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8 Evaluation


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8.1 Functions and Variables for Evaluation

Operator: '

The single quote operator ' prevents evaluation.

Applied to a symbol, the single quote prevents evaluation of the symbol.

Applied to a function call, the single quote prevents evaluation of the function call, although the arguments of the function are still evaluated (if evaluation is not otherwise prevented). The result is the noun form of the function call.

Applied to a parenthesized expression, the single quote prevents evaluation of all symbols and function calls in the expression. E.g., '(f(x)) means do not evaluate the expression f(x). 'f(x) (with the single quote applied to f instead of f(x)) means return the noun form of f applied to [x].

The single quote does not prevent simplification.

When the global flag noundisp is true, nouns display with a single quote. This switch is always true when displaying function definitions.

See also the quote-quote operator '' and nouns.

Examples:

Applied to a symbol, the single quote prevents evaluation of the symbol.

(%i1) aa: 1024;
(%o1)                         1024
(%i2) aa^2;
(%o2)                        1048576
(%i3) 'aa^2;
                                 2
(%o3)                          aa
(%i4) ''%;
(%o4)                        1048576

Applied to a function call, the single quote prevents evaluation of the function call. The result is the noun form of the function call.

(%i1) x0: 5;
(%o1)                           5
(%i2) x1: 7;
(%o2)                           7
(%i3) integrate (x^2, x, x0, x1);
                               218
(%o3)                          ---
                                3
(%i4) 'integrate (x^2, x, x0, x1);
                             7
                            /
                            [   2
(%o4)                       I  x  dx
                            ]
                            /
                             5
(%i5) %, nouns;
                               218
(%o5)                          ---
                                3

Applied to a parenthesized expression, the single quote prevents evaluation of all symbols and function calls in the expression.

(%i1) aa: 1024;
(%o1)                         1024
(%i2) bb: 19;
(%o2)                          19
(%i3) sqrt(aa) + bb;
(%o3)                          51
(%i4) '(sqrt(aa) + bb);
(%o4)                     bb + sqrt(aa)
(%i5) ''%;
(%o5)                          51

The single quote does not prevent simplification.

(%i1) sin (17 * %pi) + cos (17 * %pi);
(%o1)                          - 1
(%i2) '(sin (17 * %pi) + cos (17 * %pi));
(%o2)                          - 1

Maxima considers floating point operations by its in-built mathematical functions to be a simplification.

(%i1) sin(1.0);
(%o1)                          .8414709848078965
(%i2) '(sin(1.0));
(%o2)                          .8414709848078965

When the global flag noundisp is true, nouns display with a single quote.

(%i1) x:%pi;
(%o1)                                 %pi
(%i2) bfloat(x);
(%o2)                         3.141592653589793b0
(%i3) sin(x);
(%o3)                                  0
(%i4) noundisp;
(%o4)                                false
(%i5) 'bfloat(x);
(%o5)                             bfloat(%pi)
(%i6) bfloat('x);
(%o6)                                  x
(%i7) 'sin(x);
(%o7)                                  0
(%i8) sin('x);
(%o8)                               sin(x)
(%i9) noundisp : not noundisp;
(%o9)                                true
(%i10) 'bfloat(x);
(%o10)                           'bfloat(%pi)
(%i11) bfloat('x);
(%o11)                                 x
(%i12) 'sin(x);
(%o12)                                 0
(%i13) sin('x);
(%o13)                              sin(x)
(%i14)
Categories: Evaluation · Operators ·
Operator: ''

The quote-quote operator '' (two single quote marks) modifies evaluation in input expressions.

Applied to a general expression expr, quote-quote causes the value of expr to be substituted for expr in the input expression.

Applied to the operator of an expression, quote-quote changes the operator from a noun to a verb (if it is not already a verb).

The quote-quote operator is applied by the input parser; it is not stored as part of a parsed input expression. The quote-quote operator is always applied as soon as it is parsed, and cannot be quoted. Thus quote-quote causes evaluation when evaluation is otherwise suppressed, such as in function definitions, lambda expressions, and expressions quoted by single quote '.

