On Apr 2, 2008, at 7:35 AM, Michel wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> A short remark. It seems that taking the derivative of an element of a
> fraction field is not supported at this point. This feels somewhat
> inconsistent (tested with sage 2.10.4)
>
> sage: R=QQ['x']
> sage: x=R.gen()
> sage: derivative(x^2,x)
> 2*x
> sage: derivative(1/x,x)
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> -----
> <type 'exceptions.TypeError'>             Traceback (most recent call
> last)
> <snip>

Looks like this was recently fixed:

SAGE Version 2.11, Release Date: 2008-03-30

sage: R=QQ['x']
sage: x=R.gen()
sage: derivative(1/x,x)-1/x^2


> More fundamentally, I wonder if it makes sense to define the general
> concept of a derivation.
> Derivations are given by their values on generators so they fit well
> in the sage framework.
> The advantage of having abstract derivations would be that one could
> add them, take their
> commutatior etc....

Yes. David Roe and I were talking about this the other day (in  
another context). It essentially boils down to the ability to do  
element -> [some abstract representation in terms of generators] ->  
[modified representation in terms of generators] -> element. We were  
talking about this in terms of morphisms, so the parents of the  
elements on the two sides may not be the same, and the representation  
needs to be in a form they both understand (e.g. based on the category)

For algebras and rings, the representation would probably be a tree  
of binary operations, with leaf nodes being generators and elements  
of the base ring. Doing something more general requires more thought.

- Robert



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