On Jan 16, 2008 9:33 AM, Bart Vandewoestyne
<Bart.Vandewoestyne at telenet.be> wrote:
> (%i1) sum( binomial(s, k), k, 1, s);
> s
> ====
> \
> (%o1) > binomial(s, k)
> /
> ====
> k = 1
As explained by Stavros, Maxima doesn't apply many simplifications
to summations. The methods he mentioned are all applied
by an add-on function named simplify_sum.
load (simplify_sum);
sum (binomial(s, k), k, 1, s);
=> (summation expression)
simplify_sum (%);
=> 2^s - 1
> I really would like to start using Maxima for all my symbolic
> calculations...
That is entirely laudable, and I hope it works out for you.
Be advised, however, that there are many known bugs in Maxima.
We are working on it, and making steady progress, but there is
a lot to do.
best,
Robert Dodier