Quote-quote is recognized by batch and load.

See also ev, the single-quote operator ' and nouns.

Examples:

Applied to a general expression expr, quote-quote causes the value of expr to be substituted for expr in the input expression.

(%i1) expand ((a + b)^3);
                     3        2      2      3
(%o1)               b  + 3 a b  + 3 a  b + a
(%i2) [_, ''_];
                         3    3        2      2      3
(%o2)     [expand((b + a) ), b  + 3 a b  + 3 a  b + a ]
(%i3) [%i1, ''%i1];
                         3    3        2      2      3
(%o3)     [expand((b + a) ), b  + 3 a b  + 3 a  b + a ]
(%i4) [aa : cc, bb : dd, cc : 17, dd : 29];
(%o4)                   [cc, dd, 17, 29]
(%i5) foo_1 (x) := aa - bb * x;
(%o5)                 foo_1(x) := aa - bb x
(%i6) foo_1 (10);
(%o6)                      cc - 10 dd
(%i7) ''%;
(%o7)                         - 273
(%i8) ''(foo_1 (10));
(%o8)                         - 273
(%i9) foo_2 (x) := ''aa - ''bb * x;
(%o9)                 foo_2(x) := cc - dd x
(%i10) foo_2 (10);
(%o10)                        - 273
(%i11) [x0 : x1, x1 : x2, x2 : x3];
(%o11)                    [x1, x2, x3]
(%i12) x0;
(%o12)                         x1
(%i13) ''x0;
(%o13)                         x2
(%i14) '' ''x0;
(%o14)                         x3

Applied to the operator of an expression, quote-quote changes the operator from a noun to a verb (if it is not already a verb).

(%i1) declare (foo, noun);
(%o1)                         done
(%i2) foo (x) := x - 1729;
(%o2)                 ''foo(x) := x - 1729
(%i3) foo (100);
(%o3)                       foo(100)
(%i4) ''foo (100);
(%o4)                        - 1629

The quote-quote operator is applied by the input parser; it is not stored as part of a parsed input expression.

(%i1) [aa : bb, cc : dd, bb : 1234, dd : 5678];
(%o1)                 [bb, dd, 1234, 5678]
(%i2) aa + cc;
(%o2)                        dd + bb
(%i3) display (_, op (_), args (_));
                           _ = cc + aa

                         op(cc + aa) = +

                    args(cc + aa) = [cc, aa]

(%o3)                         done
(%i4) ''(aa + cc);
(%o4)                         6912
(%i5) display (_, op (_), args (_));
                           _ = dd + bb

                         op(dd + bb) = +

                    args(dd + bb) = [dd, bb]

(%o5)                         done

Quote-quote causes evaluation when evaluation is otherwise suppressed, such as in function definitions, lambda expressions, and expressions quoted by single quote '.

(%i1) foo_1a (x) := ''(integrate (log (x), x));
(%o1)               foo_1a(x) := x log(x) - x
(%i2) foo_1b (x) := integrate (log (x), x);
(%o2)           foo_1b(x) := integrate(log(x), x)
(%i3) dispfun (foo_1a, foo_1b);
(%t3)               foo_1a(x) := x log(x) - x

(%t4)           foo_1b(x) := integrate(log(x), x)

(%o4)                      [%t3, %t4]
(%i5) integrate (log (x), x);
(%o5)                     x log(x) - x
(%i6) foo_2a (x) := ''%;
(%o6)               foo_2a(x) := x log(x) - x
(%i7) foo_2b (x) := %;
(%o7)                    foo_2b(x) := %
(%i8) dispfun (foo_2a, foo_2b);
(%t8)               foo_2a(x) := x log(x) - x

