@Kitonum Yes, thanks for spotting that. I should've compared the whole list of pairs before posting.

I believe that Preben's method here is called the "shooting method" for BVPs. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_method. I have a hunch (with no real evidence yet) that Maple's BVP solver was trying this. My hunch is based on the error message about the Newton iteration convergence.

I believe that Preben's method here is called the "shooting method" for BVPs. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_method. I have a hunch (with no real evidence yet) that Maple's BVP solver was trying this. My hunch is based on the error message about the Newton iteration convergence.

Minimal polynomials are not necessarily square free. Consider a matrix which is all 0 except for a single off-diagonal nonzero. Clearly the minimal polynomial is x².

Minimal polynomials are not necessarily square free. Consider a matrix which is all 0 except for a single off-diagonal nonzero. Clearly the minimal polynomial is x².

Must be a oversight in the documentation. The help link to SquareFreePart is dead, nor does my Maple 16 have the help file; although I can see that my Maple's PolynomialTools does indeed export a SquareFreePart.

Must be a oversight in the documentation. The help link to SquareFreePart is dead, nor does my Maple 16 have the help file; although I can see that my Maple's PolynomialTools does indeed export a SquareFreePart.

@pagan I played around a bit with your suggestion. I noticed that the :: syntax can only be used as an argument to showstat (or to its low-level companion debugopts). Thus, it can only be used to view procedures. To view the contents of other module locals, one still needs to use the kernelopts setting. This may be needed to fully understand module code. For example, isprime is implemented as a ModuleApply. After showstat(isprime), we see between statements 6 and 7 that a reference is made to a set special_primes. This is a local of module isprime. (Do eval(isprime) to view the header of isprime as a module.) To view special_primes, do

kernelopts(opaquemodules= false);

eval(isprime:-special_primes);

(The eval is redundant in this case, special_primes being a set; I just include it to cover the other cases.)

This would a good time to mention that one often needs to also issue the command interface(verboseproc= 3) before viewing the code and remember table of a procedure with eval.

@pagan I played around a bit with your suggestion. I noticed that the :: syntax can only be used as an argument to showstat (or to its low-level companion debugopts). Thus, it can only be used to view procedures. To view the contents of other module locals, one still needs to use the kernelopts setting. This may be needed to fully understand module code. For example, isprime is implemented as a ModuleApply. After showstat(isprime), we see between statements 6 and 7 that a reference is made to a set special_primes. This is a local of module isprime. (Do eval(isprime) to view the header of isprime as a module.) To view special_primes, do

kernelopts(opaquemodules= false);

eval(isprime:-special_primes);

(The eval is redundant in this case, special_primes being a set; I just include it to cover the other cases.)

This would a good time to mention that one often needs to also issue the command interface(verboseproc= 3) before viewing the code and remember table of a procedure with eval.

Upload a worksheet with an example.

I agree. Ordering by votes breaks the continuity, making lengthy threads difficult to read.

@pagan Thanks, pagan, for helping me get up to speed on the newer Maple syntax. I'm a few years behind!

@pagan Thanks, pagan, for helping me get up to speed on the newer Maple syntax. I'm a few years behind!

@Eryndis Let me know if you make any progress with those hints or with the exercise about tau(n) being odd.

@Eryndis Let me know if you make any progress with those hints or with the exercise about tau(n) being odd.