1. # means not equal.
2. no, 3*x+3=0 has the same root as x+1=0, but 3*x+3 and x+1 do not have
the same values everywhere.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: maxima-bounces at math.utexas.edu
> [mailto:maxima-bounces at math.utexas.edu] On Behalf Of Dan Hatton
> Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 6:02 AM
> To: Maxima mailing list
> Subject: Re: [Maxima] to_poly_solve
>
> On Wed, 4 Jun 2008, Barton Willis wrote:
>
> > No, there is no user documentation for either to_poly_solver or
> > to_poly. If you would, report this as a bug and assign the task to
> > me. In the long run, solve should be improved making to_poly_solver
> > unnecessary. Till then, to_poly_solver needs some user
> documentation.
>
> Thanks Barton. I've made the bug report. In the meantime, I took a
> look in the source code, which I think told me what I wanted to know.
> Just to check: when to_poly_solve says "Assuming that expr # 0", does
> the "#" mean "not equal to"?
>
> Something else that arose from the source code... the comments therein
> suggest that to_poly(expr,var) is only intended to produce a
> polynomial with roots at the same values of var as expr, not a
> polynomial that's exactly the same everywhere as expr. So does this
> mean that when I run to_poly_solve(equation,var), I need to make sure
> equation has zero on one side?
>
> --
>
> Thanks again,
>
> Dan Hatton
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