (n) Function

Returns the Riemann zeta function if x is a negative integer, 0, 1, or a positive even
number, and returns a noun form zeta (n) for all other arguments, including rational
noninteger, floating point, and complex arguments.
See also bfzeta and zeta%pi.
(%i1) map (zeta, [-4, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]);
2 4
1 1 1 %pi %pi
(%o1) [0, ---, 0, - --, - -, inf, ----, zeta(3), ----, zeta(5)]
120 12 2 6 90
zeta%pi Variable
Default value: true
When zeta%pi is true, zeta returns an expression proportional to %pi^n for even
integer n. Otherwise, zeta returns a noun form zeta (n) for even integer n.
(%i1) zeta%pi: true$
(%i2) zeta (4);
4
%pi
(%o2) ----
90
(%i3) zeta%pi: false$

(%i4) zeta (4);
(%o4) zeta(4)
318 Maxima Manual
Chapter 34: Symmetries 319
34 Symmetries
34.1 Definitions for Symmetries
comp2pui (n, l) Function

re’alise le passage des fonctions syme’triques comple‘tes, donnee’s dans la liste l, aux
fonctions syme’triques e’le’mentaires de 0 a‘ n. Si la liste l contient moins de n+1
e’le’ments les valeurs formelles viennent la completer. Le premier e’le’ment de la liste
l donne le cardinal de l’alphabet si il existe, sinon on le met e’gal a n.
(%i1) comp2pui (3, [4, g]);
2 2
(%o1) [4, g, 2 h2 - g , 3 h3 - g h2 + g (g - 2 h2)]
cont2part (pc, lvar) Function

rend le polyno^me partitionne’ associe’ a‘ la forme contracte’e pc dont les variables
sont dans lvar.
(%i1) pc: 2*a^3*b*x^4*y + x^5;
3 4 5
(%o1) 2 a b x y + x
(%i2) cont2part (pc, [x, y]);
3
(%o2) [[1, 5, 0], [2 a b, 4, 1]]
Autres fonctions de changements de repre’sentations :
contract, explose, part2cont, partpol, tcontract, tpartpol.
contract (psym, lvar) Function

rend une forme contracte’e (i.e. un mono^me par orbite sous l’action du groupe
syme’trique) du polyno^me psym en les variables contenues dans la liste lvar. La
fonction explose re’alise l’ope’ration inverse. La fonction tcontract teste en plus la
syme’trie du polyno^me.
(%i1) psym: explose (2*a^3*b*x^4*y, [x, y, z]);
3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4
(%o1) 2 a b y z + 2 a b x z + 2 a b y z + 2 a b x z
3 4 3 4
+ 2 a b x y + 2 a b x y
(%i2) contract (psym, [x, y, z]);
3 4
(%o2) 2 a b x y
cont2part, explose, part2cont, partpol, tcontract, tpartpol.
direct ([p 1, ..., p n], y, f, [lvar 1, ..., lvar n]) Function

calcul l’image directe (voir M. GIUSTI, D. LAZARD et A. VALIBOUZE, ISSAC
1988, Rome) associe’e a‘ la fonction f, en les listes de variables lvar 1, ..., lvar n, et
320 Maxima Manual
aux polyno^mes p 1, ..., p n d’une variable y. l’arite’ de la fonction f est importante

pour le calcul. Ainsi, si l’expression de f ne depend pas d’une variable, non seulement
il est inutile de donner cette variable mais cela diminue conside’rablement lees calculs
si on ne le fait pas.
(%i1) direct ([z^2 - e1* z + e2, z^2 - f1* z + f2],
z, b*v + a*u, [[u, v], [a, b]]);
2
(%o1) y - e1 f1 y
2 2 2 2
- 4 e2 f2 - (e1 - 2 e2) (f1 - 2 f2) + e1 f1
+ -----------------------------------------------
2
(%i2) ratsimp (%);
2 2 2
(%o2) y - e1 f1 y + (e1 - 4 e2) f2 + e2 f1
(%i3) ratsimp (direct ([z^3-e1*z^2+e2*z-e3,z^2 - f1* z + f2],
z, b*v + a*u, [[u, v], [a, b]]));
6 5 2 2 2 4
(%o3) y - 2 e1 f1 y + ((2 e1 - 6 e2) f2 + (2 e2 + e1 ) f1 ) y
3 3 3
+ ((9 e3 + 5 e1 e2 - 2 e1 ) f1 f2 + (- 2 e3 - 2 e1 e2) f1 ) y
2 2 4 2
+ ((9 e2 - 6 e1 e2 + e1 ) f2
2 2 2 2 4
+ (- 9 e1 e3 - 6 e2 + 3 e1 e2) f1 f2 + (2 e1 e3 + e2 ) f1 )
2 2 2 3 2
y + (((9 e1 - 27 e2) e3 + 3 e1 e2 - e1 e2) f1 f2
2 2 3 5
+ ((15 e2 - 2 e1 ) e3 - e1 e2 ) f1 f2 - 2 e2 e3 f1 ) y
2 3 3 2 2 3
+ (- 27 e3 + (18 e1 e2 - 4 e1 ) e3 - 4 e2 + e1 e2 ) f2
2 3 3 2 2
+ (27 e3 + (e1 - 9 e1 e2) e3 + e2 ) f1 f2
2 4 2 6
+ (e1 e2 e3 - 9 e3 ) f1 f2 + e3 f1
Recherche du polyno^me dont les racines sont les somme a+u ou a est racine de z^2
- e1* z + e2 et u est racine de z^2 - f1* z + f2
(%i1) ratsimp (direct ([z^2 - e1* z + e2, z^2 - f1* z + f2],
z, a + u, [[u], [a]]));
4 3 2
(%o1) y + (- 2 f1 - 2 e1) y + (2 f2 + f1 + 3 e1 f1 + 2 e2
2 2 2 2
+ e1 ) y + ((- 2 f1 - 2 e1) f2 - e1 f1 + (- 2 e2 - e1 ) f1
2 2 2
- 2 e1 e2) y + f2 + (e1 f1 - 2 e2 + e1 ) f2 + e2 f1 + e1 e2 f1
2
+ e2
direct peut prendre deux drapeaux possibles : elementaires et puissances (valeur
par de’faut) qui permettent de de’composer les polyno^mes syme’triques apparaissant
dans ce calcul par les fonctions syme’triques e’le’mentaires ou les fonctions puissances
respectivement.
Fonctions de sym utilis’ees dans cette fonction :
multi_orbit (donc orbit), pui_direct, multi_elem (donc elem), multi_pui (donc
pui), pui2ele, ele2pui (si le drapeau direct est a‘ puissances).
ele2comp (m, l) Function

passe des fonctions syme’triques e’le’mentaires aux fonctions comple‘tes. Similaire a‘
comp2ele et comp2pui.
Autres fonctions de changements de bases :
comp2ele, comp2pui, ele2pui, elem, mon2schur, multi_elem, multi_pui, pui,
pui2comp, pui2ele, puireduc, schur2comp.
ele2polynome (l, z) Function

donne le polyno^me en z dont les fonctions syme’triques e’le’mentaires des racines
sont dans la liste l. l = [n, e 1, ..., e n] ou‘ n est le degre’ du polyno^me et e i la
i-ie‘me fonction syme’trique e’le’mentaire.
(%i1) ele2polynome ([2, e1, e2], z);
2
(%o1) z - e1 z + e2
(%i2) polynome2ele (x^7 - 14*x^5 + 56*x^3 - 56*x + 22, x);
(%o2) [7, 0, - 14, 0, 56, 0, - 56, - 22]
(%i3) ele2polynome ([7, 0, -14, 0, 56, 0, -56, -22], x);
7 5 3
(%o3) x - 14 x + 56 x - 56 x + 22
La re’ciproque: polynome2ele (P, z)
Autres fonctions a‘ voir :
polynome2ele, pui2polynome.
ele2pui (m, l) Function

passe des fonctions syme’triques e’le’mentaires aux fonctions comple‘tes. Similaire a‘
comp2ele et comp2pui.
322 Maxima Manual

comp2ele, comp2pui, ele2comp, elem, mon2schur, multi_elem, multi_pui, pui,
elem (ele, sym, lvar) Function

de’compose le polyno^me syme’trique sym, en les variables contenues de la liste lvar,
par les fonctions syme’triques e’le’mentaires contenues dans la liste ele. Si le premier
e’le’ment de ele est donne’ ce sera le cardinal de l’alphabet sinon on prendra le degre’
du polyno^me sym. Si il manque des valeurs a‘ la liste ele des valeurs formelles du type
"ei" sont rajoute’es. Le polyno^me sym peut etre donne’ sous 3 formes diffe’rentes :
contracte’e (elem doit alors valoir 1 sa valeur par de’faut), partitionne’e (elem doit
alors valoir 3) ou e’tendue (i.e. le polyno^me en entier) (elem doit alors valoir 2).
L’utilsation de la fonction pui se re’alise sur le me^me mode‘le.
Sur un alphabet de cardinal 3 avec e1, la premie‘re fonction syme’trique e’le’mentaire,
valant 7, le polyno^me syme’trique en 3 variables dont la forme contracte’e (ne
de’pendant ici que de deux de ses variables) est x^4-2*x*y se de’compose ainsi en
les fonctions syme’triques e’le’mentaires :
(%i1) elem ([3, 7], x^4 - 2*x*y, [x, y]);
(%o1) 7 (e3 - 7 e2 + 7 (49 - e2)) + 21 e3
+ (- 2 (49 - e2) - 2) e2
(%i2) ratsimp (%);
2
(%o2) 28 e3 + 2 e2 - 198 e2 + 2401
comp2ele, comp2pui, ele2comp, ele2pui, mon2schur, multi_elem, multi_pui, pui,
explose (pc, lvar) Function

rend le polyno^me syme’trique associe’ a‘ la forme contracte’e pc. La liste lvar con-
tient les variables.
(%i1) explose (a*x + 1, [x, y, z]);
(%o1) a z + a y + a x + 1
contract, cont2part, part2cont, partpol, tcontract, tpartpol.
kostka (part 1, part 2) Function

e’crite par P. ESPERET, calcule le nombre de Kostka associe’ aux partition part 1
et part 2.
(%i1) kostka ([3, 3, 3], [2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1]);
(%o1) 6
lgtreillis (n, m) Function

rend la liste des partitions de poids n et de longueur m.
(%i1) lgtreillis (4, 2);

(%o1) [[3, 1], [2, 2]]
Voir e’galement : ltreillis, treillis et treinat.
ltreillis (n, m) Function

rend la liste des partitions de poids n et de longueur infe’rieure ou e’gale a‘ m.
(%i1) ltreillis (4, 2);
(%o1) [[4, 0], [3, 1], [2, 2]]
Voir e’galement : lgtreillis, treillis et treinat.
mon2schur (l) Function

la liste l repre’sente la fonction de Schur S l: On a l = [i 1, i 2, ..., i q] avec i 1 <= i 2
<= ... <= i q. La fonction de Schur est S [i 1, i 2, ..., i q] est le mineur de la matrice
infinie (h {i-j}) i >= 1, j >= 1 compose’ des q premie‘res lignes et des colonnes i 1 +
1, i 2 + 2, ..., i q + q.
On e’crit cette fonction de Schur en fonction des formes monomiales en utilisant les
fonctions treinat et kostka. La forme rendue est un polyno^me syme’trique dans
une de ses repre’sentations contracte’es avec les variables x 1, x 2, ....
(%i1) mon2schur ([1, 1, 1]);
(%o1) x1 x2 x3
(%i2) mon2schur ([3]);
2 3
(%o2) x1 x2 x3 + x1 x2 + x1
(%i3) mon2schur ([1, 2]);
2
(%o3) 2 x1 x2 x3 + x1 x2
ce qui veut dire que pour 3 variables cela donne :
2 x1 x2 x3 + x1^2 x2 + x2^2 x1 + x1^2 x3 + x3^2 x1
+ x2^2 x3 + x3^2 x2
comp2ele, comp2pui, ele2comp, ele2pui, elem, multi_elem, multi_pui, pui,
multi elem (l elem, multi pc, l var) Function

de’compose un polyno^me multi-syme’trique sous la forme multi-contracte’e multi pc
en les groupes de variables contenue dans la liste de listes l var sur les groupes de
fonctions syme’triques e’le’mentaires contenues dans l elem.
(%i1) multi_elem ([[2, e1, e2], [2, f1, f2]], a*x + a^2 + x^3, [[x, y], [a, b]]
3
(%o1) - 2 f2 + f1 (f1 + e1) - 3 e1 e2 + e1
(%i2) ratsimp (%);
2 3
(%o2) - 2 f2 + f1 + e1 f1 - 3 e1 e2 + e1
comp2ele, comp2pui, ele2comp, ele2pui, elem, mon2schur, multi_pui, pui,
324 Maxima Manual
multi orbit (P, [lvar 1, lvar 2, ..., lvar p]) Function

P est un polyno^me en l’ensemble des variables contenues dans les listes lvar 1, lvar 2,
..., lvar p. Cette fonction rame‘ne l’orbite du polyno^me P sous l’action du produit
des groupes syme’triques des ensembles de variables repre’sente’s par ces p listes.
(%i1) multi_orbit (a*x + b*y, [[x, y], [a, b]]);
(%o1) [b y + a x, a y + b x]
(%i2) multi_orbit (x + y + 2*a, [[x, y], [a, b, c]]);
(%o2) [y + x + 2 c, y + x + 2 b, y + x + 2 a]
Voir e’galement : orbit pour l’action d’un seul groupe syme’trique.
multi pui Function

est a‘ la fonction pui ce que la fonction multi_elem est a‘ la fonction elem.
(%i1) multi_pui ([[2, p1, p2], [2, t1, t2]], a*x + a^2 + x^3, [[x, y], [a, b]])
3
3 p1 p2 p1
(%o1) t2 + p1 t1 + ------- - ---
2 2
multinomial (r, part) Function

ou‘ r est le poids de la partition part. Cette fonction rame‘ne le coefficient multino-
mial associe’ : si les parts de la partitions part sont i 1, i 2, ..., i k, le re’sultat de
multinomial est r!/(i 1! i 2! ... i k!).
multsym (ppart 1, ppart 2, n) Function

re’alise le produit de deux polyno^mes syme’triques de n variables en ne travaillant
que modulo l’action du groupe syme’trique d’ordre n. Les polyno^mes sont dans leur
repre’sentation partitionne’e.
Soient les 2 polyno^mes syme’triques en x, y: 3*(x + y) + 2*x*y et 5*(x^2 + y^2)
dont les formes partitionne’es sont respectivement [[3, 1], [2, 1, 1]] et [[5, 2]],
alors leur produit sera donne’ par :
(%i1) multsym ([[3, 1], [2, 1, 1]], [[5, 2]], 2);
(%o1) [[10, 3, 1], [15, 3, 0], [15, 2, 1]]
soit 10*(x^3*y + y^3*x) + 15*(x^2*y + y^2*x) + 15*(x^3 + y^3).
Fonctions de changements de repre’sentations d’un polyno^me syme’trique :
contract, cont2part, explose, part2cont, partpol, tcontract, tpartpol.
orbit (P, lvar) Function

calcul l’orbite du polyno^me P en les variables de la liste lvar sous l’action du groupe
syme’trique de l’ensemble des variables contenues dans la liste lvar.
(%i1) orbit (a*x + b*y, [x, y]);
(%o1) [a y + b x, b y + a x]
(%i2) orbit (2*x + x^2, [x, y]);
2 2
(%o2) [y + 2 y, x + 2 x]
Voir e’galement : multi_orbit pour l’action d’un produit de groupes syme’triques
sur un polyno^me.
part2cont (ppart, lvar) Function

passe de la forme partitionne’e a‘ la forme contracte’e d’un polyno^me syme’trique.
La forme contracte’e est rendue avec les variables contenues dans lvar.
(%i1) part2cont ([[2*a^3*b, 4, 1]], [x, y]);
3 4
(%o1) 2 a b x y
contract, cont2part, explose, partpol, tcontract, tpartpol.
partpol (psym, lvar) Function

psym est un polyno^me syme’trique en les variables de lvar. Cette fonction rame‘ne
sa repre’sentation partitionne’e.
(%i1) partpol (-a*(x + y) + 3*x*y, [x, y]);
(%o1) [[3, 1, 1], [- a, 1, 0]]
contract, cont2part, explose, part2cont, tcontract, tpartpol.
permut (l) Function

rame‘ne la liste des permutations de la liste l.
polynome2ele (P, x) Function

donne la liste l = [n, e 1, ..., e n] ou‘ n est le degre’ du polyno^me P en la variable
x et e i la i-ieme fonction syme’trique e’le’mentaire des racines de P.
(%i1) polynome2ele (x^7 - 14*x^5 + 56*x^3 - 56*x + 22, x);
(%o1) [7, 0, - 14, 0, 56, 0, - 56, - 22]
(%i2) ele2polynome ([7, 0, -14, 0, 56, 0, -56, -22], x);
7 5 3
(%o2) x - 14 x + 56 x - 56 x + 22
La re’ciproque : ele2polynome (l, x)
prodrac (l, k) Function

l est une liste contenant les fonctions syme’triques e’le’mentaires sur un ensemble A.
prodrac rend le polyno^me dont les racines sont les produits k a‘ k des e’le’ments de
A.
pui (l, sym, lvar) Function

de’compose le polyno^me syme’trique sym, en les variables contenues de la liste lvar,
par les fonctions puissances contenues dans la liste l. Si le premier e’le’ment de l est
donne’ ce sera le cardinal de l’alphabet sinon on prendra le degre’ du polyno^me sym.
Si il manque des valeurs a‘ la liste l, des valeurs formelles du type "pi" sont rajoute’es.
Le polyno^me sym peut etre donne’ sous 3 formes diffe’rentes : contracte’e (pui doit
alors valoir 1 sa valeur par de’faut), partitionne’e (pui doit alors valoir 3) ou e’tendue
(i.e. le polyno^me en entier) (pui doit alors valoir 2). La fonction elem s’utilise de
la me^me manie‘re.
326 Maxima Manual
(%i1) pui;
(%o1) 1
(%i2) pui ([3, a, b], u*x*y*z, [x, y, z]);
2
a (a - b) u (a b - p3) u
(%o2) ------------ - ------------
6 3
(%i3) ratsimp (%);
3
(2 p3 - 3 a b + a ) u
(%o3) ---------------------
6
comp2ele, comp2pui, ele2comp, ele2pui, elem, mon2schur, multi_elem, multi_
pui, pui2comp, pui2ele, puireduc, schur2comp.
pui2comp (n, lpui) Function

rend la liste des n premie‘res fonctions comple‘tes (avec en te^te le cardinal) en
fonction des fonctions puissance donne’es dans la liste lpui. Si la liste lpui est vide le
cardinal est N sinon c’est son premier e’le’ment similaire a‘ comp2ele et comp2pui.
(%i1) pui2comp (2, []);
2
p2 + p1
(%o1) [2, p1, --------]
2
(%i2) pui2comp (3, [2, a1]);
2
a1 (p2 + a1 )
2 p3 + ------------- + a1 p2
p2 + a1 2
(%o2) [2, a1, --------, --------------------------]
2 3
(%i3) ratsimp (%);
2 3
p2 + a1 2 p3 + 3 a1 p2 + a1
(%o3) [2, a1, --------, --------------------]
2 6
pui, pui, pui2ele, puireduc, schur2comp.
pui2ele (n, lpui) Function

re’alise le passage des fonctions puissances aux fonctions syme’triques e’le’mentaires.
Si le drapeau pui2ele est girard, on re’cupe‘re la liste des fonctions syme’triques
e’le’mentaires de 1 a‘ n, et s’il est e’gal a‘ close, la n-ie‘me fonction syme’trique
e’le’mentaire.