(%t9)                    foo_2b(x) := %

(%o9)                      [%t7, %t8]
(%i10) F : lambda ([u], diff (sin (u), u));
(%o10)             lambda([u], diff(sin(u), u))
(%i11) G : lambda ([u], ''(diff (sin (u), u)));
(%o11)                  lambda([u], cos(u))
(%i12) '(sum (a[k], k, 1, 3) + sum (b[k], k, 1, 3));
(%o12)         sum(b , k, 1, 3) + sum(a , k, 1, 3)
                    k                  k
(%i13) '(''(sum (a[k], k, 1, 3)) + ''(sum (b[k], k, 1, 3)));
(%o13)             b  + a  + b  + a  + b  + a
                    3    3    2    2    1    1
Categories: Evaluation · Operators ·
Function: ev (expr, arg_1, …, arg_n)

Evaluates the expression expr in the environment specified by the arguments arg_1, …, arg_n. The arguments are switches (Boolean flags), assignments, equations, and functions. ev returns the result (another expression) of the evaluation.

The evaluation is carried out in steps, as follows.

  1. First the environment is set up by scanning the arguments which may be any or all of the following.
    • simp causes expr to be simplified regardless of the setting of the switch simp which inhibits simplification if false.
    • noeval suppresses the evaluation phase of ev (see step (4) below). This is useful in conjunction with the other switches and in causing expr to be resimplified without being reevaluated.
    • nouns causes the evaluation of noun forms (typically unevaluated functions such as 'integrate or 'diff) in expr.
    • expand causes expansion.
    • expand (m, n) causes expansion, setting the values of maxposex and maxnegex to m and n respectively.
    • detout causes any matrix inverses computed in expr to have their determinant kept outside of the inverse rather than dividing through each element.
    • diff causes all differentiations indicated in expr to be performed.
    • derivlist (x, y, z, ...) causes only differentiations with respect to the indicated variables. See also derivlist.
    • risch causes integrals in expr to be evaluated using the Risch algorithm. See risch. The standard integration routine is invoked when using the special symbol nouns.
    • float causes non-integral rational numbers to be converted to floating point.
    • numer causes some mathematical functions (including exponentiation) with numerical arguments to be evaluated in floating point. It causes variables in expr which have been given numervals to be replaced by their values. It also sets the float switch on.
    • pred causes predicates (expressions which evaluate to true or false) to be evaluated.
    • eval causes an extra post-evaluation of expr to occur. (See step (5) below.) eval may occur multiple times. For each instance of eval, the expression is evaluated again.
    • A where A is an atom declared to be an evaluation flag evflag causes A to be bound to true during the evaluation of expr.
    • V: expression (or alternately V=expression) causes V to be bound to the value of expression during the evaluation of expr. Note that if V is a Maxima option, then expression is used for its value during the evaluation of expr. If more than one argument to ev is of this type then the binding is done in parallel. If V is a non-atomic expression then a substitution rather than a binding is performed.
    • F where F, a function name, has been declared to be an evaluation function evfun causes F to be applied to expr.
    • Any other function names, e.g. sum, cause evaluation of occurrences of those names in expr as though they were verbs.
    • In addition a function occurring in expr (say F(x)) may be defined locally for the purpose of this evaluation of expr by giving F(x) := expression as an argument to ev.
    • If an atom not mentioned above or a subscripted variable or subscripted expression was given as an argument, it is evaluated and if the result is an equation or assignment then the indicated binding or substitution is performed. If the result is a list then the members of the list are treated as if they were additional arguments given to ev. This permits a list of equations to be given (e.g. [X=1, Y=A**2]) or a list of names of equations (e.g., [%t1, %t2] where %t1 and %t2 are equations) such as that returned by solve.

    The arguments of ev may be given in any order with the exception of substitution equations which are handled in sequence, left to right, and evaluation functions which are composed, e.g., ev (expr, ratsimp, realpart) is handled as realpart (ratsimp (expr)).

    The simp, numer, and float switches may also be set locally in a block, or globally in Maxima so that they will remain in effect until being reset.

    If expr is a canonical rational expression (CRE), then the expression returned by ev is also a CRE, provided the numer and float switches are not both true.

