sympy-1-14-0

name

sympy-1-14-0

description

Symbolic mathematics with SymPy 1.14.0 — algebra, calculus, ODE/PDE solving, matrices, number theory, geometry, special functions, transforms, and code generation. Use when the user needs symbolic computation, equation solving, differentiation, integration, series expansion, matrix operations, polynomial manipulation, simplification, or any CAS (computer algebra system) task in Python. Also use for exact arithmetic with rationals, symbolic constants (pi, E), or converting expressions to LaTeX/C/Fortran.

sympy 1.14.0

SymPy is a pure-Python computer algebra system. It handles symbolic expressions, equation solving, calculus, linear algebra, discrete math, geometry, number theory, and more — all with exact (not floating-point) results by default. Requires Python 3.9+ and mpmath.

Overview

SymPy's core model: everything is an expression tree built from Symbol, Number, Function, and operator nodes (Add, Mul, Pow). Expressions are immutable. Key workflow:

1. Declare symbols: x, y = symbols('x y') or var('x y')
2. Build expressions: expr = x**2 + sin(y)
3. Manipulate: expand(expr), simplify(expr), diff(expr, x)
4. Substitute: expr.subs(x, 3) or expr.subs({x: a, y: b})
5. Evaluate: expr.evalf() for numeric approximation, N(expr, 15) for 15-digit precision
6. Solve: solve(eq, x), dsolve(ode, y(x)), integrate(f, x)

Import patterns

# Common idiom — import everything from sympy
from sympy import *
x, y, z = symbols('x y z')

# Or selective imports
from sympy import Symbol, symbols, sin, cos, integrate, diff, solve
from sympy.abc import x, y, z  # pre-defined common symbols

Key design principles

• Immutable expressions — expr = x + 1; expr += 1 does NOT modify expr. Use expr = expr + 1.
• Exact by default — sqrt(2) stays as √2, not 1.414.... Call .evalf() when you need floats.
• Unevaluated forms — Mul(a, b, evaluate=False) prevents automatic simplification. Use UnevaluatedExpr or evaluate=False keyword.
• Singleton constants — S.Zero, S.One, S.Infinity, S.NaN, S.pi, S.E, S.I are cached singletons.

Usage

Quick reference by domain

Task	Function(s)
Symbolic variables	symbols('x y z'), var('x y'), Symbol('x', real=True)
Algebraic expansion	expand(), expand_mul(), expand_log()
Factorization	factor(), factor_list()
Simplification	simplify(), trigsimp(), powsimp(), ratsimp()
Differentiation	diff(f, x), Derivative(f, x, x) (unevaluated)
Integration	integrate(f, x), Integral(f, x) (unevaluated)
Limits	limit(f, x, oo), limit(f, x, 0, dir='+')
Series	series(f, x, 0, 6), O(x**6)
Equation solving	solve(eq, x), solveset(eq, x, S.Reals)
ODE solving	dsolve(ode, y(x)), classify_ode(ode)
Linear systems	linsolve(eqs, (x, y)), linear_eq_to_matrix()
Matrices	Matrix([[1,2],[3,4]]), .det(), .eigenvals()
Polynomials	Poly(f, x), degree(), groebner(), resultant()
Number theory	isprime(n), factorint(n), gcd(a, b)
Summation/product	summation(f, (k, 0, n)), product(f, (k, 1, n))
Discrete transforms	fft(), ntt(),

Common patterns

# Symbolic function
from sympy import Function, symbols
t = symbols('t')
y = Function('y')(t)  # y(t) as a symbolic function

# Assumptions on symbols
x = Symbol('x', positive=True, real=True)
n = Symbol('n', integer=True)

# Piecewise expressions
from sympy import Piecewise
f = Piecewise((x**2, x > 0), (0, True))

# Unevaluated integral/derivative (display form)
from sympy import Integral, Derivative
uneval_integral = Integral(sin(x)**3, (x, 0, pi))
uneval_deriv = Derivative(f, x, x)

# Substitution with multiple symbols
expr.subs([(x, 1), (y, 2)])
expr.subs({x: a + b, y: a - b})

# Extract numerator/denominator
from sympy import numer, denom, fraction
numer(expr), denom(expr)

# Collect terms
from sympy import collect
collect(a*x**2 + b*x**2 + c*x, x)  # (a+b)*x**2 + c*x

Gotchas

• symbols() creates independent symbols each call — symbols('x') != symbols('x'). Reuse the same symbol object or use var('x') which assigns to local namespace.
• Integer division produces exact rationals — 1/2 in SymPy context gives 1/2 (Rational), not 0.5. Use S(1)/2 or Rational(1, 2) explicitly.
• solve() returns lists, solveset() returns Sets — solve(x**2 - 1, x) → [-1, 1]; solveset(x**2 - 1, x) → {−1, 1}. Prefer solveset for newer code; it handles domains properly.
• oo is positive infinity — there is no negative infinity symbol. Use -oo. zoo is complex infinity (different from oo).
• SymPy expressions are immutable — methods like .subs() return new expressions. Never assume in-place modification.
• expand() can be slow on large expressions — use targeted expanders: expand_mul(), expand_log(), expand_trig() instead of full expand().
• simplify() is a heuristic — it tries many transformations and returns the "shortest" result. It may not find the simplest form. Use domain-specific simplifiers: trigsimp(), powsimp(), radsimp(), combsimp().
• dsolve() needs Function('y')(x) not bare y — define ODE functions as y = Function('y')(x), not y = Symbol('y').
• Matrix indexing is [row, col] — consistent with mathematical convention, not C-style flat indexing.
• equals() vs == — expr1 == expr2 checks structural equality (same tree). Use expr1.equals(expr2) for mathematical equality, or .

References

• 01-core-expressions — Symbols, expressions, numbers, assumptions, traversal
• 02-algebra-polynomials — Polynomial rings, factoring, Groebner bases, root finding
• 03-calculus-integration — Derivatives, integrals, limits, series expansions
• 04-solvers-equations — Algebraic solving, ODE/PDE, inequalities, recurrences
• 05-matrices-linear-algebra — Matrix construction, operations, eigenvalues, decompositions
• 06-special-functions — Gamma, Bessel, elliptic, hypergeometric, orthogonal polynomials
• 07-simplification-patterns — simplify family, collect, fraction, CSE
• 08-number-theory — Primes, factorization, modular arithmetic, continued fractions
• 09-geometry — Points, lines, circles, polygons, intersections
• 10-transforms-discrete — Laplace, Fourier, Mellin, FFT, NTT
• 11-printing-codegen — LaTeX, pretty print, C/Fortran/R code generation
• 12-physics-modules — Quantum mechanics, rigid body dynamics, units