pui, pui, pui2comp, puireduc, schur2comp.
pui2polynome (x, lpui) Function

calcul le polyno^me en x dont les fonctions puissances des racines sont donne’es dans
la liste lpui.
(%i1) pui;
(%o1) 1
(%i2) kill(labels);
(%o0) done
(%i1) polynome2ele (x^3 - 4*x^2 + 5*x - 1, x);
(%o1) [3, 4, 5, 1]
(%i2) ele2pui (3, %);
(%o2) [3, 4, 6, 7]
(%i3) pui2polynome (x, %);
3 2
(%o3) x - 4 x + 5 x - 1
Autres fonctions a‘ voir : polynome2ele, ele2polynome.
pui direct (orbite, [lvar 1, ..., lvar n], [d 1, d 2, ..., d n]) Function
Soit f un polynome en n blocs de variables lvar 1, ..., lvar n. Soit c i le nombre de
variables dans lvar i . Et SC le produit des n groupes syme’triques de degre’ c 1, ...,
c n. Ce groupe agit naturellement sur f. La liste orbite est l’orbite, note’e SC(f ),
de la fonction f sous l’action de SC. (Cette liste peut e^tre obtenue avec la fonction
: multi_orbit). Les di sont des entiers tels que c 1 <= d 1, c 2 <= d 2, ..., c n <=
d n. Soit SD le produit des groupes syme’triques S d1 x S d2 x ... x S dn.
La fonction pui_direct rame‘ne les n premie‘res fonctions puissances de SD(f )
de’duites des fonctions puissances de SC(f ) ou‘ n est le cardinal de SD(f ).
Le re’sultat est rendue sous forme multi-contracte’e par rapport a SD. i.e. on ne
conserve qu’un e’le’ment par orbite sous l’action de SD).
(%i1) l: [[x, y], [a, b]];
(%o1) [[x, y], [a, b]]
(%i2) pui_direct (multi_orbit (a*x + b*y, l), l, [2, 2]);
2 2
(%o2) [a x, 4 a b x y + a x ]
(%i3) pui_direct (multi_orbit (a*x + b*y, l), l, [3, 2]);
2 2 2 2 3 3
(%o3) [2 a x, 4 a b x y + 2 a x , 3 a b x y + 2 a x ,
2 2 2 2 3 3 4 4
12 a b x y + 4 a b x y + 2 a x ,
3 2 3 2 4 4 5 5
10 a b x y + 5 a b x y + 2 a x ,
3 3 3 3 4 2 4 2 5 5 6 6
40 a b x y + 15 a b x y + 6 a b x y + 2 a x ]
328 Maxima Manual
(%i4) pui_direct ([y + x + 2*c, y + x + 2*b, y + x + 2*a], [[x, y], [a, b, c]],
2 2
(%o4) [3 x + 2 a, 6 x y + 3 x + 4 a x + 4 a ,
2 3 2 2 3
9 x y + 12 a x y + 3 x + 6 a x + 12 a x + 8 a ]
puireduc (n, lpui) Function

lpui est une liste dont le premier e’le’ment est un entier m. puireduc donne les n
premie‘res fonctions puissances en fonction des m premie‘res.
(%i1) puireduc (3, [2]);
2
p1 (p1 - p2)
(%o1) [2, p1, p2, p1 p2 - -------------]
2
(%i2) ratsimp (%);
3
3 p1 p2 - p1
(%o2) [2, p1, p2, -------------]
2
resolvante (P, x, f, [x 1, ..., x d]) Function

calcule la re’solvante du polyno^me P de la variable x et de degre’ n >= d par la
fonction f exprime’e en les variables x 1, ..., x d. Il est important pour l’efficacite’
des calculs de ne pas mettre dans la liste [x 1, ..., x d] les variables n’intervenant
pas dans la fonction de transformation f.
Afin de rendre plus efficaces les calculs on peut mettre des drapeaux a‘ la variable
resolvante afin que des algorithmes ade’quates soient utilise’s :
Si la fonction f est unitaire :
• un polyno^me d’une variable,
• line’aire ,
• alterne’e,
• une somme de variables,
• syme’trique en les variables qui apparaissent dans son expression,
• un produit de variables,
• la fonction de la re’solvante de Cayley (utilisable qu’en degre’ 5)
(x1*x2 + x2*x3 + x3*x4 + x4*x5 + x5*x1 -
(x1*x3 + x3*x5 + x5*x2 + x2*x4 + x4*x1))^2
generale,
le drapeau de resolvante pourra e^tre respectivement :
• unitaire,
• lineaire,
• alternee,
• somme,
• produit,
• cayley,
• generale.
(%i1) resolvante: unitaire$
(%i2) resolvante (x^7 - 14*x^5 + 56*x^3 - 56*x + 22, x, x^3 - 1, [x]);
" resolvante unitaire " [7, 0, 28, 0, 168, 0, 1120, - 154, 7840, - 2772, 56448,
413952, - 352352, 3076668, - 3363360, 23114112, - 30494464,
175230832, - 267412992, 1338886528, - 2292126760]

3 6 3 9 6 3
[x - 1, x - 2 x + 1, x - 3 x + 3 x - 1,
12 9 6 3 15 12 9 6 3
x - 4 x + 6 x - 4 x + 1, x - 5 x + 10 x - 10 x + 5 x
18 15 12 9 6 3
- 1, x - 6 x + 15 x - 20 x + 15 x - 6 x + 1,
21 18 15 12 9 6 3
x - 7 x + 21 x - 35 x + 35 x - 21 x + 7 x - 1]
[- 7, 1127, - 6139, 431767, - 5472047, 201692519, - 3603982011]
7 6 5 4 3 2
(%o2) y + 7 y - 539 y - 1841 y + 51443 y + 315133 y
+ 376999 y + 125253
(%i3) resolvante: lineaire$
(%i4) resolvante (x^4 - 1, x, x1 + 2*x2 + 3*x3, [x1, x2, x3]);
" resolvante lineaire "

24 20 16 12 8
(%o4) y + 80 y + 7520 y + 1107200 y + 49475840 y
4
+ 344489984 y
+ 655360000
(%i5) resolvante: general$
(%i6) resolvante (x^4 - 1, x, x1 + 2*x2 + 3*x3, [x1, x2, x3]);
" resolvante generale "

24 20 16 12 8
(%o6) y + 80 y + 7520 y + 1107200 y + 49475840 y
4
+ 344489984 y + 655360000
(%i7) resolvante (x^4 - 1, x, x1 + 2*x2 + 3*x3, [x1, x2, x3, x4]);
" resolvante generale "

330 Maxima Manual
24 20 16 12 8
(%o7) y + 80 y + 7520 y + 1107200 y + 49475840 y
4
+ 344489984 y + 655360000
(%i8) direct ([x^4 - 1], x, x1 + 2*x2 + 3*x3, [[x1, x2, x3]]);
24 20 16 12 8
(%o8) y + 80 y + 7520 y + 1107200 y + 49475840 y
4
+ 344489984 y + 655360000
(%i9) resolvante :lineaire$
(%i10) resolvante (x^4 - 1, x, x1 + x2 + x3, [x1, x2, x3]);
" resolvante lineaire "

4
(%o10) y - 1
(%i11) resolvante: symetrique$
(%i12) resolvante (x^4 - 1, x, x1 + x2 + x3, [x1, x2, x3]);
" resolvante symetrique "

4
(%o12) y - 1
(%i13) resolvante (x^4 + x + 1, x, x1 - x2, [x1, x2]);

6 2
(%o13) y - 4 y - 1
(%i14) resolvante: alternee$
(%i15) resolvante (x^4 + x + 1, x, x1 - x2, [x1, x2]);
" resolvante alternee "

12 8 6 4 2
(%o15) y + 8 y + 26 y - 112 y + 216 y + 229
(%i16) resolvante: produit$
(%i17) resolvante (x^7 - 7*x + 3, x, x1*x2*x3, [x1, x2, x3]);
" resolvante produit "

35 33 29 28 27 26
(%o17) y - 7 y - 1029 y + 135 y + 7203 y - 756 y
24 23 22 21 20
+ 1323 y + 352947 y - 46305 y - 2463339 y + 324135 y
19 18 17 15
- 30618 y - 453789 y - 40246444 y + 282225202 y
14 12 11 10
- 44274492 y + 155098503 y + 12252303 y + 2893401 y
9 8 7 6
- 171532242 y + 6751269 y + 2657205 y - 94517766 y
5 3
- 3720087 y + 26040609 y + 14348907
(%i18) resolvante: symetrique$
(%i19) resolvante (x^7 - 7*x + 3, x, x1*x2*x3, [x1, x2, x3]);

35 33 29 28 27 26
(%o19) y - 7 y - 1029 y + 135 y + 7203 y - 756 y
24 23 22 21 20
+ 1323 y + 352947 y - 46305 y - 2463339 y + 324135 y
19 18 17 15
- 30618 y - 453789 y - 40246444 y + 282225202 y
14 12 11 10
- 44274492 y + 155098503 y + 12252303 y + 2893401 y
9 8 7 6
- 171532242 y + 6751269 y + 2657205 y - 94517766 y
5 3
- 3720087 y + 26040609 y + 14348907
(%i20) resolvante: cayley$
(%i21) resolvante (x^5 - 4*x^2 + x + 1, x, a, []);
" resolvante de Cayley "

6 5 4 3 2
(%o21) x - 40 x + 4080 x - 92928 x + 3772160 x + 37880832 x
+ 93392896
Pour la re’solvante de Cayley, les 2 derniers arguments sont neutres et le polyno^me
donne’ en entre’e doit ne’cessairement e^tre de degre’ 5.
Voir e’galement :
resolvante_bipartite, resolvante_produit_sym, resolvante_unitaire,
resolvante_alternee1, resolvante_klein, resolvante_klein3, resolvante_
vierer, resolvante_diedrale.
resolvante alternee1 (P, x) Function

calcule la transformation de P(x) de degre n par la fonction $\prod {1\leq i<j\leq
n-1} (x i-x j)$.
Voir e’galement :
332 Maxima Manual
resolvante_produit_sym, resolvante_unitaire, resolvante , resolvante_

klein, resolvante_klein3, resolvante_vierer, resolvante_diedrale,
resolvante_bipartite.
resolvante bipartite (P, x) Function

calcule la transformation de P(x) de degre n (n pair) par la fonction $x 1x 2\ldots
x {n/2}+x {n/2+1}\ldotsx n$
Voir e’galement :
resolvante_produit_sym, resolvante_unitaire, resolvante , resolvante_
resolvante_alternee1.
(%i1) resolvante_bipartite (x^6 + 108, x);
10 8 6 4
(%o1) y - 972 y + 314928 y - 34012224 y
Voir e’galement :
resolvante_produit_sym, resolvante_unitaire, resolvante, resolvante_
resolvante_alternee1.
resolvante diedrale (P, x) Function

calcule la transformation de P(x) par la fonction x 1 x 2 + x 3 x 4.
(%i1) resolvante_diedrale (x^5 - 3*x^4 + 1, x);
15 12 11 10 9 8 7
(%o1) x - 21 x - 81 x - 21 x + 207 x + 1134 x + 2331 x
6 5 4 3 2
- 945 x - 4970 x - 18333 x - 29079 x - 20745 x - 25326 x
- 697
Voir e’galement :
resolvante_produit_sym, resolvante_unitaire, resolvante_alternee1,
resolvante_klein, resolvante_klein3, resolvante_vierer, resolvante.
resolvante klein (P, x) Function

calcule la transformation de P(x) par la fonction x 1 x 2 x 4 + x 4.
Voir e’galement :
resolvante, resolvante_klein3, resolvante_vierer, resolvante_diedrale.
resolvante klein3 (P, x) Function

calcule la transformation de P(x) par la fonction x 1 x 2 x 4 + x 4.
Voir e’galement :
resolvante_klein, resolvante, resolvante_vierer, resolvante_diedrale.
resolvante produit sym (P, x) Function

calcule la liste toutes les r\’esolvantes produit du polyn\ôme P(x).
(%i1) resolvante_produit_sym (x^5 + 3*x^4 + 2*x - 1, x);
5 4 10 8 7 6 5
(%o1) [y + 3 y + 2 y - 1, y - 2 y - 21 y - 31 y - 14 y
4 3 2 10 8 7 6 5 4
- y + 14 y + 3 y + 1, y + 3 y + 14 y - y - 14 y - 31 y
3 2 5 4
- 21 y - 2 y + 1, y - 2 y - 3 y - 1, y - 1]
(%i2) resolvante: produit$
(%i3) resolvante (x^5 + 3*x^4 + 2*x - 1, x, a*b*c, [a, b, c]);
" resolvante produit "

10 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
(%o3) y + 3 y + 14 y - y - 14 y - 31 y - 21 y - 2 y + 1
Voir e’galement :
resolvante, resolvante_unitaire, resolvante_alternee1, resolvante_klein,
resolvante_klein3, resolvante_vierer, resolvante_diedrale.
resolvante unitaire (P, Q, x) Function

calcule la r\’esolvante du polyn\ôme P(x) par le polyn\ôme Q(x).
Voir e’galement :
resolvante_produit_sym, resolvante, resolvante_alternee1, resolvante_
klein, resolvante_klein3, resolvante_vierer, resolvante_diedrale.
resolvante vierer (P, x) Function

calcule la transformation de P(x) par la fonction x 1 x 2 - x 3 x 4.
Voir e’galement :
resolvante_klein, resolvante_klein3, resolvante, resolvante_diedrale.
schur2comp (P, l var) Function

P est un polyno^mes en les variables contenues dans la liste l var. Chacune des
variables de l var repre’sente une fonction syme’trique comple‘te. On repre’sente
dans l var la ie‘me fonction syme’trique comple‘te comme la concate’nation de la
lettre h avec l’entier i : hi. Cette fonction donne l’expression de P en fonction des
fonctions de Schur.
(%i1) schur2comp (h1*h2 - h3, [h1, h2, h3]);
(%o1) s
1, 2
(%i2) schur2comp (a*h3, [h3]);
(%o2) s a
3
334 Maxima Manual
somrac (l, k) Function

la liste l contient les fonctions syme’triques e’le’mentaires d’un polyno^me P . On
calcul le polyno^mes dont les racines sont les sommes K a‘ K distinctes des racines
de P.
Voir e’galement prodrac.
tcontract (pol, lvar) Function

teste si le polyno^me pol est syme’trique en les variables contenues dans la liste lvar.
Si oui il rend une forme contracte’e comme la fonction contract.
contract, cont2part, explose, part2cont, partpol, tpartpol.
tpartpol (pol, lvar) Function

teste si le polyno^me pol est syme’trique en les variables contenues dans la liste lvar.
Si oui il rend sa forme partionne’e comme la fonction partpol.
contract, cont2part, explose, part2cont, partpol, tcontract.
treillis (n) Function

rame‘ne toutes les partitions de poids n.
(%i1) treillis (4);
(%o1) [[4], [3, 1], [2, 2], [2, 1, 1], [1, 1, 1, 1]]
Voir e’galement : lgtreillis, ltreillis et treinat.
treinat (part) Function

rame‘ne la liste des partitions infe’rieures a‘ la partition part pour l’ordre naturel.
(%i1) treinat ([5]);
(%o1) [[5]]
(%i2) treinat ([1, 1, 1, 1, 1]);
(%o2) [[5], [4, 1], [3, 2], [3, 1, 1], [2, 2, 1], [2, 1, 1, 1],
[1, 1, 1, 1, 1]]
(%i3) treinat ([3, 2]);
(%o3) [[5], [4, 1], [3, 2]]
Voir e’galement : lgtreillis, ltreillis et treillis.
Chapter 35: Groups 335
35 Groups
35.1 Definitions for Groups
todd coxeter (relations, subgroup) Function

todd coxeter (relations) Function
Find the order of G/H where G is the Free Group modulo relations, and H is the
subgroup of G generated by subgroup. subgroup is an optional argument, defaulting
to []. In doing this it produces a multiplication table for the right action of G on
G/H, where the cosets are enumerated [H,Hg2,Hg3,...]. This can be seen internally
in the $todd_coxeter_state.
The multiplication tables for the variables are in table:todd_coxeter_state[2].
Then table[i] gives the table for the ith variable. mulcoset(coset,i) :=
table[varnum][coset];
Example:
(%i1) symet(n):=create_list(
if (j - i) = 1 then (p(i,j))^^3 else
if (not i = j) then (p(i,j))^^2 else
p(i,i) , j, 1, n-1, i, 1, j);
<3>
(%o1) symet(n) := create_list(if j - i = 1 then p(i, j)
<2>
else (if not i = j then p(i, j) else p(i, i)), j, 1, n - 1,
i, 1, j)
(%i2) p(i,j) := concat(x,i).concat(x,j);
(%o2) p(i, j) := concat(x, i) . concat(x, j)
(%i3) symet(5);
<2> <3> <2> <2> <3>
(%o3) [x1 , (x1 . x2) , x2 , (x1 . x3) , (x2 . x3) ,
<2> <2> <2> <3> <2>

x3 , (x1 . x4) , (x2 . x4) , (x3 . x4) , x4 ]
(%i4) todd_coxeter(%o3);
Rows tried 426

(%o4) 120
(%i5) todd_coxeter(%o3,[x1]);
Rows tried 213

(%o5) 60
(%i6) todd_coxeter(%o3,[x1,x2]);
Rows tried 71
(%o6) 20
336 Maxima Manual
(%i7) table:todd_coxeter_state[2]$
(%i8) table[1];
(%o8) {Array: (SIGNED-BYTE 30) #(0 2 1 3 7 6 5 4 8 11 17 9 12 14 #
13 20 16 10 18 19 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0)}
Note only the elements 1 thru 20 of this array %o8 are meaningful. table[1][4] = 7
indicates coset4.var1 = coset7
Chapter 36: Runtime Environment 337
36 Runtime Environment
36.1 Introduction for Runtime Environment

maxima-init.mac is a file which is loaded automatically when Maxima starts. You can
use maxima-init.mac to customize your Maxima environment. maxima-init.mac, if it
exists, is typically placed in the directory named by :lisp (default-userdir), although
it can be in any directory searched by the function file_search.
Here is an example maxima-init.mac file:
setup_autoload ("specfun.mac", ultraspherical, assoc_legendre_p);
showtime:all;
In this example, setup_autoload tells Maxima to load the specified file (specfun.mac)
if any of the functions (ultraspherical, assoc_legendre_p) are called but not yet defined.
Thus you needn’t remember to load the file before calling the functions.
The statement showtime: all tells Maxima to set the showtime variable. The maxima-
init.mac file can contain any other assignments or other Maxima statements.
36.2 Interrupts
The user can stop a time-consuming computation with the ^C (control-C) character.
The default action is to stop the computation and print another user prompt. In this case,
it is not possible to restart a stopped computation.
If the variable *debugger-hook* is set to nil, by executing
:lisp (setq *debugger-hook* nil)
then upon receiving ^C, Maxima will enter the Lisp debugger, and the user may use the
debugger to inspect the Lisp environment. The stopped computation can be restarted by
entering continue in the Lisp debugger. The means of returning to Maxima from the Lisp
debugger (other than running the computation to completion) is different for each version
of Lisp.
On Unix systems, the character ^Z (control-Z) causes Maxima to stop altogether, and
control is returned to the shell prompt. The fg command causes Maxima to resume from
the point at which it was stopped.
36.3 Definitions for Runtime Environment
feature declaration
Maxima understands two distinct types of features, system features and features
which apply to mathematical expressions. See also status for information about sys-
tem features. See also features and featurep for information about mathematical
features.
feature itself is not the name of a function or variable.
338 Maxima Manual
featurep (a, f ) Function

