var("a b")
assume(b > 0, b < 1, a > 0, a < 1)
bool(a*b < 1)returns false, why?
In Maxima (which handles our assumptions):
(%i1) assume(b>0);
(%o1) [b > 0]
(%i2) assume(b<1);
(%o2) [b < 1]
(%i3) assume(a>0);
(%o3) [a > 0]
(%i4) assume(a<1);
(%o4) [a < 1]
(%i5) is (a*b > 0);
(%o5) true
(%i6) is (a*b < 1);
(%o6) unknownAnd Sage returns false for booleans if it doesn't know for sure that it's true.
I'm not sure whether they would consider this a bug; their assumptions framework is self-described as "weak", though of course it's better than having no assumptions at all!
bool(a*a < 1) works, its kind of strange.
I got same when preparing materials for highschool students. Shouldn't bool in such case return a warning in addition to False? Current way of assuming False for Unknown makes things that are unknown impossible to distinguish from things that are truly false (and this can instead lead to confusion for younger users)
Asked: 12 years ago
Seen: 412 times
Last updated: Nov 14 '12
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