> I'm trying to integrate a function that is a ratio of
> polynomials in the general form...
Maxima says:
> Polynomial quotient is not exact...
This is a symptom of a bug in the GCD algorithm. Often it will go away
if you set gcd:'spmod and algebraic:true.
> 2) Does this indicate that the function can not be integrated
> at all, or is it a Lisp/Maxima problem?
For some classes of integrand, Maxima uses algorithms which guarantee
that if the integral exists, it will be found. However, Maxima has no
way of communicating to the user whether a given integrand falls into
one of those classes. Maxima implements the transcendental case of the
Risch algorithm (describe(risch)), but not the algebraic case.
> I can post the batch script if it would help. Thanks for any
> suggestions.
It is *always* useful to have a specific reproducible example of a
problem rather than a general description. Ideally, you'd have pared
down the batch script to just the polynomial in question.
-s