The problem I have is as follows: I have a recursive function b(k)
b(k) = -(A/k**2)*(b(k-2) - b(k-5)) k<0, b(k)=0 k=0, b(k)=1 k=1, b(k)=0 eg. b(2) = -A/4 b(3) = 0 b(4) = A**2/64 note that as k increases b(k) can itself be a sum of terms in powers of A rather than a single power of A in the examples above. Summing all terms and equating to zero gives: F= sum b(k) = 0 for all k = 0, infinity When this is expanded I get a polynomial F(A). I want to determine the coefficients of the polynomial so that I can find the roots of the function F up to a specified order of A. I have yet to code this but I was hoping for some ideas on how to do this reasonably. I figure I can compute each b(k) and store the numeric value(s) and associated powers of A. Then collect coefficients for like powers of A. Finally I have a set of polynomial coefficients in A which I can pass to scipy.base.roots() Any suggestions on how I might do this efficiently? I have no doubt I can get this done with brute force, but I would prefer to explore more elegant means which I look to the masters for. tia -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list