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Do I have to worry about "Left" division for matrices?

• To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
• Subject: [mg94088] Do I have to worry about "Left" division for matrices?
• From: Tyler <hayes.tyler at gmail.com>
• Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2008 07:17:23 -0500 (EST)

Hello All:

I am currently in the process of rewriting some old code into
Mathematica. One of the things I've come across is the matrix
operation

A \ b

Which is defined as "left division." In other words (if I have this
right):

A \ b = inv(A)*b

and "right division" is

b / A = b*inv(A)

I guess my question is, does mathematica make the distinction between
left and right division, or is this more or less related to the
algorithm used by the solver (I am using numerical values by the way,
and not a symbolic solution)?

Cheers,

t.

• Follow-Ups:
  • Re: Do I have to worry about "Left" division for matrices?
    • From: Daniel Lichtblau <danl@wolfram.com>