# comparison of ideals

What does the output mean when you type A<=B where A and B are ideals in a polynomial ring?

edit retag close merge delete

Sort by » oldest newest most voted

To find out, you can look in the __cmp__ special method of the object you're interested in. This function returns negative if x<y, zero if x==y, and positive if x>y. Looking in __cmp__ interactively is probably a better idea than browsing the source, because if you do that you may guess wrong about which __cmp__ is being used (like I did!).

For example:

sage: P.<x> = PolynomialRing(QQ)
sage: I = Ideal([x^2-2*x+1, x^2-1])
sage: J = Ideal([4 + 3*x + x^2, 1 + x^2])
sage: I.__cmp__??
Type:       instancemethod
Base Class: <type 'instancemethod'>
String Form:    <bound method Ideal_1poly_field.__cmp__ of Principal ideal (x - 1) of Univariate Polynomial Ring in x over Rational Field>
Namespace:  Interactive
File:       /Applications/sage/local/lib/python2.6/site-packages/sage/rings/ideal.py
Definition: I.__cmp__(self, other)
Source:
def __cmp__(self, other):
if not isinstance(other, Ideal_generic):
other = self.ring().ideal(other)

if not other.is_principal():
return -1

if self.is_zero():
if not other.is_zero():
return -1
return 0

# is other.gen() / self.gen() a unit in the base ring?
g0 = other.gen()
g1 = self.gen()
if g0.divides(g1) and g1.divides(g0):
return 0
return 1
sage: I.gen(), J.gen()
(x - 1, 1)
sage: I == J, I <= J, I >= J
(False, False, True)

sage: # or exactly the same case but now (potentially) multivariate
sage: P.<x,y> = PolynomialRing(QQ,2)
sage: I = Ideal([x^2-2*x+1, x^2-1])
sage: J = Ideal([4 + 3*x + x^2, 1 + x^2])
sage: I.__cmp__??
[docstring removed]
# first check the type
if not isinstance(other, MPolynomialIdeal):
return 1

# the ideals may be defined w.r.t. to different term orders
# but are still the same.
R = self.ring()
S = other.ring()
if R is not S: # rings are unique
if type(R) == type(S) and (R.base_ring() == S.base_ring()) and (R.ngens() == S.ngens()):
other = other.change_ring(R)
else:
return cmp((type(R), R.base_ring(), R.ngens()), (type(S), S.base_ring(), S.ngens()))

# now, check whether the GBs are cached already
if self.groebner_basis.is_in_cache() and other.groebner_basis.is_in_cache():
l = self.groebner_basis()
r = other.groebner_basis()
else: # use easy GB otherwise
try:
l = self.change_ring(R.change_ring(order="degrevlex")).groebner_basis()
r = other.change_ring(R.change_ring(order="degrevlex")).groebner_basis()
except AttributeError: # e.g. quotient rings
l = self.groebner_basis()
r = other.groebner_basis()
return cmp(l,r)

sage: I.groebner_basis(), J.groebner_basis()
([x - 1], [1])


sage: I == J, I <= J, I >= J (False, False, True)

So it seems (modulo some details) it's basically comparing the Sequences of the groebner bases, and that appears to fall through to simply sorting the underlying lists of polynomials. I don't know how useful that is, but that looks like what it's doing.

more

Oh no, that does not seem useful. Thank you for your response. Now I am doubting that A==B being True even means that the ideals are equal, which I was assuming. Does sage have built in functions for ideal equality and ideal containment? I would like to have a function like equality(A,B) and containment(A,B) whose value being true means A=B as ideal and A is contained in B, respectively? Does such a function exist? I know I can compute reduced Grob bases of both ideals and visually check if they are the same but I would like have a sage function that will check that for me.

( 2011-01-19 17:17:45 -0500 )edit

IIUC the above logic should get equality right, so if that's all you need you're set. (It'd be a bug if it doesn't!) I'm a little rusty, but I gather you'd like A <= B iff all the terms in the generators of A (or the fewer but more expensive to compute terms in the groebner basis) are contained in B? If so, would something like def containment(A, B): return all(gen in B for gen in A.gens()) or def containment(A, B): return all(gb in B for gb in A.groebner_basis()) work?

( 2011-01-19 18:32:07 -0500 )edit

Yes, that is right. I just need a function that checks if all the generators of A are contained in the ideal B. Easy enough, and I think your costom function does work but I am wondering if there is a predefined sage function(command) that does this or if I have to define one.

( 2011-01-19 18:46:38 -0500 )edit

Every time I say that there isn't a predefined function to do something it turns out there is one in an obvious location and I just didn't see it, so to prevent embarrassment I won't say there's not. :^) But I didn't find it on a cursory scan.

( 2011-01-19 19:24:28 -0500 )edit

I understand. Thanks for looking though. You probably wont like the other question I just posted then. I prefer to use built in functions rather that make them myself.

( 2011-01-19 19:41:30 -0500 )edit