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Re: Trouble computing conjugates

• To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
• Subject: [mg88556] Re: [mg88515] Trouble computing conjugates
• From: Murray Eisenberg <murray at math.umass.edu>
• Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 04:14:36 -0400 (EDT)
• Organization: Mathematics & Statistics, Univ. of Mass./Amherst
• References: <200805071107.HAA15027@smc.vnet.net>
• Reply-to: murray at math.umass.edu

ComplexExpand is your friend!  It automatically assumes that symbolic 
quantities within it are real.  So:

   ComplexExpand[Conjugate[c1 u1 + c2 u2]]
c1*f + c2*f - I*(c1*g - c2*g)

Roy wrote:
> I'm having trouble getting mathematica to compute complex conjugates
> of some fairly simple expressions:
> 
> If I type the following:
> 
> $Assumptions = {g \[Element] Reals, f \[Element] Reals}
> u1 = f + \[ImaginaryI] g
> u2 = f - \[ImaginaryI] g
> 
> Then the command:
> 
> Refine[Conjugate [c1 u1]]
> 
> returns:
> 
> f - \[ImaginaryI] g) Conjugate[c1]
> 
> and the command:
> 
> Refine[Conjugate[c1 u1 + u2]]
> 
> returns:
> 
> f + \[ImaginaryI] g + (f - \[ImaginaryI] g) Conjugate[c1]
> 
> as I would expect.  But the command:
> 
> Refine[Conjugate[c1 u1 + c2 u2]]
> 
> returns:
> 
> Conjugate[c2 (f - \[ImaginaryI] g) + c1 (f + \[ImaginaryI] g)]
> 
> i.e. it refuses to distribute the complex conjugate throughout the
> expression.  What I would like it to tell me is:
> 
> (f + \[ImaginaryI] g) Conjugate[c2] + (f - \[ImaginaryI] g)
> Conjugate[c1]
> 
> The closest I have been able to come to getting what I want is by
> using:
> 
> ComplexExpand[Refine[Conjugate[ c1 u1 + c2 u2]], {c1, c2}]
> 
> but this separates c1 and c2 into their real and imaginary parts.  The
> above expressions are much simpler than the ones I REALLY want
> Mathematica's help in simplifying.  If I use this ComplexExpand
> command, then I'm going to have to recombine them into complex numbers
> again, which would be very very bad.
> 
> Thanks,
> Roy
> 

-- 
Murray Eisenberg                     murray at math.umass.edu
Mathematics & Statistics Dept.
Lederle Graduate Research Tower      phone 413 549-1020 (H)
University of Massachusetts                413 545-2859 (W)
710 North Pleasant Street            fax   413 545-1801
Amherst, MA 01003-9305

• References:
  • Trouble computing conjugates
    • From: Roy <sarahroy@earthlink.net>