  2. During step (1), a list is made of the non-subscripted variables appearing on the left side of equations in the arguments or in the value of some arguments if the value is an equation. The variables (subscripted variables which do not have associated memoizing functions as well as non-subscripted variables) in the expression expr are replaced by their global values, except for those appearing in this list. Usually, expr is just a label or % (as in %i2 in the example below), so this step simply retrieves the expression named by the label, so that ev may work on it.
  3. If any substitutions are indicated by the arguments, they are carried out now.
  4. The resulting expression is then re-evaluated (unless one of the arguments was noeval) and simplified according to the arguments. Note that any function calls in expr will be carried out after the variables in it are evaluated and that ev(F(x)) thus may behave like F(ev(x)).
  5. For each instance of eval in the arguments, steps (3) and (4) are repeated.

See also '', at and subst.

Examples:

(%i1) sin(x) + cos(y) + (w+1)^2 + 'diff (sin(w), w);
                                     d                    2
(%o1)              cos(y) + sin(x) + -- (sin(w)) + (w + 1)
                                     dw
(%i2) ev (%, numer, expand, diff, x=2, y=1);
                               2
(%o2)                cos(w) + w  + 2 w + 2.449599732693821

An alternate top level syntax has been provided for ev, whereby one may just type in its arguments, without the ev(). That is, one may write simply

expr, arg_1, ..., arg_n

This is not permitted as part of another expression, e.g., in functions, blocks, etc.

Notice the parallel binding process in the following example.

(%i3) programmode: false;
(%o3)                                false
(%i4) x+y, x: a+y, y: 2;
(%o4)                              y + a + 2
(%i5) 2*x - 3*y = 3$
(%i6) -3*x + 2*y = -4$
(%i7) solve ([%o5, %o6]);
Solution

                                          1
(%t7)                               y = - -
                                          5

                                         6
(%t8)                                x = -
                                         5
(%o8)                            [[%t7, %t8]]
(%i8) %o6, %o8;
(%o8)                              - 4 = - 4
(%i9) x + 1/x > gamma (1/2);
                                   1
(%o9)                          x + - > sqrt(%pi)
                                   x
(%i10) %, numer, x=1/2;
(%o10)                      2.5 > 1.772453850905516
(%i11) %, pred;
(%o11)                               true
Categories: Evaluation ·
Special symbol: eval

As an argument in a call to ev (expr), eval causes an extra evaluation of expr. See ev.

Example:

(%i1) [a:b,b:c,c:d,d:e];
(%o1)                            [b, c, d, e]
(%i2) a;
(%o2)                                  b
(%i3) ev(a);
(%o3)                                  c
(%i4) ev(a),eval;
(%o4)                                  e
(%i5) a,eval,eval;
(%o5)                                  e
Categories: Evaluation flags ·
Property: evflag

When a symbol x has the evflag property, the expressions ev(expr, x) and expr, x (at the interactive prompt) are equivalent to ev(expr, x = true). That is, x is bound to true while expr is evaluated.

The expression declare(x, evflag) gives the evflag property to the variable x.

The flags which have the evflag property by default are the following:

   algebraic          cauchysum       demoivre
   dotscrules         %emode          %enumer
   exponentialize     exptisolate     factorflag
   float              halfangles      infeval
   isolate_wrt_times  keepfloat       letrat
   listarith          logabs          logarc 
   logexpand          lognegint       
   m1pbranch          numer_pbranch   programmode 
   radexpand          ratalgdenom     ratfac 
   ratmx              ratsimpexpons   simp 
   simpproduct        simpsum         sumexpand
   trigexpand

Examples:

