complex expressions



Can this problem be fixed, or is there any workaround?

At 12:57 PM 6/6/2012, Stavros Macrakis wrote:
>Ah, the problem here has nothing to do with cabs.  It is the general simplifier that blindly and incorrectly transforms 'abs(EX)^2 => EX^2, assuming (without checking) that EX is real.
>
>              -s
>
>On Wed, Jun 6, 2012 at 1:49 PM, Henry Baker <hbaker1 at pipeline.com> wrote:
>Yes, it work, but only _after_ I defined my own absolute value function.  See my previous message.
>
>At 10:22 AM 6/6/2012, Stavros Macrakis wrote:
>>What exactly do you consider "hopelessly broken" in this? In other words, which of these outputs would you want to be different, and what would you want them to be?
>>
>>            -s
>>
>>On Wed, Jun 6, 2012 at 12:52 PM, Henry Baker <hbaker1 at pipeline.com> wrote:
>>cabs() and abs() on complex numbers seem hopelessly broken.
>>
>>I defined my own cabs() function:
>>myabs(a):=sqrt(a*conjugate(a));
>>
>>(%i7) myabs(a)^2=realpart(a)^2+imagpart(a)^2;
>>                                         2              2
>>(%o7)            a conjugate(a) = realpart (a) + imagpart (a)
>>(%i8) %,nouns;
>>                                         2              2
>>(%o8)            a conjugate(a) = realpart (a) + imagpart (a)
>>(%i9) %,a=ar+%i*ay;
>>                                         2                       2
>>(%o9) (ar - %i ay) (%i ay + ar) = realpart (%i ay + ar) + imagpart (%i ay + ar)
>>(%i10) %,expand;
>>            2     2           2                       2
>>(%o10)     ay  + ar  = realpart (%i ay + ar) + imagpart (%i ay + ar)
>>(%i11) %,rectform;
>>            2     2           2                       2
>>(%o11)     ay  + ar  = realpart (%i ay + ar) + imagpart (%i ay + ar)
>>(%i12) %,nouns;
>>                              2     2     2     2
>>(%o12)                       ay  + ar  = ay  + ar
>>
>>At 09:31 AM 6/6/2012, Henry Baker wrote:
>>>Yes, but if I do the following, it doesn't work:
>>>
>>>(%i2) cabs(a)^2=realpart(a)^2+imagpart(a)^2;
>>>                           2           2              2
>>>(%o2)                abs(a)  = realpart (a) + imagpart (a)
>>>(%i3) %,a=r+%i*s;
>>>                      2           2                     2
>>>(%o3)       (%i s + r)  = realpart (%i s + r) + imagpart (%i s + r)
>>>(%i4) %,expand;
>>>          2               2           2                     2
>>>(%o4)  - s  + 2 %i r s + r  = realpart (%i s + r) + imagpart (%i s + r)
>>>(%i5) rectform(%);
>>>          2               2           2                     2
>>>(%o5)  - s  + 2 %i r s + r  = realpart (%i s + r) + imagpart (%i s + r)
>>>
>>>At 08:59 AM 6/6/2012, Richard Fateman wrote:
>>>>Henry:
>>>>
>>>>try this:
>>>>
>>>>a:  r+%i*s;
>>>>
>>>>cabs(a)^2= realpart(a)^2 + imagpart(a)^2;
>>>>
>>>>you can say declare(r,real); declare(s,real)  if you wish, but
>>>>it seems to be unnecessary.
>>>>
>>>>RJF
>>>>
>>>>On 6/6/12 8:37 AM, Stavros Macrakis wrote:
>>>>>I believe that cabs(a) used to return sqrt('realpart(a)^2+'imagpart(a)^2), though it now returns 'abs(a) (prints as |a|).  I think the former is more in the spirit of cabs (which is supposed to give you an explicit formula, not just punt to a nounform), so I would consider the current behavior to be a bug.
>>>>>
>>>>>If I remember correctly, a few years ago, someone tried to unify abs and cabs (I objected) -- this may be related to that?
>>>>>
>>>>>As a workaround, you can do cabs(rectform(a))^2 => 'realpart(a)^2+'imagpart(a)^2.  Unfortunately, rectform(abs(a)) currently returns 'abs(a) -- again, I think this is a bug.  If you're starting with the abs form, I suppose you could do subst(lambda([ex],cabs(rectform(ex))),'abs, ... ).
>>>>>
>>>>>                 -s
>>>>>
>>>>>On Wed, Jun 6, 2012 at 11:06 AM, Henry Baker <hbaker1 at pipeline.com> wrote:
>>>>>I'm trying to get maxima to prove that
>>>>>
>>>>>abs(a)^2=realpart(a)^2+imagpart(a)^2.
>>>>>
>>>>>I tell maxima:
>>>>>
>>>>>declare(a,complex);
>>>>>abs(a)^2=realpart(a)^2+imagpart(a)^2;
>>>>>
>>>>>What do I tell maxima to get it to simplify this?