Re: Are some equations unsolvable?
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg128070] Re: Are some equations unsolvable?
- From: "Dr. Wolfgang Hintze" <weh at snafu.de>
- Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2012 03:39:24 -0400 (EDT)
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On 12 Sep., 09:05, Sergio Sergio <zerg... at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
> This is what I have:
>
> f = (1/(sigma*Sqrt[2 Pi]))*Sqrt[(Pi/(-1/(2*sigma^2)))]*
> Exp[((m/sigma^2)^2)/4*(-1/2*sigma^2) + (m^2/(2*sigma^2))]
>
> Solve[f == 216, sigma]
>
> And I get this message: "This system cannot be solved with the methods available to Solve"
>
> Is it because there is no way to isolate sigma? Or am I doing something wrong?
>
> Thanks
As a first step try to tell Mathematica something about sigma, for
instance that sigma >0:
In[37]:= fs = Simplify[f, sigma > 0]
Out[37]= I*E^((3*m^2)/(8*sigma^2))
Then Mathematica can solve your equation easily:
In[38]:= Solve[216 == fs, sigma]
During evaluation of In[38]:= Solve::ifun:Inverse functions are being
used by Solve, so some solutions may not be found; use Reduce for
complete solution information. >>
Out[38]= {
{sigma -> -(((-1)^(1/4)*m)/(2*Sqrt[(1/3)*(Pi + 2*I*Log[216])]))},
{sigma -> ((-1)^(1/4)*m)/(2*Sqrt[(1/3)*(Pi + 2*I*Log[216])])}}
By the way your expression looks very similar to a normal distribution
but with strange signs. Are you sure that this is the expression you
had in mind?
Regards,
Wolfgang