Attempts to determine whether the object a has the feature f on the basis of the facts
in the current database. If so, it returns true, else false. See also features.
(%i1) declare (j, even)$
(%i2) featurep (j, integer);
(%o2) true
room () Function
room (true) Function
room (false) Function
Prints out a description of the state of storage and stack management in Maxima.
room calls the Lisp function of the same name.
• room () prints out a moderate description.
• room (true) prints out a verbose description.
• room (false) prints out a terse description.
status (feature) Function

status (feature, putative feature) Function
status (status) Function
Returns information about the presence or absence of certain system-dependent fea-
tures.
• status (feature) returns a list of system features. These include Lisp version,
operating system type, etc. The list may vary from one Lisp type to another.
• status (feature, putative feature) returns true if putative feature is on the
list of items returned by status (feature) and false otherwise. status quotes
the argument putative feature. The double single quotes operator, ’’, defeats
the quotation. A feature whose name contains a special character, such as a
hyphen, must be given as a string argument. For example, status (feature,
"ansi-cl").
• status (status) returns a two-element list [feature, status]. feature and
status are the two arguments accepted by the status function; it is unclear if
this list has additional significance.
The variable features contains a list of features which apply to mathematical ex-
pressions. See features and featurep for more information.
time (%o1, %o2, %o3, ...) Function

Returns a list of the times, in seconds, taken to compute the output lines %o1, %o2,
%o3, .... The time returned is Maxima’s estimate of the internal computation time,
not the elapsed time. time can only be applied to output line variables; for any other
variables, time returns unknown.
Set showtime: true to make Maxima print out the computation time and elapsed
time with each output line.
Chapter 37: Miscellaneous Options 339
37 Miscellaneous Options
37.1 Introduction to Miscellaneous Options

In this section various options are discussed which have a global effect on the operation
of Maxima. Also various lists such as the list of all user defined functions, are discussed.
37.2 Share
The Maxima "share" directory contains programs and other files of interest to Maxima
users, but not part of the core implementation of Maxima. These programs are typically
loaded via load or setup_autoload.
:lisp *maxima-sharedir* displays the location of the share directory within the user’s
file system.
printfile ("share.usg") prints an out-of-date list of share packages. Users may find
it more informative to browse the share directory using a file system browser.
37.3 Definitions for Miscellaneous Options
aliases Variable
Default value: []
aliases is the list of atoms which have a user defined alias (set up by the alias,
ordergreat, orderless functions or by declaring the atom a noun with declare).
alphabetic declaration
declare (char, alphabetic) adds char to Maxima’s alphabet, which initially con-
tains the letters A through Z, a through z, % and _. char is specified as a string of
length 1, e.g., "~".
(%i1) declare ("~", alphabetic);
(%o1) done
(%i2) foo~bar;
(%o2) foo~bar
(%i3) atom (foo~bar);
(%o3) true
apropos (string) Function

Searches for Maxima names which have string appearing anywhere within them.
Thus, apropos (exp) returns a list of all the flags and functions which have exp as
part of their names, such as expand, exp, and exponentialize. Thus if you can only
remember part of the name of something you can use this command to find the rest
of the name. Similarily, you could say apropos (tr_) to find a list of many of the
switches relating to the translator, most of which begin with tr_.
340 Maxima Manual
args (expr) Function

Returns the list of arguments of expr, which may be any kind of expression other than
an atom. Only the arguments of the top-level operator are extracted; subexpressions
of expr appear as elements or subexpressions of elements of the list of arguments.
The order of the items in the list may depend on the global flag inflag.
args (expr) is equivalent to substpart ("[", expr, 0). See also substpart.
See also op.
genindex Variable
Default value: i
genindex is the alphabetic prefix used to generate the next variable of summation
when necessary.
gensumnum Variable
Default value: 0
gensumnum is the numeric suffix used to generate the next variable of summation. If
it is set to false then the index will consist only of genindex with no numeric suffix.
inf Variable
Real positive infinity.
infinity Variable
Complex infinity, an infinite magnitude of arbitrary phase angle. See also inf and
minf.
infolists Variable
Default value: []
infolists is a list of the names of all of the information lists in Maxima. These are:
labels - all bound %i, %o, and %t labels.
values - all bound atoms which are user variables, not Maxima options or switches,
created by : or :: or functional binding.
functions - all user-defined functions, created by :=.
arrays - declared and undeclared arrays, created by :, ::, or :=.
macros - any macros defined by the user.
myoptions - all options ever reset by the user (whether or not they are later reset to
their default values).
rules - user-defined pattern matching and simplification rules, created by tellsimp,
tellsimpafter, defmatch, or defrule.
aliases - atoms which have a user-defined alias, created by the alias, ordergreat,
orderless functions or by declaring the atom as a noun with declare.
dependencies - atoms which have functional dependencies, created by the depends
or gradef functions.
gradefs - functions which have user-defined derivatives, created by the gradef func-
tion.
props - atoms which have any property other than those mentioned above, such as
atvalues, matchdeclares, etc., as well as properties specified in the declare function.
let_rule_packages - a list of all the user-defined let rule packages plus the special
package default_let_rule_package. (default_let_rule_package is the name of
the rule package used when one is not explicitly set by the user.)
integerp (expr) Function

Returns true if expr is a literal numeric integer, otherwise false.
integerp returns false if its argument is a symbol, even if the argument is declared
integer.
Examples:
(%i1) integerp (0);
(%o1) true
(%i2) integerp (1);
(%o2) true
(%i3) integerp (-17);
(%o3) true
(%i4) integerp (0.0);
(%o4) false
(%i5) integerp (1.0);
(%o5) false
(%i6) integerp (%pi);
(%o6) false
(%i7) integerp (n);
(%o7) false
(%i8) declare (n, integer);
(%o8) done
(%i9) integerp (n);
(%o9) false
m1pbranch Variable
m1pbranch is the principal branch for -1 to a power. Quantities such as (-1)^(1/3)
(that is, an "odd" rational exponent) and (-1)^(1/4) (that is, an "even" rational
exponent) are handled as follows:
domain:real
(-1)^(1/3): -1
(-1)^(1/4): (-1)^(1/4)
domain:complex
m1pbranch:false m1pbranch:true
(-1)^(1/3) 1/2+%i*sqrt(3)/2
(-1)^(1/4) sqrt(2)/2+%i*sqrt(2)/2
342 Maxima Manual
numberp (expr) Function

Returns true if expr is a literal integer, rational number, floating point number, or
bigfloat, otherwise false.
numberp returns false if its argument is a symbol, even if the argument is a symbolic
number such as %pi or %i, or declared to be even, odd, integer, rational, irrational,
real, imaginary, or complex.
Examples:
(%i1) numberp (42);
(%o1) true
(%i2) numberp (-13/19);
(%o2) true
(%i3) numberp (3.14159);
(%o3) true
(%i4) numberp (-1729b-4);
(%o4) true
(%i5) map (numberp, [%e, %pi, %i, %phi, inf, minf]);
(%o5) [false, false, false, false, false, false]
(%i6) declare (a, even, b, odd, c, integer, d, rational,
e, irrational, f, real, g, imaginary, h, complex);
(%o6) done
(%i7) map (numberp, [a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h]);
(%o7) [false, false, false, false, false, false, false, false]
properties (a) Function

Returns a list of the names of all the properties associated with the atom a.
props special symbol

props are atoms which have any property other than those explicitly mentioned in
infolists, such as atvalues, matchdeclares, etc., as well as properties specified in
the declare function.
propvars (prop) Function

Returns a list of those atoms on the props list which have the property indicated by
prop. Thus propvars (atvalue) returns a list of atoms which have atvalues.
put (atom, value, indicator) Function

Assigns value to the property (specified by indicator) of atom. indicator may be the
name of any property, not just a system-defined property.
put evaluates its arguments. put returns value.
Examples:
(%i1) put (foo, (a+b)^5, expr);
5
(%o1) (b + a)
(%i2) put (foo, "Hello", str);
(%o2) Hello
(%i3) properties (foo);
(%o3) [[user properties, str, expr]]

(%i4) get (foo, expr);
5
(%o4) (b + a)
(%i5) get (foo, str);
(%o5) Hello
qput (atom, value, indicator) Function

Assigns value to the property (specified by indicator) of atom. This is the same as
put, except that the arguments are quoted.
Example:
(%i1) foo: aa$
(%i2) bar: bb$
(%i3) baz: cc$
(%i4) put (foo, bar, baz);
(%o4) bb
(%i5) properties (aa);
(%o5) [[user properties, cc]]
(%i6) get (aa, cc);
(%o6) bb
(%i7) qput (foo, bar, baz);
(%o7) bar
(%i8) properties (foo);
(%o8) [value, [user properties, baz]]
(%i9) get (’foo, ’baz);
(%o9) bar
rem (atom, indicator) Function

Removes the property indicated by indicator from atom.
remove (atom 1, property 1, ..., atom n, property n) Function

remove ([atom 1, ..., atom m], [property 1, ..., property n], ...) Function
Removes properties associated with atoms.
remove (atom 1, property 1, ..., atom n, property n) removes property_k from
atom_k.
remove ([atom 1, ..., atom m], [property 1, ..., property n], ...) removes
all properties property 1, ..., property n from all atoms atom 1, ..., atom m.
There may be more than one pair of lists.
The removed properties may be system-defined properties such as function or mode_
declare, or user-defined properties.
A property may be transfun to remove the translated Lisp version of a function.
After executing this, the Maxima version of the function is executed rather than the
translated version.
A property may be op or operator to remove a syntax extension given to an atom.
If an atom is "all" then the property is removed from all atoms which have it.
344 Maxima Manual
remove always returns done whether or not an atom has a specified property.
This behavior is unlike the more specific remove functions (remvalue, remarray,
remfunction, and remrule).
remvalue (name 1, ..., name n) Function

remvalue (all) Function
Removes the values of user variables name 1, ..., name n (which can be subscripted)
from the system.
remvalue (all) removes the values of all variables in values, the list of all variables
given names by the user (as opposed to those which are automatically assigned by
Maxima).
See also values.
rncombine (expr) Function

Transforms expr by combining all terms of expr that have identical denominators or
denominators that differ from each other by numerical factors only. This is slightly
different from the behavior of combine, which collects terms that have identical de-
nominators.
Setting pfeformat: true and using combine yields results similar to those that can
be obtained with rncombine, but rncombine takes the additional step of cross-
multiplying numerical denominator factors. This results in neater forms, and the
possiblity of recognizing some cancellations.
scalarp (expr) Function

Returns true if expr is a number, constant, or variable declared scalar with declare,
or composed entirely of numbers, constants, and such variables, but not containing
matrices or lists.
setup autoload (filename, function 1, ..., function n) Function

Specifies that if any of function 1, ..., function n are referenced and not yet defined,
filename is loaded via load. filename usually contains definitions for the functions
specified, although that is not enforced.
setup_autoload does not work for array functions.
setup_autoload quotes its arguments.
Example:
(%i1) legendre_p (1, %pi);
(%o1) legendre_p(1, %pi)
(%i2) setup_autoload ("specfun.mac", legendre_p, ultraspherical);
(%o2) done
(%i3) ultraspherical (2, 1/2, %pi);
Warning - you are redefining the Macsyma function ultraspherical
Warning - you are redefining the Macsyma function legendre_p
2
3 (%pi - 1)
(%o3) ------------ + 3 (%pi - 1) + 1
2
(%i4) legendre_p (1, %pi);
(%o4) %pi
(%i5) legendre_q (1, %pi);
%pi + 1
%pi log(-------)
1 - %pi
(%o5) ---------------- - 1
2
346 Maxima Manual
Chapter 38: Rules and Patterns 347
38 Rules and Patterns
38.1 Introduction to Rules and Patterns

This section discusses user defined pattern matching and simplification rules (set up by
tellsimp, tellsimpafter, defmatch, or, defrule.) You may affect the main simplification
procedures, or else have your rules applied explicityly using apply1 and apply2. There are
additional mechanisms for polynomials rules under tellrat, and for commutative and non
commutative algebra in chapter on affine.
38.2 Definitions for Rules and Patterns
apply1 (expr, rule 1, ..., rule n) Function

repeatedly applies the first rule to exp until it fails, then repeatedly applies the same
rule to all subexpressions of exp, left-to-right, until the first rule has failed on all
subexpressions. Call the result of transforming exp in this manner exp’. Then the
second rule is applied in the same fashion starting at the top of exp’. When the final
rule fails on the final subexpression, the application is finished.
apply2 (expr, rule 1, ..., rule n) Function

differs from apply1 in that if the first rule fails on a given subexpression, then the
second rule is repeatedly applied, etc. Only if they all fail on a given subexpression
is the whole set of rules repeatedly applied to the next subexpression. If one of the
rules succeeds, then the same subexpression is reprocessed, starting with the first
rule. maxapplydepth is the maximum depth to which apply1 and apply2 will delve.
applyb1 (expr, rule 1, ..., rule n) Function

is similar to apply1 but works from the "bottom up" instead of from the "top down".
That is, it processes the smallest subexpression of exp, then the next smallest, etc.
maxapplyheight is the maximum height to which applyb1 will reach before giving
up.
current let rule package Variable

default:[default_let_rule_package] - the name of the rule package that is presently
being used. The user may reset this variable to the name of any rule package previ-
ously defined via the let command. Whenever any of the functions comprising the
let package are called with no package name the value of
current_let_rule_package
is used. If a call such as letsimp (expr, rule_pkg_name) is made, the rule package
rule pkg name is used for that letsimp command only, i.e. the value of current_
let_rule_package is not changed.
default let rule package Variable

- the name of the rule package used when one is not explicitly set by the user with
let or by changing the value of current_let_rule_package.
348 Maxima Manual
defmatch (progname, pattern, x 1, ..., x n) Function

Creates a function progname (expr, y 1, ..., y n) which tests expr to see if it
matches pattern.
pattern is an expression containing the pattern variables x 1, ..., x n and pattern pa-
rameters, if any. The pattern variables are given explicitly as arguments to defmatch
while the pattern parameters are declared by the matchdeclare function.
The first argument to the created function progname is an expression to be matched
against the pattern and the other arguments are the actual variables y 1, ..., y n in
the expression which correspond to the dummy variables x 1, ..., x n in the pattern.
If the match is successful, progname returns a list of equations whose left sides are the
pattern variables and pattern parameters, and whose right sides are the expressions
which the pattern variables and parameters matched. The pattern parameters, but
not the variables, are assigned the subexpressions they match. If the match fails,
progname returns false.
Any variables not declared as pattern parameters in matchdeclare or as variables in
defmatch match only themselves.
A pattern which contains no pattern variables or parameters returns true if the match
succeeds.
Examples:
(%i1) matchdeclare (a, freeof(x), b, freeof(x))$
(%i2) defmatch (linearp, a*x + b, x)$
This defmatch defines the function linearp (expr, y), which tests expr to see if it
is of the form a*y + b such that a and b do not contain y.
(%i3) linearp (3*z + (y+1)*z + y^2, z);
2
(%o3) [b = y , a = y + 4, x = z]
(%i4) a;
(%o4) y + 4
(%i5) b;
2
(%o5) y
If the third argument to the defmatch in (%i4) had been omitted, then linear would
only match expressions linear in X, not in any other variable.
(%i1) matchdeclare ([a, f], true)$
(%i2) constinterval (l, h) := constantp (h - l)$
(%i3) matchdeclare (b, constinterval (a))$
(%i4) matchdeclare (x, atom)$
(%i5) (remove (integrate, outative),
defmatch (checklimits, ’integrate (f, x, a, b)),
declare (integrate, outative))$
(%i6) ’integrate (sin(t), t, %pi + x, 2*%pi + x);
x + 2 %pi
/
[
(%o6) I sin(t) dt
]
/
x + %pi
(%i7) checklimits (%);
(%o7) [b = x + 2 %pi, a = x + %pi, x = t, f = sin(t)]
(%i8) a;
(%o8) x + %pi
(%i9) b;
(%o9) x + 2 %pi
(%i10) f;
(%o10) sin(t)
(%i11) x;
(%o11) t
defrule (rulename, pattern, replacement) Function

defines and names a replacement rule for the given pattern. If the rule named ru-
lename is applied to an expression (by one of the apply functions below), every
subexpression matching the pattern will be replaced by the replacement. All vari-
ables in the replacement which have been assigned values by the pattern match are
assigned those values in the replacement which is then simplified. The rules them-
selves can be treated as functions which will transform an expression by one operation
of the pattern match and replacement. If the pattern fails, the original expression is
returned.
disprule (rulename 1, rulename 2, ...) Function

will display rules with the names rulename1, rulename2, as were given by defrule,
tellsimp, or tellsimpafter or a pattern defined by defmatch. For example, the
first rule modifying sin will be called sinrule1. disprule (all) will display all
rules.
let (prod, repl, predname, arg 1, ..., arg n) Function

let ([prod, repl, predname, arg 1, ..., arg n], package name) Function
Defines a substitution rule for letsimp such that prod is replaced by repl. prod is a
product of positive or negative powers of the following terms:
• Atoms which letsimp will search for literally unless previous to calling letsimp
the matchdeclare function is used to associate a predicate with the atom. In
this case letsimp will match the atom to any term of a product satisfying the
predicate.
• Kernels such as sin(x), n!, f(x,y), etc. As with atoms above letsimp will look
for a literal match unless matchdeclare is used to associate a predicate with the
argument of the kernel.
A term to a positive power will only match a term having at least that power in the
expression being letsimp’ed. A term to a negative power on the other hand will only
match a term with a power at least as negative. In the case of negative powers in
prod the switch letrat must be set to true. See below for more on letrat.
If a predicate is included in the let function followed by a list of arguments, a
tentative match (i.e. one that would be accepted if the predicate were omitted) will
350 Maxima Manual
be accepted only if predname (arg1’, ..., argn’) evaluates to true where argi’ is
the value matched to argi. The argi may be the name of any atom or the argument
of any kernel appearing in prod. repl may be any rational expression. If any of the
atoms or arguments from prod appear in repl the appropriate substitutions will be
made.
letrat when false, letsimp will simplify the numerator and denominator of expr
independently and return the result. Substitutions such as n!/n goes to (n-1)! will
fail. To handle such situations letrat should be set to true, then the numerator,
denominator, and their quotient will be simplified in that order.
These substitution functions allow you to work with several rule packages at once.
Each rule package can contain any number of let’ed rules and is referred to by a user
supplied name. let ([prod, repl, predname, arg 1, ..., arg n], package name)
adds the rule predname to the rule package package name. letsimp (expr,
package name) applies the rules in package name. letsimp (expr, package name1,
package name2, ...) is equivalent to letsimp (expr, package name1) followed by
letsimp (%, package name2), ....
current_let_rule_package is the name of the rule package that is presently be-
ing used. The user may reset this variable to the name of any rule package previ-
ously defined via the let command. Whenever any of the functions comprising the
let package are called with no package name, the current_let_rule_package is
used. If a call such as letsimp (expr, rule pkg name) is made, the rule package
rule pkg name is used for that letsimp command only, and current_let_rule_
package is not changed. If not otherwise specified, current_let_rule_package de-
faults to default_let_rule_package.
(%i1) matchdeclare ([a, a1, a2], true)$
(%i2) oneless (x, y) := is (x = y-1)$
(%i3) let (a1*a2!, a1!, oneless, a2, a1);
(%o3) a1 a2! --> a1! where oneless(a2, a1)
(%i4) letrat: true$
(%i5) let (a1!/a1, (a1-1)!);
a1!
(%o5) --- --> (a1 - 1)!
a1
(%i6) letsimp (n*m!*(n-1)!/m);
(%o6) (m - 1)! n!
(%i7) let (sin(a)^2, 1 - cos(a)^2);
2 2
(%o7) sin (a) --> 1 - cos (a)
(%i8) letsimp (sin(x)^4);
4 2
(%o8) cos (x) - 2 cos (x) + 1
letrat Variable
When letrat is false, letsimp simplifies the numerator and denominator of a ratio
separately, and does not simplify the quotient.
When letrat is true, the numerator, denominator, and their quotient will be sim-
plified in that order.
(%i1) matchdeclare (n, true)$
(%i2) let (n!/n, (n-1)!);
n!
(%o2) -- --> (n - 1)!
n
(%i3) letrat: false$
(%i4) letsimp (a!/a);
a!
(%o4) --
a
(%i5) letrat: true$
(%i6) letsimp (a!/a);
(%o6) (a - 1)!
letrules () Function
letrules (package name) Function
Displays the rules in a rule package. letrules () displays the rules in the current
rule package. letrules (package name) displays the rules in package_name.
The current rule package is named by current_let_rule_package. If not otherwise
specified, current_let_rule_package defaults to default_let_rule_package.
letsimp (expr) Function

letsimp (expr, package name) Function
Applies the substitution rules previously defined by the function let until no further
change is made to expr.
letsimp (expr) uses the rules from current_let_rule_package.
letsimp (expr, package name) uses the rules from package name without changing
current_let_rule_package.
let rule packages Variable

default: [default_let_rule_package]
let_rule_packages is a list of all the user-defined let rule packages plus the special
package default_let_rule_package, which is the rule package used when a rule
package is not otherwise specified.
matchdeclare (a 1, pred 1, ..., a n, pred n) Function

