David, All good points.
> I don't agree that this is the most natural result for first year > calculus or linear algebra. Many will only consider real > solutions to be valid. I wish I had my bookshelf of roughly thirty intro linear algebra textbooks handy, but I'll go out on a limb and suggest most, or all, will claim that a square matrix of size n has n eigenvalues (counting multiplicities), so by implication considering roots outside the base field (usually RR). > I'm not sure all teachers and students would prefer CC over RR I think most would not. That's just my idiosyncratic solution to the dilemma. ;-) > On the other hand, I think M.eigenvalues(CC) gives a simple syntax Yes, that is a good compromise. In the end, I fear the experience, which I *guess* we'll regularly see on sage-support, of sage: M = matrix([[1,-1],[1,0]]) sage: M.eigenvalues() [] Rob -- To post to this group, send an email to sage-devel@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to sage-devel+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-devel URL: http://www.sagemath.org
