Re: using rules for square roots
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg110296] Re: using rules for square roots
- From: David Bailey <dave at removedbailey.co.uk>
- Date: Sat, 12 Jun 2010 05:32:05 -0400 (EDT)
- References: <hutb46$ltc$1@smc.vnet.net>
On 11/06/10 13:44, Kent Holing wrote: > > I still want to have feedback on my last question, i.e. how to return say expressions like e^5/2 as e^2 Sqrt[e]? > The fundamental problem is that some expressions undergo automatic simplification in the kernel. For example: x+x x*x x^2 x^3 etc. This is normally very useful, and not a problem. However, if you want output to have a special structure - as in your case, you need to use a rule which protects part of the expression with HoldForm to prevent immediate re-evaluation. For example: In[3]:= halfIntegerQ[x_?NumberQ] := (! IntegerQ[x]) && IntegerQ[2 x]; In[4]:= e^(5/2) /. a_^(b_?halfIntegerQ) -> a^(b - 1/2) HoldForm[Sqrt[a]] This will print as you require, but if you copy the output into another input cell, you will have problems because the invisible HoldForm is still there (print in InputForm to see this). This can be removed with a rule such as: HoldForm -> Identity David Bailey www.dbaileyconsultancy.co.uk