Associates a predicate pred k with a variable or list of variables a k so that a k
matches expressions for which the predicate is not false. Pattern matches are eval-
uated by one of the functions described below.
If the match succeeds then the variable is set to the matched expression. The predicate
(in this case freeof) is written without the last argument which should be the one
against which the pattern variable is to be tested. Note that the variable and the
arguments to the predicate are evaluated at the time the match is evaluated.
352 Maxima Manual
For pattern matching, predicates refer to functions which are either false or not
false. Any non false value acts like true.
matchdeclare (a, true) permits a to match any expression.
Examples:
• q matches an expression not containing x or %e.
(%i1) matchdeclare (q, freeof (x, %e))$
matchfix (ldelimiter, rdelimiter) Function

matchfix (ldelimiter, rdelimiter, arg pos, pos) Function
Declares a matchfix operator with left and right delimiters ldelimiter and rdelimiter.
The delimiters are specified as strings.
A "matchfix" operator is a function of any number of arguments, such that the
arguments occur between matching left and right delimiters. The delimiters may be
any strings, so long as the parser can distinguish the delimiters from the operands
and other expressions and operators. In practice this rules out unparseable delimiters
such as %, ,, $ and ;, and may require isolating the delimiters with white space. The
right delimiter can be the same or different from the left delimiter.
A left delimiter can be associated with only one right delimiter; two different matchfix
operators cannot have the same left delimiter.
An existing operator may be redeclared as a matchfix operator without changing its
other properties. In particular, built-in operators such as addition + can be declared
matchfix, but operator functions cannot be defined for built-in operators.
matchfix (ldelimiter, rdelimiter, arg pos, pos) declares the argument part-of-
speech arg pos and result part-of-speech pos, and the delimiters ldelimiter and
rdelimiter.
The function to carry out a matchfix operation is an ordinary user-defined function.
The operator function is defined in the usual way with the function definition operator
:= or define. The arguments may be written between the delimiters, or with the
left delimiter as a quoted string and the arguments following in parentheses. dispfun
(ldelimiter) displays the function definition.
The only built-in matchfix operator is the list constructor [ ]. Parentheses ( ) and
double-quotes " " act like matchfix operators, but are not treated as such by the
Maxima parser.
matchfix evaluates its arguments. matchfix returns its first argument, ldelimiter.
Examples:
• Delimiters may be almost any strings.
(%i1) matchfix ("@", "~");
(%o1) "@"
(%i2) @ a, b, c ~;
(%o2) @a, b, c~
(%i3) matchfix (">>", "<<");
(%o3) ">>"
(%i4) >> a, b, c <<;
(%o4) >>a, b, c<<
(%i5) matchfix ("foo", "oof");

(%o5) "foo"
(%i6) foo a, b, c oof;
(%o6) fooa, b, coof
(%i7) >> w + foo x, y oof + z << / @ p, q ~;
>>z + foox, yoof + w<<
(%o7) ----------------------
@p, q~
• Matchfix operators are ordinary user-defined functions.
(%i1) matchfix ("!-", "-!");
(%o1) "!-"
(%i2) !- x, y -! := x/y - y/x;
x y
(%o2) !-x, y-! := - - -
y x
(%i3) define (!-x, y-!, x/y - y/x);
x y
(%o3) !-x, y-! := - - -
y x
(%i4) define ("!-" (x, y), x/y - y/x);
x y
(%o4) !-x, y-! := - - -
y x
(%i5) dispfun ("!-");
x y
(%t5) !-x, y-! := - - -
y x
(%o5) done
(%i6) !-3, 5-!;
16
(%o6) - --
15
(%i7) "!-" (3, 5);
16
(%o7) - --
15
remlet (prod, name) Function

deletes the substitution rule, prod –> repl, most recently defined by the let function.
If name is supplied the rule is deleted from the rule package name. REMLET() and
REMLET(ALL) delete all substitution rules from the current rule package. If the
name of a rule package is supplied, e.g. REMLET(ALL,name), the rule package,
name, is also deleted. If a substitution is to be changed using the same product,
remlet need not be called, just redefine the substitution using the same product
(literally) with the let function and the new replacement and/or predicate name.
Should REMLET(product) now be called the original substitution rule will be revived.
354 Maxima Manual
remrule (function, rulename) Function

will remove a rule with the name rulename from the function which was placed there
by defrule, defmatch, tellsimp, or tellsimpafter. If rule-name is all, then all
rules will be removed.
tellsimp (pattern, replacement) Function

is similar to tellsimpafter but places new information before old so that it is applied
before the built-in simplification rules.
tellsimp is used when it is important to modify the expression before the simplifier
works on it, for instance if the simplifier "knows" something about the expression,
but what it returns is not to your liking. If the simplifier "knows" something about
the main operator of the expression, but is simply not doing enough for you, you
probably want to use tellsimpafter.
The pattern may not be a sum, product, single variable, or number.
rules is a list of names having simplification rules added to them by defrule,
defmatch, tellsimp, or tellsimpafter.
Examples:
(%i1) matchdeclare (x, freeof (%i));
(%o1) done
(%i2) %iargs: false$
(%i3) tellsimp (sin(%i*x), %i*sinh(x));
(%o3) [sinrule1, simp-%sin]
(%i4) trigexpand (sin (%i*y + x));
(%o4) sin(x) cos(%i y) + %i cos(x) sinh(y)
(%i5) %iargs:true$
(%i6) errcatch(0^0);
0
0 has been generated
(%o6) []
(%i7) ev (tellsimp (0^0, 1), simp: false);
(%o7) [^rule1, simpexpt]
(%i8) 0^0;
(%o8) 1
(%i9) remrule ("^", %th(2)[1]);
(%o9) ^
(%i10) tellsimp (sin(x)^2, 1 - cos(x)^2);
(%i11) (1 + sin(x))^2;
2
(%o11) (sin(x) + 1)
(%i12) expand (%);
2
(%o12) 2 sin(x) - cos (x) + 2
(%i13) sin(x)^2;
2
(%o13) 1 - cos (x)
(%i14) kill (rules);
(%o14) done
(%i15) matchdeclare (a, true);
(%o15) done
(%i16) tellsimp (sin(a)^2, 1 - cos(a)^2);
(%i17) sin(y)^2;
2
(%o17) 1 - cos (y)
tellsimpafter (pattern, replacement) Function

defines a replacement for pattern which the Maxima simplifier uses after it applies
the built-in simplification rules. The pattern may be anything but a single variable
or a number.
356 Maxima Manual
Chapter 39: Lists 357
39 Lists
39.1 Introduction to Lists

Lists are the basic building block for Maxima and Lisp. All data types other than arrays,
hash tables, numbers are represented as Lisp lists, These Lisp lists have the form
((MPLUS) $A 2)
to indicate an expression a+2. At Maxima level one would see the infix notation a+2.
Maxima also has lists which are printed as
[1, 2, 7, x+y]
for a list with 4 elements. Internally this corresponds to a Lisp list of the form
((MLIST) 1 2 7 ((MPLUS) $X $Y ))
The flag which denotes the type field of the Maxima expression is a list itself, since after it
has been through the simplifier the list would become
((MLIST SIMP) 1 2 7 ((MPLUS SIMP) $X $Y))
39.2 Definitions for Lists
append (list 1, ..., list n) Function

Returns a single list of the elements of list 1 followed by the elements of list 2, ...
append also works on general expressions, e.g. append (f(a,b), f(c,d,e)); yields
f(a,b,c,d,e).
Do example(append); for an example.
assoc (key, list, default) Function

assoc (key, list) Function
This function searches for the key in the left hand side of the input list of the form
[x,y,z,...] where each of the list elements is an expression of a binary operand
and 2 elements. For example x=1, 2^3, [a,b] etc. The key is checked againts the
first operand. assoc returns the second operand if the key is found. If the key is not
found it either returns the default value. default is optional and defaults to false.
atom (expr) Function

Returns true if expr is atomic (i.e. a number, name or string) else false. Thus
atom(5) is true while atom(a[1]) and atom(sin(x)) are false (asuming a[1] and
x are unbound).
cons (expr, list) Function

Returns a new list constructed of the element expr as its first element, followed by
the elements of list. cons also works on other expressions, e.g. cons(x, f(a,b,c));
-> f(x,a,b,c).
copylist (list) Function

Returns a copy of the list list.
358 Maxima Manual
delete (expr 1, expr 2) Function

delete (expr 1, expr 2, n) Function
Removes all occurrences of expr 1 from expr 2. expr 1 may be a term of expr 2 (if
it is a sum) or a factor of expr 2 (if it is a product).
(%i1) delete(sin(x), x+sin(x)+y);
(%o1) y + x
delete(expr 1, expr 2, n) removes the first n occurrences of expr 1 from expr 2. If

there are fewer than n occurrences of expr 1 in expr 2 then all occurrences will be
deleted.
(%i1) delete(a, f(a,b,c,d,a));
(%o1) f(b, c, d)
(%i2) delete(a, f(a,b,a,c,d,a), 2);
(%o2) f(b, c, d, a)
eighth (expr) Function

Returns the 8’th item of expression or list expr. See first for more details.
endcons (expr, list) Function

Returns a new list consisting of the elements of list followed by expr. endcons also
works on general expressions, e.g. endcons(x, f(a,b,c)); -> f(a,b,c,x).
every (expr) Function

This function takes a list, or a positive number of arguments and returns true if all
its arguments are not false.
fifth (expr) Function

first (expr) Function

Returns the first part of expr which may result in the first element of a list, the
first row of a matrix, the first term of a sum, etc. Note that first and its related
functions, rest and last, work on the form of expr which is displayed not the form
which is typed on input. If the variable inflag is set to true however, these functions
will look at the internal form of expr. Note that the simplifier re-orders expressions.
Thus first(x+y) will be x if inflag is true and y if inflag is false (first(y+x)
gives the same results). The functions second .. tenth yield the second through the
tenth part of their input argument.
flatten (expr) Function

Takes a list of the form [[1,2],[3,4]] and returns [1,2,3,4].
fourth (expr) Function

Chapter 39: Lists 359
get (a, i) Function

Retrieves the user property indicated by i associated with atom a or returns false if
a doesn’t have property i.
(%i1) put (%e, ’transcendental, ’type);
(%o1) transcendental
(%i2) put (%pi, ’transcendental, ’type)$
(%i3) put (%i, ’algebraic, ’type)$
(%i4) typeof (expr) := block ([q],
if numberp (expr)
then return (’algebraic),
if not atom (expr)
then return (maplist (’typeof, expr)),
q: get (expr, ’type),
if q=false
then errcatch (error(expr,"is not numeric.")) else q)$
(%i5) typeof (2*%e + x*%pi);
x is not numeric.
(%o5) [[transcendental, []], [algebraic, transcendental]]
(%i6) typeof (2*%e + %pi);
(%o6) [transcendental, [algebraic, transcendental]]
last (expr) Function

Returns the last part (term, row, element, etc.) of the expr.
length (expr) Function

Returns (by default) the number of parts in the external (displayed) form of expr.
For lists this is the number of elements, for matrices it is the number of rows, and for
sums it is the number of terms (see dispform).
The length command is affected by the inflag switch. So, e.g. length(a/(b*c));
gives 2 if inflag is false (Assuming exptdispflag is true), but 3 if inflag is true
(the internal representation is essentially a*b^-1*c^-1).
listarith option variable

default value: true - if false causes any arithmetic operations with lists to be sup-
pressed; when true, list-matrix operations are contagious causing lists to be converted
to matrices yielding a result which is always a matrix. However, list-list operations
should return lists.
listp (expr) Function

Returns true if expr is a list else false.
makelist (expr, i, i 0, i 1) Function

makelist (expr, x, list) Function
Constructs and returns a list, each element of which is generated from expr.
makelist (expr, i, i 0, i 1) returns a list, the j’th element of which is equal to ev
(expr, i=j) for j equal to i 0 through i 1.
360 Maxima Manual
makelist (expr, x, list) returns a list, the j’th element of which is equal to ev
(expr, x=list[j]) for j equal to 1 through length (list).
Examples:
(%i1) makelist(concat(x,i),i,1,6);
(%o1) [x1, x2, x3, x4, x5, x6]
(%i2) makelist(x=y,y,[a,b,c]);
(%o2) [x = a, x = b, x = c]
member (expr, list) Function

Returns true if expr occurs as a member of list (not within a member).
Otherwise false is returned. member also works on non-list expressions, e.g.
member(b,f(a,b,c)); -> true.
ninth (expr) Function

rest (expr, n) Function

rest (expr) Function
Returns expr with its first n elements removed if n is positive and its last - n elements
removed if n is negative. If n is 1 it may be omitted. expr may be a list, matrix, or
other expression.
reverse (list) Function

Reverses the order of the members of the list (not the members themselves). reverse
also works on general expressions, e.g. reverse(a=b); gives b=a.
second (expr) Function

Returns the 2’nd item of expression or list expr. See first for more details.
seventh (expr) Function

sixth (expr) Function

tenth (expr) Function

third (expr) Function

Returns the 3’rd item of expression or list expr. See first for more details.
Chapter 40: Function Definition 361
40 Function Definition
40.1 Introduction to Function Definition
40.2 Function
To define a function in Maxima you use the := operator. E.g.
f(x) := sin(x)
defines a function f. Anonmyous functions may also be created using lambda. For example
lambda ([i, j], ...)
can be used instead of f where
f(i,j) := block ([], ...);
map (lambda ([i], i+1), l)
would return a list with 1 added to each term.
You may also define a function with a variable number of arguments, by having a final
argument which is assigned to a list of the extra arguments:
(%i1) f ([u]) := u;
(%o1) f([u]) := u
(%i2) f (1, 2, 3, 4);
(%o2) [1, 2, 3, 4]
(%i3) f (a, b, [u]) := [a, b, u];
(%o3) f(a, b, [u]) := [a, b, u]
(%i4) f (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6);
(%o4) [1, 2, [3, 4, 5, 6]]
The right hand side of a function is an expression. Thus if you want a sequence of
expressions, you do
f(x) := (expr1, expr2, ...., exprn);
and the value of exprn is what is returned by the function.
If you wish to make a return from some expression inside the function then you must
use block and return.
block ([], expr1, ..., if (a > 10) then return(a), ..., exprn)
is itelf an expression, and so could take the place of the right hand side of a function
definition. Here it may happen that the return happens earlier than the last expression.
The first [] in the block, may contain a list of variables and variable assignments, such
as [a: 3, b, c: []], which would cause the three variables a,b,and c to not refer to their
global values, but rather have these special values for as long as the code executes inside
the block, or inside functions called from inside the block. This is called dynamic binding,
since the variables last from the start of the block to the time it exits. Once you return
from the block, or throw out of it, the old values (if any) of the variables will be restored.
It is certainly a good idea to protect your variables in this way. Note that the assignments
in the block variables, are done in parallel. This means, that if you had used c: a in the
above, the value of c would have been the value of a at the time you just entered the block,
but before a was bound. Thus doing something like
362 Maxima Manual
block ([a: a], expr1, ... a: a+3, ..., exprn)

will protect the external value of a from being altered, but would let you access what
that value was. Thus the right hand side of the assignments, is evaluated in the entering
context, before any binding occurs. Using just block ([x], ... would cause the x to have
itself as value, just as if it would have if you entered a fresh Maxima session.
The actual arguments to a function are treated in exactly same way as the variables in
a block. Thus in
f(x) := (expr1, ..., exprn);
and
f(1);
we would have a similar context for evaluation of the expressions as if we had done
block ([x: 1], expr1, ..., exprn)
Inside functions, when the right hand side of a definition, may be computed at runtime,
it is useful to use define and possibly buildq.
40.3 Macros
buildq (variables, expr) Function

expr is any single Maxima expression and variables is a list of elements of the form
<atom> or <atom>: <value>.
40.3.1 Semantics
The elements of the list variables are evaluated left to right (the syntax atom is
equivalent to atom: atom). then these values are substituted into <expression> in
parallel. If any atom appears as a single argument to the special form splice (i.e.
splice (atom)) inside expr, then the value associated with that atom must be a
Maxima list, and it is spliced into expr instead of substituted.
40.3.2 Simplification
The arguments to buildq need to be protected from simplification until the substi-
tutions have been carried out. This code should effect that by using ’.
buildq can be useful for building functions on the fly. One of the powerful things
about Maxima is that you can have your functions define other functions to help
solve the problem. Further below we discuss building a recursive function, for a
series solution. This defining of functions inside functions usually uses define, which
evaluates its arguments. A number of examples are included under splice.
splice (atom) Function

This is used with buildq to construct a list. This is handy for making argument lists,
in conjunction with buildq.
mprint ([x]) ::= buildq ([u : x],
if (debuglevel > 3) print (splice (u)));
Including a call like
mprint ("matrix is", mat, "with length", length(mat))

is equivalent to putting in the line
if (debuglevel > 3) print ("matrix is", mat, "with length", length(mat));
A more non trivial example would try to display the variable values and their names.
mshow (a, b, c)
should become
print (’a, "=", a, ",", ’b, "=", b, ", and", ’c, "=", c)
so that if it occurs as a line in a program we can print values.
(%i1) foo (x,y,z) := mshow (x, y, z);
(%i2) foo (1, 2, 3);
x = 1 , y = 2 , and z = 3
The actual definition of mshow is the following. Note how buildq lets you build
"quoted" structure, so that the ’u lets you get the variable name. Note that in
macros, the result is a piece of code which will then be substituted for the macro and
evaluated.
mshow ([l]) ::= block ([ans:[], n:length(l)],
for i:1 thru n do
(ans: append (ans, buildq ([u: l[i]], [’u, "=", u])),
if i < n then
ans: append (ans, if i < n-1 then [","] else [", and"])),
buildq ([u:ans], print (splice(u))));
The splice also works to put arguments into algebraic operations:
(%i1) buildq ([a: ’[b, c, d]], +splice(a));
(%o1) d + c + b
Note how the simplification only occurs after the substitution, The operation ap-
plying to the splice in the first cae is the + while in the second it is the *, yet
logically you might think splice(a)+splice(a) could be replaced by 2*splice(a).
No simplification takes place with the buildq. To understand what splice is doing
with the algebra you must understand that for Maxima, a formula an operation like
a+b+c is really internally similar to +(a,b,c), and similarly for multiplication. Thus
*(2,b,c,d) is 2*b*c*d.
(%i1) buildq ([a: ’[b,c,d]], +splice(a));
(%o1) d + c + b
(%i2) buildq ([a: ’[b,c,d]], splice(a)+splice(a));
(%o2) 2 d + 2 c + 2 b
but
(%i3) buildq ([a: ’[b,c,d]], 2*splice(a));
(%o3) 2 b c d
Finally buildq can be invaluable for building recursive functions. Suppose your
program is solving a differential equation using the series method, and has determined
that it needs to build a recursion relation
f[n] := -((n^2 - 2*n + 1)*f[n-1] + f[n-2] + f[n-3])/(n^2-n)
and it must do this on the fly inside your function. Now you would really like to add
expand.
364 Maxima Manual
f[n] := expand (-((n^2 - 2*n + 1)*f[n-1] + f[n-2] + f[n-3])/(n^2-n))

but how do you build this code. You want the expand to happen each time the
function runs, not before it.
(%i1) val: -((n^2 - 2*n + 1)*f[n-1] + f[n-2] + f[n-3])/(n^2-n)$
(%i2) define (f[n], buildq ([u: val], expand(u)))$
does the job. This might be useful, since when you do (with expand)
(%i3) f[0]: aa0$
(%i4) f[1]: aa1$
(%i5) f[2]: aa2$
(%i6) f[6];
3 aa2 aa1 7 aa0
(%o6) ----- + --- + -----
10 40 90
where as without it is kept unsimplified, and even after 6 terms it becomes:
(%i7) define (g[n], buildq ([u: val], u))$
(%i8) g[0]: bb0$
(%i9) g[1]: bb1$
(%i10) g[2]: bb2$
(%i11) g[6];
aa2 7 aa2 aa1 11 aa0 aa1 aa0
--- - 25 (- ----- - --- - ------) + --- + ---
4 20 40 120 8 24
(%o11) ---------------------------------------------
30
(%i12) expand (%);
3 aa2 aa1 7 aa0
(%o12) ----- + --- + -----
10 40 90
The expression quickly becomes complicated if not simplified at each stage, so the
simplification must be part of the definition. Hence the buildq is useful for building
the form.
40.4 Definitions for Function Definition
apply (f, [x 1, ..., x n]) Function

