Solving for Sum element
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg27260] Solving for Sum element
- From: Ben Jacobson <bjacobson at illumitech.com>
- Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2001 03:41:27 -0500 (EST)
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
I want to solve for one element in an equation involving long sums. The
actual equation is of course complicated, but a very simplified example
would be
Sum[a[i],{i,0,n}]==x
where I want to solve for a[0]. The solution should be something like
a[0]->x-Sum[a[i],{i,1,n}.
Solve[Sum[a[i], {i, 0, n}] == x, a[0]]
works fine if, for example, n=3, but it returns an empty result for
symbolic n. Is there a way to tell Solve to assume that n>1 and to solve
accordingly? The best I've been able to do so far is to explicitly remove
the element I'm interested in from the sum:
In: Solve[a[0] + Sum[a[i], {i, 1, n}] == x, a[0]]
Out: {{a[0] -> x - Sum[a[i], {i, 1, n}]}}
This works nicely, but becomes awkward when I try to solve for more
elements and longer sums. Thanks.
Ben Jacobson
Illumitech Inc.