Subject: SOLVE not completely solving equations...?
From: Stavros Macrakis
Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2004 13:02:37 -0500
Maxima doesn't ever square equations, even the simplest:
solve(b=sqrt(b),b)
This is because squaring can introduce spurious solutions, and Maxima
doesn't know how to eliminate them.
For example, if you square sqrt(a)=-a and solve, you get the solutions
a=0 and a=1. But a=1 is spurious, since sqrt in Maxima means the
positive square root.