Returns the result of applying the function f to the list of arguments x 1, ..., x n. f
is the name of a function or a lambda expression.
This is useful when it is desired to compute the arguments to a function before
applying that function. For example, if l is the list [1, 5, -10.2, 4, 3], then apply
(min, l) gives -10.2. apply is also useful when calling functions which do not have
their arguments evaluated if it is desired to cause evaluation of them. For example,
if filespec is a variable bound to the list [test, case] then apply (closefile,
filespec) is equivalent to closefile (test, case). In general the first argument
to apply should be preceded by a ’ to make it evaluate to itself. Since some atomic
variables have the same name as certain functions the values of the variable would be
used rather than the function because apply has its first argument evaluated as well
as its second.
block ([v 1, ..., v m], expr 1, ..., expr n) Function

block (expr 1, ..., expr n) Function
block evaluates expr 1, ..., expr n in sequence and returns the value of the last
expression evaluated. The sequence can be modified by the go, throw, and return
functions. The last expression is expr n unless return or an expression containing
throw is evaluated. Some variables v 1, ..., v m can be declared local to the block;
these are distinguished from global variables of the same names. If no variables are
declared local then the list may be omitted. Within the block, any variable other
than v 1, ..., v m is a global variable.
block saves the current values of the variables v 1, ..., v m (if any) upon entry to
the block, then unbinds the variables so that they evaluate to themselves. The local
variables may be bound to arbitrary values within the block but when the block is
exited the saved values are restored, and the values assigned within the block are lost.
block may appear within another block. Local variables are established each time a
new block is evaluated. Local variables appear to be global to any enclosed blocks.
If a variable is non-local in a block, its value is the value most recently assigned
by an enclosing block, if any, otherwise, it is the value of the variable in the global
environment. This policy may coincide with the usual understanding of "dynamic
scope".
If it is desired to save and restore other local properties besides value, for
example array (except for complete arrays), function, dependencies, atvalue,
matchdeclare, atomgrad, constant, and nonscalar then the function local should
be used inside of the block with arguments being the names of the variables.
The value of the block is the value of the last statement or the value of the argument
to the function return which may be used to exit explicitly from the block. The
function go may be used to transfer control to the statement of the block that is
tagged with the argument to go. To tag a statement, precede it by an atomic argument
as another statement in the block. For example: block ([x], x:1, loop, x: x+1,
..., go(loop), ...). The argument to go must be the name of a tag appearing
within the block. One cannot use go to transfer to a tag in a block other than the
one containing the go.
Blocks typically appear on the right side of a function definition but can be used in
other places as well.
break (expr 1, ..., expr n) Function

Evaluates and prints expr 1, ..., expr n and then causes a Maxima break at which
point the user can examine and change his environment. Upon typing exit; the
computation resumes.
catch (expr 1, ..., expr n) Function

Evaluates expr 1, ..., expr n one by one; if any leads to the evaluation of an expression
of the form throw (arg), then the value of the catch is the value of throw (arg),
366 Maxima Manual
and no further expressions are evaluated. This "non-local return" thus goes through
any depth of nesting to the nearest enclosing catch. If there is no catch enclosing a
throw, an error message is printed.
If the evaluation of the arguments does not lead to the evaluation of any throw then
the value of catch is the value of expr n.
(%i1) lambda ([x], if x < 0 then throw(x) else f(x))$
(%i2) g(l) := catch (map (’’%, l))$
(%i3) g ([1, 2, 3, 7]);
(%o3) [f(1), f(2), f(3), f(7)]
(%i4) g ([1, 2, -3, 7]);
(%o4) - 3
The function g returns a list of f of each element of l if l consists only of non-negative
numbers; otherwise, g "catches" the first negative element of l and "throws" it up.
compfile (filename, f 1, ..., f n) Function

Translates Maxima functions f 1, ..., f n into Lisp and writes the translated code into
the file filename.
The Lisp translations are not evaluated, nor is the output file processed by the Lisp
compiler. translate creates and evaluates Lisp translations. compile_file trans-
lates Maxima into Lisp, and then executes the Lisp compiler.
See also translate, translate_file, and compile_file.
compile (f 1, ..., f n) Function

compile (functions) Function
compile (all) Function
Translates Maxima functions f 1, ..., f n into Lisp, evaluates the Lisp translations,
and calls the Lisp function COMPILE on each translated function. compile returns a
list of the names of the compiled functions.
compile (all) or compile (functions) compiles all user-defined functions.
compile quotes its arguments; the double-single-quotes operator ’’ defeats quotation.
define (f (x 1, ..., x n), expr) Function

Defines a function named f with arguments x 1, ..., x n and function body expr.
define is similar to the function definition operator :=, but when define appears
inside a function, the definition is created using the value of expr at execution time
rather than at the time of definition of the function which contains it.
All function definitions appear in the same namespace; defining a function f within
another function g does not limit the scope of f to g.
Examples:
(%i1) foo: 2^bar; bar (%o1) 2 (%i2) g(x) := (f 1 (y) := foo*x*y, f 2 (y) := ”foo*x*y,
define (f 3 (y), foo*x*y), define (f 4 (y), ”foo*x*y)); bar (%o2) g(x) := (f 1(y) := foo
x y, f 2(y) := 2 x y, bar define(f 3(y), foo x y), define(f 4(y), 2 x y)) (%i3) functions;
(%o3) [g(x)] (%i4) g(a); bar (%o4) f 4(y) := a 2 y (%i5) functions; (%o5) [g(x), f 1(y),
f 2(y), f 3(y), f 4(y)] (%i6) dispfun (f 1, f 2, f 3, f 4); (%t6) f 1(y) := foo x y
bar (%t7) f 2(y) := 2 x y

bar (%t8) f 3(y) := a 2 y
bar (%t9) f 4(y) := a 2 y
(%o9) done
define variable (name, default value, mode, documentation) Function

Introduces a global variable into the Maxima environment. This is for user-written
packages, which are often translated or compiled. Thus
define_variable (foo, true, boolean);
does the following:
(1) mode_declare (foo, boolean) sets it up for the translator.
(2) If the variable is unbound, it sets it: foo: true.
(3) declare (foo, special) declares it special.
(4) Sets up an assign property for it to make sure that it never gets set to a value of
the wrong mode. E.g. foo: 44 would be an error once foo is defined boolean.
See mode_declare for a list of the possible modes.
The optional 4th argument is a documentation string. When translate_file is used
on a package which includes documentation strings, a second file is output in addition
to the Lisp file which will contain the documentation strings, formatted suitably for
use in manuals, usage files, or (for instance) describe.
With any variable which has been define_variable’d with mode other than any,
you can give a value_check property, which is a function of one argument called on
the value the user is trying to set the variable to.
put (’g5, lambda([u], if u # ’g5 then error("Don’t set g5")), ’value_check);
Use define_variable (g5, ’g5, any_check, "this ain’t supposed to be set by
anyone but me.") any_check is a mode which means the same as any, but which
keeps define_variable from optimizing away the assign property.
dispfun (f 1, ..., f n) Function

dispfun (all) Function
Displays the definition of the user-defined functions f 1, ..., f n. Each argument may
be the name of a macro (defined with ::=), an ordinary function (defined with := or
define), an array function (defined with := or define, but enclosing arguments in
square brackets [ ]), a subscripted function, (defined with := or define, but enclosing
some arguments in square brackets and others in parentheses ( )) one of a family
of subscripted functions selected by a particular subscript value, or a subscripted
function defined with a constant subscript.
dispfun (all) displays all user-defined functions as given by the functions, arrays,
and macros lists, omitting subscripted functions defined with constant subscripts.
dispfun creates an intermediate expression label (%t1, %t2, etc.) for each displayed
function, and assigns the function definition to the label. In contrast, fundef returns
the function definition.
368 Maxima Manual
dispfun quotes its arguments; the double-single-quote operator ’’ defeats quotation.

dispfun always returns done.
Examples:
(%i1) m(x, y) ::= x^(-y)$
(%i2) f(x, y) := x^(-y)$
(%i3) g[x, y] := x^(-y)$
(%i4) h[x](y) := x^(-y)$
(%i5) i[8](y) := 8^(-y)$
(%i6) dispfun (m, f, g, h, h[5], h[10], i[8])$
- y
(%t6) m(x, y) ::= x
- y
(%t7) f(x, y) := x
- y
(%t8) g := x
x, y
- y
(%t9) h (y) := x
x
1
(%t10) h (y) := --
5 y
5
1
(%t11) h (y) := ---
10 y
10
- y
(%t12) i (y) := 8
8
functions Variable
Default value: []
functions is the list of user-defined Maxima functions in the current session. A
user-defined function is a function constructed by define or :=. A function may be
defined at the Maxima prompt or in a Maxima file loaded by load or batch. Lisp
functions, however, are not added to functions.
fundef (f ) Function
Returns the definition of the function f.
The argument may be the name of a macro (defined with ::=), an ordinary function
(defined with := or define), an array function (defined with := or define, but
enclosing arguments in square brackets [ ]), a subscripted function, (defined with :=

or define, but enclosing some arguments in square brackets and others in parentheses
( )) one of a family of subscripted functions selected by a particular subscript value,
or a subscripted function defined with a constant subscript.
fundef quotes its argument; the double-single-quote operator ’’ defeats quotation.
fundef (f ) returns the definition of f. In contrast, dispfun (f ) creates an interme-
diate expression label and assigns the definition to the label.
funmake (name, [arg 1, ..., arg n]) Function

Returns an expression name (arg 1, ..., arg n). The return value is simplified, but
not evaluated, so the function is not called.
funmake evaluates its arguments.
Examples:
• funmake evaluates its arguments, but not the return value.
(%i1) det(a,b,c) := b^2 -4*a*c$
(%i2) x: 8$
(%i3) y: 10$
(%i4) z: 12$
(%i5) f: det$
(%i6) funmake (f, [x, y, z]);
(%o6) det(8, 10, 12)
(%i7) ’’%;
(%o7) - 284
• Maxima simplifies funmake’s return value.
(%i1) funmake (sin, [%pi/2]);
(%o1) 1
lambda ([x 1, ..., x m], expr 1, ..., expr n) Function

Defines and returns a lambda expression (that is, an anonymous function) with argu-
ments x 1, ..., x m and return value expr n. A lambda expression can be assigned to
a variable and evaluated like an ordinary function. A lambda expression may appear
in contexts in which a function evaluation (but not a function name) is expected.
When the function is evaluated, unbound local variables x 1, ..., x m are created.
lambda may appear within block or another lambda; local variables are established
each time another block or lambda is evaluated. Local variables appear to be global
to any enclosed block or lambda. If a variable is not local, its value is the value most
recently assigned in an enclosing block or lambda, if any, otherwise, it is the value
of the variable in the global environment. This policy may coincide with the usual
understanding of "dynamic scope".
After local variables are established, expr 1 through expr n are evaluated in turn. The
special variable %%, representing the value of the preceding expression, is recognized.
throw and catch may also appear in the list of expressions.
return cannot appear in a lambda expression unless enclosed by block, in which case
return defines the return value of the block and not of the lambda expression, unless
370 Maxima Manual
the block happens to be expr n. Likewise, go cannot appear in a lambda expression

unless enclosed by block.
lambda quotes its arguments; the double-single-quote operator ’’ defeats quotation.
Examples:
• A lambda expression can be assigned to a variable and evaluated like an ordinary
function.
(%i1) f: lambda ([x], x^2);
2
(%o1) lambda([x], x )
(%i2) f(a);
2
(%o2) a
• A lambda expression may appear in contexts in which a function evaluation is
expected.
(%i3) lambda ([x], x^2) (a);
2
(%o3) a
(%i4) apply (lambda ([x], x^2), [a]);
2
(%o4) a
(%i5) map (lambda ([x], x^2), [a, b, c, d, e]);
2 2 2 2 2
(%o5) [a , b , c , d , e ]
• Argument variables are local variables. Other variables appear to be global
variables. Global variables are evaluated at the time the lambda expression is
evaluated, unless some special evaluation is forced by some means, such as ’’.
(%i6) a: %pi$
(%i7) b: %e$
(%i8) g: lambda ([a], a*b);
(%o8) lambda([a], a b)
(%i9) b: %gamma$
(%i10) g(1/2);
%gamma
(%o10) ------
2
(%i11) g2: lambda ([a], a*’’b);
(%o11) lambda([a], a %gamma)
(%i12) b: %e$
(%i13) g2(1/2);
%gamma
(%o13) ------
2
• Lambda expressions may be nested. Local variables within the outer lambda
expression appear to be global to the inner expression unless masked by local
variables of the same names.
(%i14) h: lambda ([a, b], h2: lambda ([a], a*b), h2(1/2));
1
(%o14) lambda([a, b], h2 : lambda([a], a b), h2(-))
2
(%i15) h(%pi, %gamma);
%gamma
(%o15) ------
2
• Since lambda quotes its arguments, lambda expression i below does not define
a "multiply by a" function. Such a function can be defined via buildq, as in
lambda expression i2 below.
(%i16) i: lambda ([a], lambda ([x], a*x));
(%o16) lambda([a], lambda([x], a x))
(%i17) i(1/2);
(%o17) lambda([x], a x)
(%i18) i2: lambda([a], buildq([a: a], lambda([x], a*x)));
(%o18) lambda([a], buildq([a : a], lambda([x], a x)))
(%i19) i2(1/2);
x
(%o19) lambda([x], -)
2
(%i20) i2(1/2)(%pi);
%pi
(%o20) ---
2
local (v 1, ..., v n) Function

Declares the variables v 1, ..., v n to be local with respect to all the properties in the
statement in which this function is used.
local may only be used in block, in the body of function definitions or lambda
expressions, or in the ev function, and only one occurrence is permitted in each.
local is independent of context.
macroexpansion Variable
macroexpansion controls advanced features which affect the efficiency of macros.
Possible settings:
• false – Macros expand normally each time they are called.
• expand – The first time a particular call is evaluated, the expansion is remem-
bered internally, so that it doesn’t have to be recomputed on subsequent calls
making subsequent calls faster. The macro call still calls grind and display
normally. However, extra memory is required to remember all of the expansions.
• displace – The first time a particular call is evaluated, the expansion is substi-
tuted for the call. This requires slightly less storage than when macroexpansion
is set to expand and is just as fast, but has the disadvantage that the origi-
nal macro call is no longer remembered and hence the expansion will be seen if
display or grind is called. See documentation for translate and macros for
more details.
372 Maxima Manual
mode checkp Variable

Default value: true
When mode_checkp is true, mode_declare checks the modes of bound variables.
mode check errorp Variable

When mode_check_errorp is true, mode_declare calls error.
mode check warnp Variable

Default value: true
When mode_check_warnp is true, mode errors are described.
mode declare (y 1, mode 1, ..., y n, mode n) Function

mode_declare is used to declare the modes of variables and functions for subsequent
translation or compilation of functions. mode_declare is typically placed at the
beginning of a function definition, at the beginning of a Maxima script, or executed
at the interactive prompt.
The arguments of mode_declare are pairs consisting of a variable and a mode which
is one of boolean, fixnum, number, rational, or float. Each variable may also be
a list of variables all of which are declared to have the same mode.
If a variable is an array, and if every element of the array which is referenced has a
value then array (yi, complete, dim1, dim2, ...) rather than
array(yi, dim1, dim2, ...)
should be used when first declaring the bounds of the array. If all the elements of the
array are of mode fixnum (float), use fixnum (float) instead of complete. Also if
every element of the array is of the same mode, say m, then
mode_declare (completearray (yi), m))
should be used for efficient translation.
Numeric code using arrays might run faster by declaring the expected size of the
array, as in:
mode_declare (completearray (a [10, 10]), float)
for a floating point number array which is 10 x 10.
One may declare the mode of the result of a function by using function (f_1, f_2,
...) as an argument; here f_1, f_2, ... are the names of functions. For example the
expression,
mode_declare ([function (f_1, f_2, ...)], fixnum)
declares that the values returned by f_1, f_2, ... are single-word integers.
modedeclare is a synonym for mode_declare.
mode identity (arg 1, arg 2) Function

A special form used with mode_declare and macros to declare, e.g., a list of lists of
flonums, or other compound data object. The first argument to mode_identity is
a primitive value mode name as given to mode_declare (i.e., one of float, fixnum,
number, list, or any), and the second argument is an expression which is evaluated
and returned as the value of mode_identity. However, if the return value is not
allowed by the mode declared in the first argument, an error or warning is signalled.
The important thing is that the mode of the expression as determined by the Maxima
to Lisp translator, will be that given as the first argument, independent of anything
that goes on in the second argument. E.g., x: 3.3; mode_identity (fixnum, x);
yields an error. mode_identity (flonum, x) returns 3.3 . This has a number of
uses, e.g., if you knew that first (l) returned a number then you might write mode_
identity (number, first (l)). However, a more efficient way to do it would be to
define a new primitive,
firstnumb (x) ::= buildq ([x], mode_identity (number, x));
and use firstnumb every time you take the first of a list of numbers.
transcompile Variable
Default value: true
When transcompile is true, translate and translate_file generate declarations
to make the translated code more suitable for compilation.
compfile sets transcompile: true for the duration.
translate (f 1, ..., f n) Function

translate (functions) Function
translate (all) Function
Translates the user-defined functions f 1, ..., f n from the Maxima language into Lisp
and evaluates the Lisp translations. Typically the translated functions run faster than
the originals.
translate (all) or translate (functions) translates all user-defined functions.
Functions to be translated should include a call to mode_declare at the beginning
when possible in order to produce more efficient code. For example:
f (x_1, x_2, ...) := block ([v_1, v_2, ...],
mode_declare (v_1, mode_1, v_2, mode_2, ...), ...)
where the x 1, x 2, ... are the parameters to the function and the v 1, v 2, ... are the
local variables.
The names of translated functions are removed from the functions list if savedef is
false (see below) and are added to the props lists.
Functions should not be translated unless they are fully debugged.
Expressions are assumed simplified; if they are not, correct but non- optimal code
gets generated. Thus, the user should not set the simp switch to false which inhibits
simplification of the expressions to be translated.
The switch translate, if true, causes automatic translation of a user’s function to
Lisp.
Note that translated functions may not run identically to the way they did before
translation as certain incompatabilities may exist between the Lisp and Maxima ver-
sions. Principally, the rat function with more than one argument and the ratvars
374 Maxima Manual
function should not be used if any variables are mode_declare’d canonical rational
expressions (CRE). Also the prederror: false setting will not translate.
savedef - if true will cause the Maxima version of a user function to remain when
the function is translate’d. This permits the definition to be displayed by dispfun
and allows the function to be edited.
transrun - if false will cause the interpreted version of all functions to be run
(provided they are still around) rather than the translated version.
The result returned by translate is a list of the names of the functions translated.
translate file (maxima filename) Function

translate file (maxima filename, lisp filename) Function
Translates a file of Maxima code into a file of Lisp code. translate_file returns a
list of three filenames: the name of the Maxima file, the name of the Lisp file, and the
name of file containing additional information about the translation. translate_file
evaluates its arguments.
translate_file ("foo.mac"); load("foo.LISP") is the same as batch
("foo.mac") except for certain restrictions, the use of ’’ and %, for example.
translate_file (maxima filename) translates a Maxima file maxima filename into
a similarly-named Lisp file. For example, foo.mac is translated into foo.LISP. The
Maxima filename may include a directory name or names, in which case the Lisp
output file is written to the same directory from which the Maxima input comes.
translate_file (maxima filename, lisp filename) translates a Maxima file max-
ima filename into a Lisp file lisp filename. translate_file ignores the filename
extension, if any, of lisp_filename; the filename extension of the Lisp output file is
always LISP. The Lisp filename may include a directory name or names, in which
case the Lisp output file is written to the specified directory.
translate_file also writes a file of translator warning messages of various degrees
of severity. The filename extension of this file is UNLISP. This file may contain
valuable information, though possibly obscure, for tracking down bugs in translated
code. The UNLISP file is always written to the same directory from which the Maxima
input comes.
translate_file emits Lisp code which causes some declarations and definitions to
take effect as soon as the Lisp code is compiled. See compile_file for more on this
topic.
See also tr_array_as_ref, tr_bound_function_applyp, tr_exponent, tr_file_
tty_messagesp, tr_float_can_branch_complex, tr_function_call_default,
tr_numer, tr_optimize_max_loop, tr_semicompile, tr_state_vars, tr_
warnings_get, tr_warn_bad_function_calls, tr_warn_fexpr, tr_warn_meval,
tr_warn_mode, tr_warn_undeclared, tr_warn_undefined_variable, and
tr_windy.
transrun Variable
Default value: true
When transrun is false will cause the interpreted version of all functions to be run
(provided they are still around) rather than the translated version.
tr array as ref Variable

