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Re: vector analysis and V9

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  • Subject: [mg128997] Re: vector analysis and V9
  • From: Murray Eisenberg <murray at math.umass.edu>
  • Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2012 01:41:13 -0500 (EST)
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My message was sent before final editing. it's fixed below, with the omitted text in CAPS.

On Dec 6, 2012, at 4:58 AM, Murray Eisenberg <murray at math.umass.edu> wrote:

> On Dec 5, 2012, at 3:11 AM, mathgroup <fizzymath at knology.net> wrote:
>
>> I note that none of my 8.04 Vector Analysis works.....previously  I
>> would load the program then, example,  SetCoordinates[Cartesian[x,y,z]]
>> and then I could use Div, Curl, etc....
>>
>> Now I notice I have to write, for example,   Div[vector,{x,y,z}]....In
>> all my previous code every Vector Operation comes back with incomplete
>> Command requiring , in this case, {x,y,z} added to the command.....Is
>> this for real?....I have to specify the coordinate system variables
>> every single time I do a Vector Operation????
>>
>>
>> Or, hopefully, have I missed something here?......Let me add....I notice
>> that I can still load the 8.04 Vector Analysis and then the commands
>> work as before.
>
> Perhaps somebody else can suggest a work-around; I don't know one.
>
> The requirement that the new vector analysis functions in the kernel behave in a more consistent way with the rest of Mathematica than did the older VectorAnalysis add-on functions IS REASONABLE. Just as you always had to specify explicitly the variables with D, so too must you do it with Grad, Div, and Curl now. And, by extension, you must explicitly indicate within the Grad, Div, or Curl expression the COORDINATE SYSTEM.
>
> Breaking old code is an inevitable result of making the entire language more consistent. I'm happy about this here; I never cared for the approach in the old VectorAnalysis package.

---
Murray Eisenberg                                    
murray at math.umass.edu
Mathematics & Statistics Dept.      
Lederle Graduate Research Tower            phone 413 549-1020 (H)
University of Massachusetts                               413 545-2838 (W)
710 North Pleasant Street                         fax   413 545-1801
Amherst, MA 01003-9305








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