Dear McAndrew, > G16:=Dom::GaloisField(2,4,x^4+x+1); > m1:=matrix(4,4,(i,j)->G16::random()); > m2:=matrix(4,4,(i,j)->G16::random()); > m1*m2; > > and of course I can perform arithmetic in the field G16: > > G16((x^3+x)/(x^3+x^2+1)); > G16((x^2+1)^9);
translates to G16 := FF(2,4) -- FF is the abbreviation for FiniteField m1 := matrix([[random()$G16 for i in 1..4] for j in 1..4]) m2 := matrix([[random()$G16 for i in 1..4] for j in 1..4]) m1*m2 x:=primitiveElement()$G16 (x^3+x)/(x^3+x^2+1) (x^2+1)^9 I don't really know how it would be possible to specify the generator. But it certainly can be done. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > I've been looking at Maxima lately, and have now started on axiom. So > here are three very simple questions: > > 1) What online help is available from the axiom prompt? In every other > CAS I've tried (Maple, MuPAD, Maxima, plus numerical software such as > Matlab, scilab, octave), a command such as > > ? sin > > or > > help sin > > will bring up either information about the sine function, or a small > menu of related functions (arcsin etc.) > > Such help is invaluable for my learning of a system. You really should use HyperDoc for this task. For your example: select "Browse" at the top level of HyperDoc enter "sin" select "Operations" select "Descriptions" to obtain descriptions of all operations called "sin" or "Origins" to obtain a list of domains, packages, categories where an operation called "sin" is defined. Chances are very high that you get related functions this way, too. In the running example, one of the hits is "TrigonometricFunctionCategory", as it should be. If HyperDoc does not help, I recommend you to ask on [EMAIL PROTECTED] I volunteer to answer your questions personally as fast as possible, since it is maybe my fault that you try to get along with Axiom :-) By the way, I forgot an important "help" facility I often use: )wh th foo spits out a list of all things containing foo in its name. So, you'd probably interested in typing )wh th finite (unfortunately, )wh th galois returns misleading entries...) Personally, I would not recommend using )di op or )sh to a novice user. Martin _______________________________________________ Axiom-math mailing list Axiom-math@nongnu.org http://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/axiom-math