Default value: true
If translate_fast_arrays is false, array references in Lisp code emitted by
translate_file are affected by tr_array_as_ref. When tr_array_as_ref is
true, array names are evaluated, otherwise array names appear as literal symbols in
translated code.
tr_array_as_ref has no effect if translate_fast_arrays is true.
tr bound function applyp Variable

Default value: true
When tr_bound_function_applyp is true, Maxima gives a warning if a bound vari-
able (such as a function argument) is found being used as a function. tr_bound_
function_applyp does not affect the code generated in such cases.
For example, an expression such as g (f, x) := f (x+1) will trigger the warning
message.
tr file tty messagesp Variable

When tr_file_tty_messagesp is true, messages generated by translate_file dur-
ing translation of a file are displayed on the console and inserted into the UNLISP
file. When false, messages about translation of the file are only inserted into the
UNLISP file.
tr float can branch complex Variable

Default value: true
Tells the Maxima-to-Lisp translator to assume that the functions acos, asin, asec,
and acsc can return complex results.
The ostensible effect of tr_float_can_branch_complex is the following. However, it
appears that this flag has no effect on the translator output.
When it is true then acos(x) is of mode any even if x is of mode float (as set by
mode_declare). When false then acos(x) is of mode float if and only if x is of
mode float.
tr function call default Variable

Default value: general
false means give up and call meval, expr means assume Lisp fixed arg function.
general, the default gives code good for mexprs and mlexprs but not macros.
general assures variable bindings are correct in compiled code. In general mode,
when translating F(X), if F is a bound variable, then it assumes that apply (f, [x])
is meant, and translates a such, with apropriate warning. There is no need to turn
this off. With the default settings, no warning messages implies full compatibility of
translated and compiled code with the Maxima interpreter.
376 Maxima Manual
tr numer Variable
When tr_numer is true numer properties are used for atoms which have them, e.g.
%pi.
tr optimize max loop Variable

Default value: 100
tr_optimize_max_loop is the maximum number of times the macro-expansion and
optimization pass of the translator will loop in considering a form. This is to catch
macro expansion errors, and non-terminating optimization properties.
tr semicompile Variable
When tr_semicompile is true, translate_file and compfile output forms which
will be macroexpanded but not compiled into machine code by the Lisp compiler.
tr state vars Variable

Default value:
[transcompile, tr_semicompile, tr_warn_undeclared, tr_warn_meval,
tr_warn_fexpr, tr_warn_mode, tr_warn_undefined_variable,
tr_function_call_default, tr_array_as_ref,tr_numer]
The list of the switches that affect the form of the translated output. This information
is useful to system people when trying to debug the translator. By comparing the
translated product to what should have been produced for a given state, it is possible
to track down bugs.
tr warnings get () Function

Prints a list of warnings which have been given by the translator during the current
translation.
tr warn bad function calls Variable

Default value: true
- Gives a warning when when function calls are being made which may not be correct
due to improper declarations that were made at translate time.
tr warn fexpr Variable

Default value: compfile
- Gives a warning if any FEXPRs are encountered. FEXPRs should not normally be
output in translated code, all legitimate special program forms are translated.
tr warn meval Variable

Default value: compfile
- Gives a warning if the function meval gets called. If meval is called that indicates
problems in the translation.
tr warn mode Variable

Default value: all
- Gives a warning when variables are assigned values inappropriate for their mode.
tr warn undeclared Variable

Default value: compile
- Determines when to send warnings about undeclared variables to the TTY.
tr warn undefined variable Variable

Default value: all
- Gives a warning when undefined global variables are seen.
tr windy Variable
Default value: true
- Generate "helpfull" comments and programming hints.
compile file (filename) Function

compile file (filename, compiled filename) Function
compile file (filename, compiled filename, lisp filename) Function
Translates the Maxima file filename into Lisp, executes the Lisp compiler, and, if the
translation and compilation succeed, loads the compiled code into Maxima.
compile_file returns a list of the names of four files: the original Maxima file, the
Lisp translation, notes on translation, and the compiled code. If the compilation fails,
the fourth item is false.
Some declarations and definitions take effect as soon as the Lisp code is compiled
(without loading the compiled code). These include functions defined with the :=
operator, macros define with the ::= operator, alias, declare, define_variable,
mode_declare, and infix, matchfix, nofix, postfix, prefix, and compfile.
Assignments and function calls are not evaluated until the compiled code is loaded.
In particular, within the Maxima file, assignments to the translation flags (tr_numer,
etc.) have no effect on the translation.
filename may not contain :lisp statements.
compile_file evaluates its arguments.
declare translated (f 1, f 2, ...) Function

When translating a file of Maxima code to Lisp, it is important for the translator
to know which functions it sees in the file are to be called as translated or compiled
functions, and which ones are just Maxima functions or undefined. Putting this
declaration at the top of the file, lets it know that although a symbol does which does
not yet have a Lisp function value, will have one at call time. (MFUNCTION-CALL fn
arg1 arg2 ...) is generated when the translator does not know fn is going to be a
Lisp function.
378 Maxima Manual
Chapter 41: Program Flow 379
41 Program Flow
41.1 Introduction to Program Flow

Maxima provides a do loop for iteration, as well as more primitive constructs such as
go.
41.2 Definitions for Program Flow
backtrace () Function
backtrace (n) Function
Prints the call stack, that is, the list of functions which called the currently active
function.
backtrace() prints the entire call stack.
backtrace (n) prints the n most recent functions, including the currently active
function.
backtrace can be called from a script, a function, or the interactive prompt (not only
in a debugging context).
• backtrace() prints the entire call stack.
(%i1) h(x) := g(x/7)$
(%i2) g(x) := f(x-11)$
(%i3) f(x) := e(x^2)$
(%i4) e(x) := (backtrace(), 2*x + 13)$
(%i5) h(10);
#0: e(x=4489/49)
#1: f(x=-67/7)
#2: g(x=10/7)
#3: h(x=10)
9615
(%o5) ----
49
• backtrace (n) prints the n most recent functions, including the currently active
function.
(%i1) h(x) := (backtrace(1), g(x/7))$
(%i2) g(x) := (backtrace(1), f(x-11))$
(%i3) f(x) := (backtrace(1), e(x^2))$
(%i4) e(x) := (backtrace(1), 2*x + 13)$
(%i5) h(10);
#0: h(x=10)
#0: g(x=10/7)
#0: f(x=-67/7)
#0: e(x=4489/49)
9615
(%o5) ----
49
380 Maxima Manual
do special operator
The do statement is used for performing iteration. Due to its great generality the do
statement will be described in two parts. First the usual form will be given which
is analogous to that used in several other programming languages (Fortran, Algol,
PL/I, etc.); then the other features will be mentioned.
There are three variants of this form that differ only in their terminating conditions.
They are:
• for variable: initial value step increment thru limit do body
• for variable: initial value step increment while condition do body
• for variable: initial value step increment unless condition do body
(Alternatively, the step may be given after the termination condition or limit.)
initial value, increment, limit, and body can be any expressions. If the increment is
1 then "step 1" may be omitted.
The execution of the do statement proceeds by first assigning the initial value to the
variable (henceforth called the control-variable). Then: (1) If the control-variable has
exceeded the limit of a thru specification, or if the condition of the unless is true,
or if the condition of the while is false then the do terminates. (2) The body is
evaluated. (3) The increment is added to the control-variable. The process from (1)
to (3) is performed repeatedly until the termination condition is satisfied. One may
also give several termination conditions in which case the do terminates when any of
them is satisfied.
In general the thru test is satisfied when the control-variable is greater than the limit
if the increment was non-negative, or when the control-variable is less than the limit
if the increment was negative. The increment and limit may be non-numeric expres-
sions as long as this inequality can be determined. However, unless the increment
is syntactically negative (e.g. is a negative number) at the time the do statement
is input, Maxima assumes it will be positive when the do is executed. If it is not
positive, then the do may not terminate properly.
Note that the limit, increment, and termination condition are evaluated each time
through the loop. Thus if any of these involve much computation, and yield a result
that does not change during all the executions of the body, then it is more efficient
to set a variable to their value prior to the do and use this variable in the do form.
The value normally returned by a do statement is the atom done. However, the
function return may be used inside the body to exit the do prematurely and give it
any desired value. Note however that a return within a do that occurs in a block
will exit only the do and not the block. Note also that the go function may not be
used to exit from a do into a surrounding block.
The control-variable is always local to the do and thus any variable may be used
without affecting the value of a variable with the same name outside of the do. The
control-variable is unbound after the do terminates.
(%i1) for a:-3 thru 26 step 7 do display(a)$
a = - 3
a = 4
a = 11
a = 18
a = 25
(%i1) s: 0$
(%i2) for i: 1 while i <= 10 do s: s+i;
(%o2) done
(%i3) s;
(%o3) 55
Note that the condition while i <= 10 is equivalent to unless i > 10 and also thru
10.
(%i1) series: 1$
(%i2) term: exp (sin (x))$
(%i3) for p: 1 unless p > 7 do
(term: diff (term, x)/p,
series: series + subst (x=0, term)*x^p)$
(%i4) series;
7 6 5 4 2
x x x x x
(%o4) -- - --- - -- - -- + -- + x + 1
90 240 15 8 2
which gives 8 terms of the Taylor series for e^sin(x).
(%i1) poly: 0$
(%i2) for i: 1 thru 5 do
for j: i step -1 thru 1 do
poly: poly + i*x^j$
(%i3) poly;
5 4 3 2
(%o3) 5 x + 9 x + 12 x + 14 x + 15 x
(%i4) guess: -3.0$
(%i5) for i: 1 thru 10 do
(guess: subst (guess, x, 0.5*(x + 10/x)),
if abs (guess^2 - 10) < 0.00005 then return (guess));
(%o5) - 3.162280701754386
This example computes the negative square root of 10 using the Newton- Raphson
iteration a maximum of 10 times. Had the convergence criterion not been met the
value returned would have been done. Additional Forms of the do Statement
Instead of always adding a quantity to the control-variable one may sometimes wish
to change it in some other way for each iteration. In this case one may use next
expression instead of step increment. This will cause the control-variable to be set
to the result of evaluating expression each time through the loop.
(%i6) for count: 2 next 3*count thru 20 do display (count)$
count = 2
count = 6
382 Maxima Manual
count = 18
As an alternative to for variable: value ...do... the syntax for variable from
value ...do... may be used. This permits the from value to be placed after the
step or next value or after the termination condition. If from value is omitted then
1 is used as the initial value.
Sometimes one may be interested in performing an iteration where the control-variable
is never actually used. It is thus permissible to give only the termination conditions
omitting the initialization and updating information as in the following example to
compute the square-root of 5 using a poor initial guess.
(%i1) x: 1000$
(%i2) thru 20 do x: 0.5*(x + 5.0/x)$
(%i3) x;
(%o3) 2.23606797749979
(%i4) sqrt(5), numer;
(%o4) 2.23606797749979
If it is desired one may even omit the termination conditions entirely and just give do
body which will continue to evaluate the body indefinitely. In this case the function
return should be used to terminate execution of the do.
(%i1) newton (f, x):= ([y, df, dfx], df: diff (f (’x), ’x),
do (y: ev(df), x: x - f(x)/y,
if abs (f (x)) < 5e-6 then return (x)))$
(%i2) sqr (x) := x^2 - 5.0$
(%i3) newton (sqr, 1000);
(%o3) 2.236068027062195
(Note that return, when executed, causes the current value of x to be returned as
the value of the do. The block is exited and this value of the do is returned as the
value of the block because the do is the last statement in the block.)
One other form of the do is available in Maxima. The syntax is:
for variable in list end tests do body
The elements of list are any expressions which will successively be assigned to the
variable on each iteration of the body. The optional termination tests end tests can
be used to terminate execution of the do; otherwise it will terminate when the list
is exhausted or when a return is executed in the body. (In fact, list may be any
non-atomic expression, and successive parts are taken.)
(%i1) for f in [log, rho, atan] do ldisp(f(1))$
(%t1) 0
(%t2) rho(1)
%pi
(%t3) ---
4
(%i4) ev(%t3,numer);
(%o4) 0.78539816
errcatch (expr 1, ..., expr n) Function

Evaluates expr 1, ..., expr n one by one and returns [expr n] (a list) if no error
occurs. If an error occurs in the evaluation of any argument, errcatch prevents the
error from propagating and returns the empty list [] without evaluating any more
arguments.
errcatch is useful in batch files where one suspects an error might occur which would
terminate the batch if the error weren’t caught.
error (expr 1, ..., expr n) Function

error Variable
Evaluates and prints expr 1, ..., expr n, and then causes an error return to top level
Maxima or to the nearest enclosing errcatch.
The variable error is set to a list describing the error. The first element of error is
a format string, which merges all the strings among the arguments expr 1, ..., expr n,
and the remaining elements are the values of any non-string arguments.
errormsg() formats and prints error. This is effectively reprinting the most recent
error message.
errormsg () Function
Reprints the most recent error message. The variable error holds the message, and
errormsg formats and prints it.
for special operator

Used in iterations. See do for a description of Maxima’s iteration facilities.
go (tag) Function
is used within a block to transfer control to the statement of the block which is tagged
with the argument to go. To tag a statement, precede it by an atomic argument as
another statement in the block. For example:
block ([x], x:1, loop, x+1, ..., go(loop), ...)
The argument to go must be the name of a tag appearing in the same block. One
cannot use go to transfer to tag in a block other than the one containing the go.
if special operator
The if statement is used for conditional execution. The syntax is:
if <condition> then <expr_1> else <expr_2>
The result of an if statement is expr 1 if condition is true and expr 2 otherwise.
expr 1 and expr 2 are any Maxima expressions (including nested if statements),
and condition is an expression which evaluates to true or false and is composed of
relational and logical operators which are as follows:
Operation Symbol Type
less than < relational infix

less than <=
or equal to relational infix
384 Maxima Manual
syntactic equality = relational infix

equivalence equal relational function
not equal to # relational infix
greater than >=
or equal to relational infix
greater than > relational infix
and and logical infix
or or logical infix
not not logical prefix
map (f, expr 1, ..., expr n) Function

Returns an expression whose leading operator is the same as that of the expressions
expr 1, ..., expr n but whose subparts are the results of applying f to the correspond-
ing subparts of the expressions. f is either the name of a function of n arguments or
is a lambda form of n arguments.
maperror - if false will cause all of the mapping functions to (1) stop when they
finish going down the shortest expi if not all of the expi are of the same length and
(2) apply fn to [exp1, exp2,...] if the expi are not all the same type of object. If
maperror is true then an error message will be given in the above two instances.
One of the uses of this function is to map a function (e.g. partfrac) onto each term
of a very large expression where it ordinarily wouldn’t be possible to use the function
on the entire expression due to an exhaustion of list storage space in the course of
the computation.
(%i1) map(f,x+a*y+b*z);
(%o1) f(b z) + f(a y) + f(x)
(%i2) map(lambda([u],partfrac(u,x)),x+1/(x^3+4*x^2+5*x+2));
1 1 1
(%o2) ----- - ----- + -------- + x
x + 2 x + 1 2
(x + 1)
(%i3) map(ratsimp, x/(x^2+x)+(y^2+y)/y);
1
(%o3) y + ----- + 1
x + 1
(%i4) map("=",[a,b],[-0.5,3]);
(%o4) [a = - 0.5, b = 3]
mapatom (expr) Function

Returns true if and only if expr is treated by the mapping routines as an atom. "Ma-
patoms" are atoms, numbers (including rational numbers), and subscripted variables.
maperror Variable
Default value: true
When maperror is false, causes all of the mapping functions, for example
map (f, expr_1, expr_2, ...))

to (1) stop when they finish going down the shortest expi if not all of the expi are of
the same length and (2) apply f to [expr_1, expr_2, ...] if the expr_i are not all
the same type of object.
If maperror is true then an error message is displayed in the above two instances.
maplist (f, expr 1, ..., expr n) Function

Returns a list of the applications of f to the parts of the expressions expr 1, ..., expr n.
f is the name of a function, or a lambda expression.
maplist differs from map (f, expr 1, ..., expr n) which returns an expression with
the same main operator as expr i has (except for simplifications and the case where
map does an apply).
prederror Variable
Default value: true
When prederror is true, an error message is displayed whenever the predicate of an
if statement or an is function fails to evaluate to either true or false.
If false, unknown is returned instead in this case. The prederror:false mode is
not supported in translated code.
return (value) Function

May be used to exit explicitly from a block, bringing its argument. See block for
more information.
scanmap (f, expr) Function

scanmap (f, expr, bottomup) Function
Recursively applies f to expr, in a top down manner. This is most useful when
complete factorization is desired, for example:
(%i1) exp:(a^2+2*a+1)*y + x^2$
(%i2) scanmap(factor,exp);
2 2
(%o2) (a + 1) y + x
Note the way in which scanmap applies the given function factor to the constituent
subexpressions of expr; if another form of expr is presented to scanmap then the
result may be different. Thus, %o2 is not recovered when scanmap is applied to the
expanded form of exp:
(%i3) scanmap(factor,expand(exp));
2 2
(%o3) a y + 2 a y + y + x
Here is another example of the way in which scanmap recursively applies a given
function to all subexpressions, including exponents:
(%i4) expr : u*v^(a*x+b) + c$
(%i5) scanmap(’f, expr);
f(f(f(a) f(x)) + f(b))
(%o5) f(f(f(u) f(f(v) )) + f(c))
386 Maxima Manual
scanmap (f, expr, bottomup) applies f to expr in a bottom-up manner. E.g., for
undefined f,
scanmap(f,a*x+b) ->
f(a*x+b) -> f(f(a*x)+f(b)) -> f(f(f(a)*f(x))+f(b))
scanmap(f,a*x+b,bottomup) -> f(a)*f(x)+f(b)
-> f(f(a)*f(x))+f(b) ->
f(f(f(a)*f(x))+f(b))
In this case, you get the same answer both ways.
throw (expr) Function