(%i1) sin (1/2);
                                 1
(%o1)                        sin(-)
                                 2
(%i2) sin (1/2), float;
(%o2)                   0.479425538604203
(%i3) sin (1/2), float=true;
(%o3)                   0.479425538604203
(%i4) simp : false;
(%o4)                         false
(%i5) 1 + 1;
(%o5)                         1 + 1
(%i6) 1 + 1, simp;
(%o6)                           2
(%i7) simp : true;
(%o7)                         true
(%i8) sum (1/k^2, k, 1, inf);
                            inf
                            ====
                            \     1
(%o8)                        >    --
                            /      2
                            ====  k
                            k = 1
(%i9) sum (1/k^2, k, 1, inf), simpsum;
                                 2
                              %pi
(%o9)                         ----
                               6
(%i10) declare (aa, evflag);
(%o10)                        done
(%i11) if aa = true then YES else NO;
(%o11)                         NO
(%i12) if aa = true then YES else NO, aa;
(%o12)                         YES
Property: evfun

When a function F has the evfun property, the expressions ev(expr, F) and expr, F (at the interactive prompt) are equivalent to F(ev(expr)).

If two or more evfun functions F, G, etc., are specified, the functions are applied in the order that they are specified.

The expression declare(F, evfun) gives the evfun property to the function F. The functions which have the evfun property by default are the following:

   bfloat          factor       fullratsimp
   logcontract     polarform    radcan
   ratexpand       ratsimp      rectform
   rootscontract   trigexpand   trigreduce

Examples:

(%i1) x^3 - 1;
                              3
(%o1)                        x  - 1
(%i2) x^3 - 1, factor;
                                2
(%o2)                 (x - 1) (x  + x + 1)
(%i3) factor (x^3 - 1);
                                2
(%o3)                 (x - 1) (x  + x + 1)
(%i4) cos(4 * x) / sin(x)^4;
                            cos(4 x)
(%o4)                       --------
                               4
                            sin (x)
(%i5) cos(4 * x) / sin(x)^4, trigexpand;
                 4           2       2         4
              sin (x) - 6 cos (x) sin (x) + cos (x)
(%o5)         -------------------------------------
                                4
                             sin (x)
(%i6) cos(4 * x) / sin(x)^4, trigexpand, ratexpand;
                           2         4
                      6 cos (x)   cos (x)
(%o6)               - --------- + ------- + 1
                          2          4
                       sin (x)    sin (x)
(%i7) ratexpand (trigexpand (cos(4 * x) / sin(x)^4));
                           2         4
                      6 cos (x)   cos (x)
(%o7)               - --------- + ------- + 1
                          2          4
                       sin (x)    sin (x)
(%i8) declare ([F, G], evfun);
(%o8)                         done
(%i9) (aa : bb, bb : cc, cc : dd);
(%o9)                          dd
(%i10) aa;
(%o10)                         bb
(%i11) aa, F;
(%o11)                        F(cc)
(%i12) F (aa);
(%o12)                        F(bb)
(%i13) F (ev (aa));
(%o13)                        F(cc)
(%i14) aa, F, G;
(%o14)                      G(F(cc))
(%i15) G (F (ev (aa)));
(%o15)                      G(F(cc))
Categories: Evaluation flags ·
Option variable: infeval

Enables "infinite evaluation" mode. ev repeatedly evaluates an expression until it stops changing. To prevent a variable, say X, from being evaluated away in this mode, simply include X='X as an argument to ev. Of course expressions such as ev (X, X=X+1, infeval) will generate an infinite loop.

Categories: Evaluation flags ·
Special symbol: noeval

noeval suppresses the evaluation phase of ev. This is useful in conjunction with other switches and in causing expressions to be resimplified without being reevaluated.

Categories: Evaluation flags ·
Special symbol: nouns

nouns is an evflag. When used as an option to the ev command, nouns converts all "noun" forms occurring in the expression being ev’d to "verbs", i.e., evaluates them. See also noun, nounify, verb, and verbify.

Categories: Evaluation flags · Nouns and verbs ·
Special symbol: pred

As an argument in a call to ev (expr), pred causes predicates (expressions which evaluate to true or false) to be evaluated. See ev.

Example:

(%i1) 1<2;
(%o1)                                1 < 2
(%i2) 1<2,pred;
(%o2)                                true
Categories: Evaluation flags ·

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