> -----Original Message-----
> From: maxima-bounces at math.utexas.edu
> [mailto:maxima-bounces at math.utexas.edu] On Behalf Of sen1 at math.msu.edu
> If so, how hard would it be to add constants to indefinite integrals?
>
0. Easy to do in a trivial way. Hard to do correctly.
1. It wouldn't solve the original poster's problem, in that students would
still be confused by
Sin^2(x)+ c vs cos^2(x)+c.
Why hard?
Obviously one needs DIFFERENT constants, not just %c. So one has %c[1],
%c[2], ... So then one needs to have simplification. E.g.
%c[1]+%c[2]=%c[3], in the absence of any other occurrences of %c[1] and
%c[2].
How many constants can be made to disappear by the simplifier?
In Neil Soiffer's (UC Berkeley) MS thesis, the answer (for rational
combinations) is essentially, "we can remove the extras, except maybe one.".
It required the computation of a resultant.
RJF