Evaluates expr and throws the value back to the most recent catch. throw is used
with catch as a nonlocal return mechanism.
Chapter 42: Debugging 387
42 Debugging
42.1 Source Level Debugging

Maxima has a built-in source level debugger. The user can set a breakpoint at a function,
and then step line by line from there. The call stack may be examined, together with the
variables bound at that level.
The command :help or :h shows the list of debugger commands. (In general, commands
may be abbreviated if the abbreviation is unique. If not unique, the alternatives will be
listed.) Within the debugger, the user can also use any ordinary Maxima functions to
examine, define, and manipulate variables and expressions.
A breakpoint is set by the :br command at the Maxima prompt. Within the debugger,
the user can advance one line at a time using the :n (“next”) command. The :bt (“back-
trace”) command shows a list of stack frames. The :r (“resume”) command exits the
debugger and continues with execution. These commands are demonstrated in the example
below.
(%i1) load ("/tmp/foobar.mac");
(%o1) /tmp/foobar.mac
(%i2) :br foo

Turning on debugging debugmode(true)
Bkpt 0 for foo (in /tmp/foobar.mac line 1)
(%i2) bar (2,3);

Bkpt 0:(foobar.mac 1)
/tmp/foobar.mac:1::
(dbm:1) :bt <-- :bt typed here gives a backtrace

#0: foo(y=5)(foobar.mac line 1)
#1: bar(x=2,y=3)(foobar.mac line 9)
(dbm:1) :n <-- Here type :n to advance line

(foobar.mac 2)
/tmp/foobar.mac:2::
(dbm:1) :n <-- Here type :n to advance line

(foobar.mac 3)
/tmp/foobar.mac:3::
(dbm:1) u; <-- Investigate value of u

28
(dbm:1) u: 33; <-- Change u to be 33

33
(dbm:1) :r <-- Type :r to resume the computation

388 Maxima Manual
(%o2) 1094
The file /tmp/foobar.mac is the following:
foo(y) := block ([u:y^2],
u: u+3,
u: u^2,
u);
bar(x,y) := (
x: x+2,
y: y+2,
x: foo(y),
x+y);
USE OF THE DEBUGGER THROUGH EMACS
If the user is running the code under GNU emacs in a shell window (dbl shell), or is
running the graphical interface version, xmaxima, then if he stops at a break point, he will
see his current position in the source file which will be displayed in the other half of the
window, either highlighted in red, or with a little arrow pointing at the right line. He can
advance single lines at a time by typing M-n (Alt-n).
Under Emacs you should run in a dbl shell, which requires the dbl.el file in the elisp
directory. Make sure you install the elisp files or add the Maxima elisp directory to your
path: e.g., add the following to your ‘.emacs’ file or the site-init.el
(setq load-path (cons "/usr/share/maxima/5.9.1/emacs" load-path))
(autoload ’dbl "dbl")
then in emacs
M-x dbl
should start a shell window in which you can run programs, for example Maxima, gcl,
gdb etc. This shell window also knows about source level debugging, and display of source
code in the other window.
The user may set a break point at a certain line of the file by typing C-x space. This
figures out which function the cursor is in, and then it sees which line of that function the
cursor is on. If the cursor is on, say, line 2 of foo, then it will insert in the other window
the command, “:br foo 2”, to break foo at its second line. To have this enabled, the
user must have maxima-mode.el turned on in the window in which the file foobar.mac is
visiting. There are additional commands available in that file window, such as evaluating
the function into the Maxima, by typing Alt-Control-x.
42.2 Keyword Commands

Keyword commands are special keywords which are not interpreted as Maxima expres-
sions. A keyword command can be entered at the Maxima prompt or the debugger prompt,
although not at the break prompt. Keyword commands start with a colon, ’:’. For example,
to evaluate a Lisp form you may type :lisp followed by the form to be evaluated.
(%i1) :lisp (+ 2 3)
5
The number of arguments taken depends on the particular command. Also, you need
not type the whole command, just enough to be unique among the break keywords. Thus
:br would suffice for :break.
The keyword commands are listed below.
:break F n
Set a breakpoint in function F at line offset n from the beginning of the function.
If F is given as a string, then it is assumed to be a file, and n is the offset from
the beginning of the file. The offset is optional. If not given, it is assumed to
be zero (first line of the function or file).
:bt Print a backtrace of the stack frames
:continue
Continue the computation
:delete Delete the specified breakpoints, or all if none are specified
:disable Disable the specified breakpoints, or all if none are specified
:enable Enable the specified breakpoints, or all if none are specified
:frame n Print stack frame n, or the current frame if none is specified
:help Print help on a debugger command, or all commands if none is specified
:info Print information about item
:lisp some-form
Evaluate some-form as a Lisp form
:lisp-quiet some-form
Evaluate Lisp form some-form without any output
:next Like :step, except :next steps over function calls
:quit Quit the current debugger level without completing the computation
:resume Continue the computation
:step Continue the computation until it reaches a new source line
:top Return to the Maxima prompt (from any debugger level) without completing
the computation
42.3 Definitions for Debugging
refcheck Variable
When refcheck is true, Maxima prints a message each time a bound variable is used
for the first time in a computation.
390 Maxima Manual
setcheck Variable
If setcheck is set to a list of variables (which can be subscripted), Maxima prints
a message whenever the variables, or subscripted occurrences of them, are bound
with the ordinary assignment operator :, the :: assignment operator, or function
argument binding, but not the function assignment := nor the macro assignment ::=
operators. The message comprises the name of the variable and the value it is bound
to.
setcheck may be set to all or true thereby including all variables.
Each new assignment of setcheck establishes a new list of variables to check, and
any variables previously assigned to setcheck are forgotten.
The names assigned to setcheck must be quoted if they would otherwise evaluate
to something other than themselves. For example, if x, y, and z are already bound,
then enter
setcheck: [’x, ’y, ’z]$
to put them on the list of variables to check.
No printout is generated when a variable on the setcheck list is assigned to itself,
e.g., X: ’X.
setcheckbreak Variable
When setcheckbreak is true, Maxima will present a break prompt whenever a
variable on the setcheck list is assigned a new value. The break occurs before the
assignment is carried out. At this point, setval holds the value to which the variable
is about to be assigned. Hence, one may assign a different value by assigning to
setval.
See also setcheck and setval.
setval Variable
Holds the value to which a variable is about to be set when a setcheckbreak occurs.
Hence, one may assign a different value by assigning to setval.
See also setcheck and setcheckbreak.
timer (f 1, ..., f n) Function

timer () Function
Given functions f 1, ..., f n, timer puts each one on the list of functions for which
timing statistics are collected. timer(f)$ timer(g)$ puts f and then g onto the list;
the list accumulates from one call to the next.
With no arguments, timer returns the list of timed functions.
Maxima records how much time is spent executing each function on the list of timed
functions. timer_info returns the timing statistics, including the average time
elapsed per function call, the number of calls, and the total time elapsed. untimer
removes functions from the list of timed functions.
timer quotes its arguments. f(x) := x^2$ g:f$ timer(g)$ does not put f on the
timer list.
If trace(f) is in effect, then timer(f) has no effect; trace and timer cannot both
be in effect at the same time.
See also timer_devalue.
untimer (f 1, ..., f n) Function

untimer () Function
Given functions f 1, ..., f n, untimer removes each function from the timer list.
With no arguments, untimer removes all functions currently on the timer list.
After untimer (f) is executed, timer_info (f) still returns previously collected tim-
ing statistics, although timer_info() (with no arguments) does not return informa-
tion about any function not currently on the timer list. timer (f) resets all timing
statistics to zero and puts f on the timer list again.
timer devalue Variable

When timer_devalue is true, Maxima subtracts from each timed function the time
spent in other timed functions. Otherwise, the time reported for each function in-
cludes the time spent in other functions. Note that time spent in untimed functions
is not subtracted from the total time.
See also timer and timer_info.
timer info (f 1, ..., f n) Function

timer info () Function
Given functions f 1, ..., f n, timer_info returns a matrix containing timing informa-
tion for each function. With no arguments, timer_info returns timing information
for all functions currently on the timer list.
The matrix returned by timer_info contains the function name, time per function
call, number of function calls, total time, and gctime, which meant "garbage collec-
tion time" in the original Macsyma but is now always zero.
The data from which timer_info constructs its return value can also be obtained by
the get function:
get(f, ’calls); get(f, ’runtime); get(f, ’gctime);
See also timer.
trace (f 1, ..., f n) Function

trace () Function
Given functions f 1, ..., f n, trace instructs Maxima to print out debugging informa-
tion whenever those functions are called. trace(f)$ trace(g)$ puts f and then g
onto the list of functions to be traced; the list accumulates from one call to the next.
With no arguments, trace returns a list of all the functions currently being traced.
The untrace function disables tracing. See also trace_options.
392 Maxima Manual
trace quotes its arguments. Thus, f(x) := x^2$ g:f$ trace(g)$ does not put f on
the trace list.
When a function is redefined, it is removed from the timer list. Thus after timer(f)$
f(x) := x^2$, function f is no longer on the timer list.
If timer (f) is in effect, then trace (f) has no effect; trace and timer can’t both
be in effect for the same function.
trace options (f, option 1, ..., option n) Function

trace options (f ) Function
Sets the trace options for function f. Any previous options are superseded. trace_
options (f, ...) has no effect unless trace (f ) is also called (either before or after
trace_options).
trace_options (f ) resets all options to their default values.
The option keywords are:
• noprint Do not print a message at function entry and exit.
• break Put a breakpoint before the function is entered, and after the function is
exited. See break.
• lisp_print Display arguments and return values as Lisp objects.
• info Print -> true at function entry and exit.
• errorcatch Catch errors, giving the option to signal an error, retry the function
call, or specify a return value.
Trace options are specified in two forms. The presence of the option keyword alone
puts the option into effect unconditionally. (Note that option foo is not put into
effect by specifying foo: true or a similar form; note also that keywords need not be
quoted.) Specifying the option keyword with a predicate function makes the option
conditional on the predicate.
The argument list to the predicate function is always [level, direction, function,
item] where level is the recursion level for the function, direction is either enter
or exit, function is the name of the function, and item is the argument list (on
entering) or the return value (on exiting).
Here is an example of unconditional trace options:
(%i1) ff(n) := if equal(n, 0) then 1 else n * ff(n - 1)$
(%i2) trace (ff)$
(%i3) trace_options (ff, lisp_print, break)$
(%i4) ff(3);
Here is the same function, with the break option conditional on a predicate:
(%i5) trace_options (ff, break(pp))$
(%i6) pp (level, direction, function, item) := block (print (item),

return (function = ’ff and level = 3 and direction = exit))$
(%i7) ff(6);
untrace (f 1, ..., f n) Function

untrace () Function
Given functions f 1, ..., f n, untrace disables tracing enabled by the trace function.
With no arguments, untrace disables tracing for all functions.
untrace returns a list of the functions for which it disabled tracing.
394 Maxima Manual
Chapter 43: Indices 395
43 Indices
396 Maxima Manual
Appendix A: Function and Variable Index 397
Appendix A Function and Variable Index
" additive (special symbol) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

"!!" (operator) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 addrow (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
"!" (operator) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 adim (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
"#" (operator) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 adjoint (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
"’" (operator) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 af (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
"’’" (operator) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 aform (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
"." (operator) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 airy (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
":" (operator) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 alg_type (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
"::" (operator) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 algebraic (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
"::=" (operator) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 algepsilon (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
":=" (operator) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 algexact (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
"=" (operator) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 algsys (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
"?" (special symbol) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 alias (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
"[" (special symbol) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 aliases (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
"|" (special symbol) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 all_dotsimp_denoms (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
"~" (special symbol) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 allbut (keyword) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
allroots (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
allsym (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
% alphabetic (declaration) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
and (operator) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
% (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 antid (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
%% (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 antidiff (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
%e (Constant) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 antisymmetric (declaration) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
%e_to_numlog (option variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 append (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
%edispflag (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 appendfile (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
%emode (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
apply (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
%enumer (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
apply1 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
%gamma (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
apply2 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
%inf (Constant) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
applyb1 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
%infinity (Constant) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
apropos (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
%minf (Constant) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
args (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
%rnum_list (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
array (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
%th (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
arrayapply (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
arrayinfo (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
arraymake (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
? arrays (system variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
?round (Lisp function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 asec (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
?truncate (Lisp function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 asech (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
asin (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
asinh (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
A askexp (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
abasep (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 askinteger (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
abs (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 asksign (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
absboxchar (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 assoc (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
absint (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 assoc_legendre_p (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
acos (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 assoc_legendre_q (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
acosh (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 assume (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
acot (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 assume_pos (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
acoth (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 assume_pos_pred (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
acsc (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 assumescalar (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
acsch (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 asymbol (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
activate (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 asympa (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
activecontexts (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 at (Function). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
addcol (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 atan (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
398 Maxima Manual
atan2 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 cartan (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

atanh (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 catch (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
atensimp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297 cauchysum (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
atom (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357 cbffac (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
atomgrad (property) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 cdisplay (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
atrig1 (Package) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 cf (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
atvalue (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154, 155 cfdisrep (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
augcoefmatrix (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 cfexpand (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
av (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 cflength (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
cframe_flag (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
cgeodesic (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
B changename (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
backsubst (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 changevar (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
backtrace (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379 charpoly (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
bashindices (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 chebyshev_t (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
batch (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 chebyshev_u (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
batchload (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 check_overlaps (Function). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
bc2 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 checkdiv (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
bdvac (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 christof (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
berlefact (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 closefile (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
bern (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 closeps (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
bernpoly (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 cmetric (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
bessel (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 cnonmet_flag (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
bessel_i (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 coeff (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
bessel_j (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 coefmatrix (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
bessel_k (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 cograd (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
bessel_y (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 col (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
besselexpand (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 collapse (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
beta (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 columnvector (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
bezout (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 combine (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
bffac (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 commutative (declaration) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
bfhzeta (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 comp2pui (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
bfloat (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 compfile (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
bfloatp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 compile (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
bfpsi (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 compile_file (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
bfpsi0 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 components (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
bftorat (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 concat (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
bftrunc (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 conj (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
bfzeta (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 conjugate (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
bimetric (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 conmetderiv (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
binomial (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 cons (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
block (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365 constant (special operator) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
bothcoef (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 constantp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
box (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 cont2part (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
boxchar (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 content (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
break (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365 context (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
breakup (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 contexts (Variable). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
bug_report (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 contortion (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
build_info (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 contract (Function). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245, 319
buildq (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362 contragrad (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
burn (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 coord (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
copylist (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
copymatrix (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
C cos (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
cabs (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 cosh (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
canform (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 cosnpiflag (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
canten (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 cot (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
carg (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 coth (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
covdiff (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 dim (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

covect (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 dimension (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
create_list (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 direct (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
csc (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 disolate (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
csch (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 disp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
csetup (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 dispcon (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
ct_coords (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 dispflag (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
ct_coordsys (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 dispform (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
ctaylor (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 dispfun (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
ctaypov (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 display (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
ctaypt (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 display_format_internal (Variable) . . . . . . . . . 76
ctayswitch (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 display2d (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
ctayvar (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 disprule (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
ctorsion_flag (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 dispterms (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
ctransform (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282 distrib (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
ctrgsimp (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 divide (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
current_let_rule_package (Variable) . . . . . . . 347 divsum (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
do (special operator) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
doallmxops (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
D domain (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
dblint (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 domxexpt (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
deactivate (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 domxmxops (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
debugmode (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 domxnctimes (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
declare (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 dontfactor (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
declare_translated (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377 doscmxops (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
declare_weight (Function). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 doscmxplus (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
decsym (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 dot0nscsimp (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
default_let_rule_package (Variable) . . . . . . . 347 dot0simp (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
defcon (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 dot1simp (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
define (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366 dotassoc (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
define_variable (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367 dotconstrules (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
defint (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 dotdistrib (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
defmatch (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348 dotexptsimp (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
defrule (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349 dotident (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
deftaylor (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299 dotscrules (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
del (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 dotsimp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
delete (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358 dpart (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
deleten (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 dscalar (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159, 284
delta (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
demo (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
demoivre (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 E
demoivre (Variable). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 echelon (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
denom (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 eigenvalues (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
dependencies (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 eigenvectors (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
depends (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 eighth (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
derivabbrev (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 einstein (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
derivdegree (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 eivals (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
derivlist (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 eivects (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
derivsubst (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 ele2comp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
describe (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 ele2polynome (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
desolve (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 ele2pui (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
determinant (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 elem (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
detout (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 eliminate (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
diagmatrix (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 elliptic_e (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
diagmatrixp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 elliptic_ec (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
diagmetric (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 elliptic_eu (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
diff (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158, 253 elliptic_f (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
diff (special symbol) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 elliptic_kc (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
400 Maxima Manual
elliptic_pi (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 fasttimes (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

ematrix (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 fb (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
endcons (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358 feature (declaration) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
entermatrix (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 featurep (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
entertensor (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 features (declaration) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
entier (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 fft (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
equal (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 fib (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
equalp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 fibtophi (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
erf (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
fifth (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
erfflag (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
file_search (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
errcatch (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
error (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383 file_search_demo (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
error (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383 file_search_lisp (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
error_size (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 file_search_maxima (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
error_syms (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 file_type (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
errormsg (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383 filename_merge (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
euler (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314 fillarray (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
ev (Function). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 findde (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
eval (operator) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 first (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
evenp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 fix (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
every (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358 flatten (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
evflag (property) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 flipflag (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
evfun (property) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 float (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
evundiff (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 float2bf (Variable). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
example (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 floatnump (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
exp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
flush (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
expand (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
flush1deriv (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
expandwrt (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
flushd (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
expandwrt_denom (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
expandwrt_factored (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 flushnd (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
explose (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322 for (special operator) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
expon (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 forget (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
exponentialize (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 fortindent (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
exponentialize (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 fortran (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
expop (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 fortspaces (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
express (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 fourcos (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
expt (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 fourexpand (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
exptdispflag (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 fourier (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
exptisolate (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 fourint (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
exptsubst (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 fourintcos (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
extdiff (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 fourintsin (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
extract_linear_equations (Function) . . . . . . . 236 foursimp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
ezgcd (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 foursin (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
fourth (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
F fpprec (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
fpprintprec (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
facexpand (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 frame_bracket (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
factcomb (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
freeof (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
factlim (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
fullmap (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
factor (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
factorflag (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 fullmapl (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
factorial (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314 fullratsimp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
factorout (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 fullratsubst (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
factorsum (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 funcsolve (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
facts (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 functions (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
false (Constant) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 fundef (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
fast_central_elements (Function) . . . . . . . . . . 236 funmake (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
fast_linsolve (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 funp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
G ifc2 (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

gamma (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 ifg (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
gammalim (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 ifgi (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
gauss (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 ifr (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
gcd (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 iframe_bracket_form (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
gcdex (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108, 109 iframes (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
gcfactor (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 ifri (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
gdet (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 ift (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
gen_laguerre (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 igeodesic_coords (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
genfact (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 igeowedge_flag (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
genindex (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340 ikt1 (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
genmatrix (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 ikt2 (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
gensumnum (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340 ilt (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
get (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359 imagpart (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
getchar (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 imetric (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
gfactor (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 in_netmath (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
gfactorsum (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 inchar (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
globalsolve (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 indexed_tensor (Function). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
go (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383 indices (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44, 243
gradef (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 inf (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
gradefs (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 infeval (special symbol) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
gramschmidt (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 infinity (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
grind (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 infix (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
grind (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 inflag (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
grobner_basis (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 infolists (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
gschmit (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 init_atensor (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
init_ctensor (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
inm (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
H inmc1 (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
hach (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 inmc2 (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
halfangles (option variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 innerproduct (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
hermite (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 inpart (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
hipow (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 inprod (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
horner (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 inrt (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
integerp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
integrate (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
I integrate_use_rootsof (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . 169
i0 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 integration_constant_counter (Variable) . . . 169
i1 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 interpolate (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
ibase (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 intfaclim (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
ic_convert (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 intopois (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
ic1 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 intosum (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
ic2 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 intpolabs (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
icc1 (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 intpolerror (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
icc2 (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260 intpolrel (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
ichr1 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 invariant1 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
ichr2 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 invariant2 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
icounter (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248 inverse_jacobi_cd (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
icurvature (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 inverse_jacobi_cn (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
ident (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 inverse_jacobi_cs (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
idiff (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 inverse_jacobi_dc (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
idummy (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248 inverse_jacobi_dn (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
idummyx (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248 inverse_jacobi_ds (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
ieqn (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 inverse_jacobi_nc (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
ieqnprint (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 inverse_jacobi_nd (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
if (special operator) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383 inverse_jacobi_ns (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
ifb (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 inverse_jacobi_sc (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
ifc1 (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260 inverse_jacobi_sd (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
402 Maxima Manual
inverse_jacobi_sn (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 leinstein (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

