Yes, thanks, I've used Mathematica quite a bit in the past.
It also has Eliminate[eqns,vars], which seems very similar to Maxima's
eliminate(...). And Reduce[eqns,vars,elims] seems to do the same thing
also.
The main difficulty with this whole thing is Maxima's error message,
which makes it seem like something is broken.
Kostas
Richard Fateman wrote:
> Mathematica has (at least) two separate commands that are related to this
> issue.
> Reduce
> Solve
>
> It is possible to educate yourself on this topic by reading the Mathematica
> reference manual online.
> For what it is worth it, I think that Mathematica's Reduce is what you want
> here.
>
> RJF
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: maxima-bounces at math.utexas.edu
>> [mailto:maxima-bounces at math.utexas.edu] On Behalf Of Robert Dodier
>> Sent: Monday, April 02, 2007 11:41 AM
>> To: Stavros Macrakis
>> Cc: Maxima
>> Subject: Re: [Maxima] linsolve, final
>>
>> On 4/2/07, Stavros Macrakis <macrakis at alum.mit.edu> wrote:
>>
>>> On 4/2/07, Kostas Oikonomou <ko at research.att.com> wrote:
>>>> However, is the result "Inconsistent equations" really
>> appropriate for [x=2,y=3], [x]?
>>>> I think it would mystify the average user (e.g. me)!
>>>> Shouldn't the result be [x=2]?
>>> I agree that the message is confusing. However, it *is* actually
>>> consistent with the basic meaning of "solve". solve(eqs,vars) means
>>> "return the values of vars which make eqs true". If eqs contain
>>> parameters (i.e. variables which are not members of vars), the
>>> solution must be true for all values of the parameters.
>> I'm sorry, I don't agree with this at all.
>>
>> "Return the values of vars which make eqs true" is one
>> interpretation of
>> solving eqs for var, but another, which seems no less natural,
>> is "conclude what you can about vars given eqs". If eqs includes
>> enough to draw conclusions about vars plus some irrelevant stuff,
>> the presence of the irrelevant stuff is no need for us to fail.
>>
>> Maybe linsolve was written with "return the values of vars which make
>> eqs true" in mind, and if so I suppose that should be reflected in
>> the documentation, but it seems unwarranted to treat that as
>> "THE basic meaning of solve" (emphasis added).
>>
>> FWIW
>> Robert
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