Revision history [back]

factor does not mean the same thing in $\mathbb{Z}$ (or $\mathbb{Q}$) and in SR: if, on both cases, factor aims at (recursively) transforming its input in a product of "simpler" elements, the meaning of "simpler" differs:

• In $\mathbb{Z}$ (or $\mathbb{Q}$), the "simplest" elements are primes;

• in SR, they are (roughly) polynomials.

In SR, 6 is already a monomial, hence a non-simplifiable element, whereas, in $\mathbb{Z}$, it is not a prime, hence factorizable as a product of primes.

Another illustration:

sage: factor(6/5)
2 * 3 * 5^-1
sage: factor(SR(6/5))
6/5

HTH,