invert (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 length (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
is (Function). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 let (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
ishow (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 let_rule_packages (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
isolate (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 letrat (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
isolate_wrt_times (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
letrules (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
isqrt (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
letsimp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
itr (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
levi_civita (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
lfg (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
J lfreeof (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
j0 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 lg (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
j1 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 lgtreillis (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
jacobi (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 lhospitallim (option variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
jacobi_cd (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 lhs (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
jacobi_cn (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 liediff (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
jacobi_cs (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 limit (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
jacobi_dc (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 limsubst (option variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
jacobi_dn (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 linear (declaration) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
jacobi_ds (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 linechar (Variable). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
jacobi_nc (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
linel (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
jacobi_nd (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
linenum (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
jacobi_ns (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
jacobi_p (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 linsolve (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
jacobi_sc (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 linsolve_params (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
jacobi_sd (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 linsolvewarn (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
jacobi_sn (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 list_nc_monomials (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
jn (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 listarith (option variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
listarray (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
listconstvars (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
K listdummyvars (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
kdels (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 listoftens (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
kdelta (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248 listofvars (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
keepfloat (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 listp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
kill (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 19 lmxchar (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
killcontext (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
load (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
kinvariant (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
loadfile (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
kostka (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
kt (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 loadprint (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
local (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
log (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
L logabs (option variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
labels (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 logarc (option variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
labels (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 logconcoeffp (option variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
laguerre (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 logcontract (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
lambda (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369 logexpand (option variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
laplace (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 lognegint (option variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
lassociative (declaration) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 lognumer (option variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
last (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359 logsimp (option variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
lc_l (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 lopow (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
lc_u (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
lorentz_gauge (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
lc2kdt (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
lpart (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
lcm (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
ldefint (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 lratsubst (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
ldisp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 lriem (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
ldisplay (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 lriemann (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
legendre_p (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 lsum (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
legendre_q (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 ltreillis (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
M N
m1pbranch (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341 nc_degree (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
macroexpansion (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371 ncexpt (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
mainvar (declaration) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 ncharpoly (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
negdistrib (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
make_array (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
negsumdispflag (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
make_random_state (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 newcontext (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
make_transform (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 newdet (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
makebox (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 newton (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
makefact (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 niceindices (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
makegamma (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 niceindicespref (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
makelist (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359 ninth (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
map (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384 nm (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
mapatom (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384 nmc (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
maperror (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384 noeval (special symbol) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
nolabels (Variable). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
maplist (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
nonmetricity (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
matchdeclare (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351 nonscalar (declaration) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
matchfix (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352 nonscalarp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
matrix (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 not (operator) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
matrix_element_add (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 noun (declaration) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
matrix_element_mult (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 noundisp (Variable). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
matrix_element_transpose (Variable) . . . . . . . 227 nounify (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
matrixmap (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 nouns (special symbol) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
matrixp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 np (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
mattrace (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228 npi (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
nptetrad (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
max (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
nroots (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
maxapplydepth (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 nterms (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
maxapplyheight (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 ntermst (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
maxnegex (Variable). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 nthroot (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
maxposex (Variable). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 ntrig (Package) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
maxtayorder (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 num (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
member (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360 numberp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
min (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 numer (special symbol) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
minfactorial (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 numerval (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
minor (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228 numfactor (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
nusum (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
mod (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
mode_check_errorp (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
mode_check_warnp (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372 O
mode_checkp (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
obase (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
mode_declare (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372 oddp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
mode_identity (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372 ode2 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
modulus (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 op (Function). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
mon2schur (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323 openplot_curves (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
mono (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 operatorp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
monomial_dimensions (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 opproperties (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
multi_elem (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323 opsubst (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
multi_orbit (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324 optimize (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
multi_pui (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324 optimprefix (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
optionset (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
multinomial (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
or (operator) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
multiplicative (declaration) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 orbit (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
multiplicities (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 ordergreat (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
multsym (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324 ordergreatp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
multthru (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 orderless (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
myoptions (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 orderlessp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
404 Maxima Manual
outative (declaration) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 props (special symbol) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

outchar (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 propvars (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
outofpois (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 pscom (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
psdraw_curve (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
psexpand (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
P psi (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138, 279
packagefile (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 pui (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
pade (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302 pui_direct (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
part (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 pui2comp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
part2cont (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325 pui2ele (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
partfrac (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 pui2polynome (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
partition (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 puireduc (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
partpol (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325 put (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
partswitch (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
permanent (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
permut (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325 Q
petrov (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280 qput (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
pfeformat (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 qq (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
pi (Constant) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 quad_qag (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
pickapart (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 quad_qagi (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
piece (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 quad_qags (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
playback (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 quad_qawc (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
plog (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 quad_qawf (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
plot_options (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 quad_qawo (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
plot2d (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 quad_qaws (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
plot2d_ps (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 quanc8 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
plot3d (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 quit (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
poisdiff (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 qunit (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
poisexpt (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 quotient (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
poisint (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
poislim (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
poismap (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 R
poisplus (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 radcan (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
poissimp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 radexpand (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
poisson (special symbol) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 radsubstflag (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
poissubst (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 random (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
poistimes (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 rank (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
poistrim (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 rassociative (declaration) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
polarform (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 rat (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
polartorect (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199, 200 ratalgdenom (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
polynome2ele (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325 ratchristof (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
posfun (declaration) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 ratcoef (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
potential (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 ratdenom (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
powerdisp (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 ratdenomdivide (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
powers (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 ratdiff (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
powerseries (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 ratdisrep (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
pred (operator) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 rateinstein (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
prederror (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385 ratepsilon (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
primep (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316 ratexpand (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
print (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 ratexpand (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
printpois (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 ratfac (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
printprops (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 ratmx (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
prodhack (Variable). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 ratnumer (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
prodrac (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325 ratnump (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
product (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 ratp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
programmode (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 ratprint (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
prompt (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 ratriemann (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
properties (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342 ratsimp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
ratsimpexpons (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 risch (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

ratsubst (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 rmxchar (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
ratvars (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 rncombine (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
ratvars (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 romberg (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
ratweight (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118, 119 rombergabs (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
ratweights (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 rombergit (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
ratweyl (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 rombergmin (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
ratwtlvl (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 rombergtol (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
read (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 room (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
readonly (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 rootsconmode (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
realonly (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 rootscontract (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
realpart (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 rootsepsilon (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
realroots (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 row (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
rearray (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 run_testsuite (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
rectform (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
recttopolar (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199, 200
rediff (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 S
refcheck (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389 save (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
rem (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343 savedef (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
remainder (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 savefactors (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
remarray (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 scalarmatrixp (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
rembox (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 scalarp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
remcomps (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 scalefactors (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
remcon (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 scanmap (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
remcoord (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 schur2comp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
remfun (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 sconcat (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
remfunction (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 scsimp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
remlet (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353 scurvature (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
remove (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343 sec (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
remrule (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353 sech (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
remsym (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 second (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
remvalue (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344 set_plot_option (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
rename (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 set_random_state (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
reset (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 set_up_dot_simplifications (Function). . . . . 235
residue (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 setcheck (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390
resolvante (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328 setcheckbreak (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390
resolvante_alternee1 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . 331 setelmx (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
resolvante_bipartite (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . 332 setup_autoload (Function). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
resolvante_diedrale (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . 332 setval (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390
resolvante_klein (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332 seventh (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
resolvante_klein3 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332 sf (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
resolvante_produit_sym (Function) . . . . . . . . . 333 show (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
resolvante_unitaire (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . 333 showcomps (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
resolvante_vierer (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333 showratvars (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
rest (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360 showtime (Variable). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
resultant (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 sign (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
resultant (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 signum (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
return (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385 similaritytransform (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
reveal (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 simpsum (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
reverse (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360 simtran (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
revert (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304 sin (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
revert2 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304 sinh (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
rhs (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 sinnpiflag (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
ric (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 sixth (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
ricci (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 solve (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
riem (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 solve_inconsistent_error (Variable) . . . . . . . 194
riemann (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 solvedecomposes (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
rinvariant (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 solveexplicit (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
406 Maxima Manual
solvefactors (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 tensorkill (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

solvenullwarn (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 tentex (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
solveradcan (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 tenth (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
solvetrigwarn (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 tex (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
somrac (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334 third (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
sort (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 throw (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386
sparse (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230 time (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
spherical_bessel_j (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 timer (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390
spherical_bessel_y (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 timer_devalue (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
spherical_hankel1 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 timer_info (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
spherical_hankel2 (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 tldefint (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
spherical_harmonic (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 tlimit (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
splice (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362 tlimswitch (option variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
sqfr (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 to_lisp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
sqrt (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 todd_coxeter (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
sqrtdispflag (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 totaldisrep (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
sstatus (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 totalfourier (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
stardisp (Variable). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 totient (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
status (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338 tpartpol (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
string (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 tr (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
stringout (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 tr_array_as_ref (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
sublis (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 tr_bound_function_applyp (Variable) . . . . . . . 375
sublis_apply_lambda (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 tr_file_tty_messagesp (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . 375
sublist (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 tr_float_can_branch_complex (Variable) . . . . 375
submatrix (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 tr_function_call_default (Variable) . . . . . . . 375
subst (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 tr_numer (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
substinpart (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 tr_optimize_max_loop (Variable). . . . . . . . . . . . 376
substpart (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 tr_semicompile (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
subvarp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 tr_state_vars (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
sum (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 tr_warn_bad_function_calls (Variable) . . . . . 376
sumcontract (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 tr_warn_fexpr (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
sumexpand (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 tr_warn_meval (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
sumhack (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 tr_warn_mode (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
sumsplitfact (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 tr_warn_undeclared (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
supcontext (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 tr_warn_undefined_variable (Variable) . . . . . 377
symbolp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 tr_warnings_get (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
symmetric (declaration) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 tr_windy (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
symmetricp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 trace (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
system (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 trace_options (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
transcompile (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
translate (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
T translate_file (Function). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
tan (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 transpose (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
tanh (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 transrun (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
taylor (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 treillis (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
taylor_logexpand (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308 treinat (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
taylor_order_coefficients (Variable) . . . . . . 309 triangularize (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
taylor_simplifier (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309 trigexpand (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
taylor_truncate_polynomials (Variable) . . . . 309 trigexpandplus (option variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
taylordepth (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308 trigexpandtimes (option variable) . . . . . . . . . . . 130
taylorinfo (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308 triginverses (option variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
taylorp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308 trigrat (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
taytorat (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309 trigreduce (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
tcl_output (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 trigsign (option variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
tcontract (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334 trigsimp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
tellrat (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 true (Constant) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
tellsimp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354 trunc (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
tellsimpafter (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355 ttyoff (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
U vectorpotential (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
ueivects (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 vectorsimp (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
ufg (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 verb (special symbol) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
ug (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 verbify (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
ultraspherical (Function). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 verbose (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
undiff (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
uniteigenvectors (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
unitvector (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
W
unknown (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 weyl (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
unorder (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 weyl (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
unsum (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309 with_stdout (Macro) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
untellrat (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 writefile (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
untimer (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
untrace (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
uric (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 X
uricci (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 xgraph_curves (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
uriem (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 xthru (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
uriemann (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
use_fast_arrays (option variable) . . . . . . . . . . . 211
uvect (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 Z
zerobern (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
zeroequiv (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
V zeromatrix (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
values (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 zeta (Function) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
vect_cross (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 zeta%pi (Variable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
408 Maxima Manual
i
Short Contents
.............................................. 1
1 Introduction to Maxima . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 Bug Detection and Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3 Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4 Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
5 Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
6 Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
7 Simplification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
8 Plotting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
9 Input and Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
10 Floating Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
11 Contexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
12 Polynomials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
13 Constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
14 Logarithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
15 Trigonometric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
16 Special Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
17 Orthogonal Polynomials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
18 Elliptic Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
19 Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
20 Differentiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
21 Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
22 Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
23 Differential Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
24 Numerical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
25 Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
26 Arrays and Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
27 Matrices and Linear Algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
28 Affine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
29 itensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
30 ctensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
31 atensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
32 Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
33 Number Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
34 Symmetries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
ii Maxima Manual
35 Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
36 Runtime Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
37 Miscellaneous Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
38 Rules and Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
39 Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
40 Function Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
41 Program Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
42 Debugging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
43 Indices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
A Function and Variable Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
iii
Table of Contents
.............................................. 1
1 Introduction to Maxima . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 Bug Detection and Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2.1 Introduction to Bug Detection and Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2 Definitions for Bug Detection and Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3 Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.1 Introduction to Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.2 Lisp and Maxima . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.3 Garbage Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.4 Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.5 Definitions for Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4 Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.1 Introduction to Command Line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.2 Definitions for Command Line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
5 Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
5.1 nary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
5.2 nofix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
5.3 operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
5.4 postfix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
5.5 prefix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
5.6 Definitions for Operators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
6 Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6.1 Introduction to Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6.2 Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6.3 Complex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6.4 Inequality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.5 Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.6 Definitions for Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
7 Simplification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
7.1 Definitions for Simplification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
8 Plotting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
8.1 Definitions for Plotting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
iv Maxima Manual
9 Input and Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

9.1 Introduction to Input and Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
9.2 Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
9.3 Definitions for Input and Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
10 Floating Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
10.1 Definitions for Floating Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
11 Contexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
11.1 Definitions for Contexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
12 Polynomials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
12.1 Introduction to Polynomials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
12.2 Definitions for Polynomials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
13 Constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
13.1 Definitions for Constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
14 Logarithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
14.1 Definitions for Logarithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
15 Trigonometric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
15.1 Introduction to Trigonometric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
15.2 Definitions for Trigonometric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
16 Special Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

16.1 Introduction to Special Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
16.2 specint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
16.3 Definitions for Special Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
17 Orthogonal Polynomials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

17.1 Introduction to Orthogonal Polynomials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
17.2 Definitions for Orthogonal Polynomials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
18 Elliptic Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

18.1 Introduction to Elliptic Functions and Integrals . . . . . . . . 145
18.2 Definitions for Elliptic Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
18.3 Definitions for Elliptic Integrals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
19 Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
19.1 Definitions for Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
20 Differentiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
20.1 Definitions for Differentiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
v
21 Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
21.1 Introduction to Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
21.2 Definitions for Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
22 Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
22.1 Definitions for Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
23 Differential Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

23.1 Definitions for Differential Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
24 Numerical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
24.1 Introduction to Numerical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
24.2 Fourier packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
24.3 Definitions for Numerical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
24.4 Definitions for Fourier Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
25 Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
25.1 Definitions for Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
26 Arrays and Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

26.1 Definitions for Arrays and Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
27 Matrices and Linear Algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

27.1 Introduction to Matrices and Linear Algebra . . . . . . . . . . . 213
27.1.1 Dot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
27.1.2 Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
27.1.3 eigen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
27.2 Definitions for Matrices and Linear Algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
28 Affine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
28.1 Definitions for Affine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
29 itensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
29.1 Introduction to itensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
29.1.1 New tensor notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
29.1.2 Indicial tensor manipulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
29.2 Definitions for itensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
29.2.1 Managing indexed objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
29.2.2 Tensor symmetries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
29.2.3 Indicial tensor calculus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
29.2.4 Tensors in curved spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
29.2.5 Moving frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
29.2.6 Torsion and nonmetricity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
29.2.7 Exterior algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
29.2.8 Exporting TeX expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
29.2.9 Interfacing with ctensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
29.2.10 Reserved words. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
vi Maxima Manual
30 ctensor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
30.1 Introduction to ctensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
30.2 Definitions for ctensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
30.2.1 Initialization and setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
30.2.2 The tensors of curved space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
30.2.3 Taylor series expansion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
30.2.4 Frame fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
30.2.5 Algebraic classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
30.2.6 Torsion and nonmetricity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
30.2.7 Miscellaneous features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
30.2.8 Utility functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
30.2.9 Variables used by ctensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
30.2.10 Reserved names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
30.2.11 Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
31 atensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
31.1 Introduction to atensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
31.2 Definitions for atensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
32 Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
32.1 Introduction to Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
32.2 Definitions for Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
33 Number Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

33.1 Definitions for Number Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
34 Symmetries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
34.1 Definitions for Symmetries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
35 Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
35.1 Definitions for Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
36 Runtime Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

36.1 Introduction for Runtime Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
36.2 Interrupts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
36.3 Definitions for Runtime Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
37 Miscellaneous Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

37.1 Introduction to Miscellaneous Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
37.2 Share . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
37.3 Definitions for Miscellaneous Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
38 Rules and Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

38.1 Introduction to Rules and Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
38.2 Definitions for Rules and Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
vii
39 Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
39.1 Introduction to Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
39.2 Definitions for Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
40 Function Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

40.1 Introduction to Function Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
40.2 Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
40.3 Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
40.3.1 Semantics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
40.3.2 Simplification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
40.4 Definitions for Function Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
41 Program Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

41.1 Introduction to Program Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
41.2 Definitions for Program Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
42 Debugging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
42.1 Source Level Debugging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
42.2 Keyword Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
42.3 Definitions for Debugging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
43 Indices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
Appendix A Function and Variable Index . . . 397

viii Maxima Manual

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Maxima Manual

Maxima is a computer algebra system, implemented in Lisp.

0: (maxima.info)Introduction to Elliptic Functions and Integrals.

Info from file /usr/local/info/maxima.info:

- Function: askinteger (expr, integer)

- Function: askinteger (expr, odd)

‘askinteger (expr, even)’ and ‘askinteger (expr, odd)’ likewise

(%o2) [x = - sqrt(5) %i, x = sqrt(5) %i, x = 3]

2 Bug Detection and Reporting

2.1 Introduction to Bug Detection and Reporting

2.2 Definitions for Bug Detection and Reporting

run testsuite () Function

bug report () Function

build info () Function

3.1 Introduction to Help

Info from file /use/local/maxima/doc/info/maxima.info:

3.2 Lisp and Maxima

(%i1) :lisp (foo $x $y)

3.3 Garbage Collection

ratsimp(f - diff(u, x)))

3.5 Definitions for Help

demo (filename) Function

At the _ prompt, type ’;’ followed by enter to get next demo

(%o5) a (%t5 e + %t4 b)

describe (string) Function

Info from file /use/local/maxima/doc/info/maxima.info:

example (topic) Function

4.1 Introduction to Command Line

4.2 Definitions for Command Line

ev (expr, arg 1, ..., arg n) Function

• expand (m, n) causes expansion, setting the values of maxposex and

If expr is a canonical rational expression (CRE), then the expression returned by

infeval special symbol

kill (symbol 1, ..., symbol n) Function

labels (symbol) Function

printprops (a, i) Function

remfunction (f 1, ..., f n) Function

sstatus (feature, package) Function

5.6 Definitions for Operators

abs (expr) Function

additive special symbol

cabs (expr) Function

entier (x) Function

equal (expr 1, expr 2) Function

(%i1) is (x^2 >= 2*x - 1);

evenp (expr) Function

fix (x) Function

fullmap (f, expr 1, ...) Function

fullmapl (f, list 1, ...) Function

isqrt (x) Function

max (x 1, x 2, ...) Function

min (x 1, x 2, ...) Function

mod (p) Function

oddp (expr) Function

make random state (n) Function

set random state (s) Function

random (x) Function

The functions make_random_state and set_random_state maintain the state of the

sign (expr) Function