Singular

Closing this, for the record:

[quote="Justin"]
Is there any way to pursuade Singular to take account of the fact (in this case) that [b]x^2[/b] [u]is[/u] [b]-2[/b]? The [i]simplify()[/i] and [i]reduce()[/i] calls don't do this.
[/quote]

'reduce()' is, in fact, the way to do it. I managed to gloss over this in my first readiing (the remedial reading course, mentioned earlier, obviously hasn't helped), but
[code]> reduce(x^2, std(0));
-2
[/code]
shows what I was after.

Thanks to Viktor, again, for his help.

Justin

Hi,

With my ncalgebra definition in good shape, I now want to verify some computations that I've made by hand.

For example, in addition to the "nc" relation [b]xy + yx + x + 1=0[/b], I have a relation [b]x^2+2=0[/b]. Singular uses the former
[code]
> y*x;
-xy-x-1
[/code]
whereas it seems to ignore the latter
[code]
> x^2;
x2
[/code]
It seems that Singular(Plural) opts for an expression in terms of variables, rather than scalars.

Is there any way to pursuade Singular to take account of the fact (in this case) that [b]x^2[/b] [u]is[/u] [b]-2[/b]? The [i]simplify()[/i] and [i]reduce()[/i] calls don't do this.

Thanks!

Justin