From r.hankin at noc.soton.ac.uk  Mon Jul 18 11:42:26 2005
From: r.hankin at noc.soton.ac.uk (Robin Hankin)
Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 10:42:26 +0100
Subject: [Rd] Computer algebra in R - would that be an idea??
In-Reply-To: <a06110400befe1c42c158@[203.61.56.151]>
References: <C83C5E3DEEE97E498B74729A33F6EAEC01AD9A2B@DJFPOST01.djf.agrsci.dk>
	<1121429806.42d7a92eb6678@horde.scannet.dk>
	<17111.46789.226240.355911@stat.math.ethz.ch>
	<a06110400befe1c42c158@[203.61.56.151]>
Message-ID: <75078621-1CB1-48AF-8F64-2E6966FCE1A5@soc.soton.ac.uk>

Hi

while everyone is discussing abstract algebra in R,
perhaps it would be good to let the list know about
pari.   From the FAQ

PARI/GP is a widely used computer algebra
system designed for fast computations in
number theory (factorizations, algebraic
number theory, elliptic curves...), but also
contains a large number of other useful
functions to compute with mathematical
entities such as matrices, polynomials,
power series, algebraic numbers, etc., and
a lot of transcendental functions.


My elliptic package has some basic functionality to evaluate
pari/gp statements via system() but I daresay there are better
ways to write a wrapper.

Would anyone on the List be interested in PARI wrapping?


best wishes

Robin




On 16 Jul 2005, at 04:12, simon blomberg wrote:

>>>>>>> "bry" == bry  <bry at xdocs.dk>
>>>>>>>      on Fri, 15 Jul 2005 14:16:46 +0200 writes:
>>>>>>>
>>
>>     bry> About a year ago there was a discussion about interfacing R
>> with J on the J
>>     bry> forum, the best method seemed to be that outlined in this
>> vector article
>>     bry> http://www.vector.org.uk/archive/v194/finn194.htm
>>
>> (which is interesting to see for me,
>>  if I had known that my posted functions would make it to an APL
>>  workshop...
>>  BTW: Does one need special plugins / fonts to properly view
>>      the APL symbols ? )
>>
>>
>>     bry> and use J instead of APL
>>
>>     bry> http://www.jsoftware.com
>>
>> well, I've learned about J as the ASCII-variant of APL, and APL
>> used to be my first `beloved' computer language (in high school!)
>> -- but does J really provide computer algebra in the sense of
>> Maxima , Maple or yacas... ??
>>
>
> I wonder if at this point it would be useful to think about how a
> symbolic algebra system might be used by R users, and whether that
> would affect the choice of system. For example, Maxima and yacas seem
> to be mostly concerned with "getting the job done", which might be
> all that the data analyst or occasional user needs. However,
> mathematical statisticians might be more concerned with developing
> new mathematics. For example, commutative algebra has been found to
> be very useful in the theory of experimental design (e.g. Pistone,
> Riccomagno, Wynn (2000) Algebraic Statistics: Computational
> Commutative Algebra in Statistics. Chapman & Hall). Now, Maxima can
> already do the necessary calculations (ie Groebner bases of
> polynomials), but as far as I know, yacas cannot. But who knows where
> the next breakthrough will come from? In that case Axiom might be
> more useful and appropriate, as it is largely used by research
> mathematicians. We would then need a mechanism for the development of
> new data structures in R that could potentially match Axiom's rich
> and extensible type system. I guess some mechanism that relies on S4
> classes would be necessary. Of course, there is nothing to stop us
> developing packages for more than one system ("We are R. We will
> assimilate you!"). I have no idea how to do any of this: I'm just
> floating ideas here. :-)
>
> Cheers,
>
> Simon.
>
>
>>
>> (and no, please refrain from flame wars about APL vs .. vs ..,
>>  it's hard to refrain for me, too...)
>>
>> Martin Maechler, ETH Zurich
>>
>> ______________________________________________
>> R-devel at r-project.org mailing list
>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>>
>
>
> -- 
> Simon Blomberg, B.Sc.(Hons.), Ph.D, M.App.Stat.
> Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies
> The Australian National University
> Canberra ACT 0200
> Australia
>
> T: +61 2 6125 7800
> F: +61 2 6125 0757
>
> CRICOS Provider # 00120C
>
> ______________________________________________
> R-devel at r-project.org mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
>

--
Robin Hankin
Uncertainty Analyst
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
European Way, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK
  tel  023-8059-7743



[Rd] Computer algebra in R - would that be an idea??
Robin Hankin