Slackware Linux Unleashed 3rd. Edition
Mathematics on Linux
Scilab
Where to Get Scilab
NOTE
More Information on Scilab
Pari
Where to Get Pari
Running Pari
Using LISP-STAT
Where to Get LISP-STAT
Running xlispstat
Where to Get More Information About LISP-STAT
A Last Note
Summary
Mathematics on Linux
by Kamran Husain
IN THIS CHAPTER
Scilab
Pari
Using LISP-STAT
A Last Note
This book has dealt with many issues regarding the tools available for Linux.
Now, let's look at some of the mathematics tools for Linux. Specifically, we will
work with tools for doing mathe-matical and statistical applications under Linux.
One such tool we will be working with is Scilab, an interactive math and graphics
package. Another tool for symbolic math is Pari. For statistical operations using
LISP choose LISP-STAT.
Hopefully, this chapter will give you a comfortable alternative to writing applications
in languages other than FORTRAN on Linux. (The FORTRAN compiler is called f77.)
Scilab
The Scilab application is developed by the Institut National de Recherche de Informatique
et en Automatique (INRIA) in France. Although this application is not as formidable
as MATLAB, a commercial product with more bells and whistles, Scilab is still powerful
enough to provide decent graphics and solutions to math problems.
With Scilab you can do matrix multiplication, plot graphs, and so on. Using its
built-in functions, Scilab enables you to write your own functions. With its toolbox,
you can build your own signal-processing functions in addition to those provided
by Scilab.
Added to all its features, the help file is quite voluminous. If you want to find
out how to do a math problem with Scilab, you will probably find it in the docs.
Added to the good documentation are sample programs to get you started.
Where to Get Scilab
Now that you are probably interested in Scilab, you will want to know where to
get it. Scilab is free via the Internet. The primary site is ftp.inria.fr,
and the directory for this is in INRIA/Projects/Meta2/Scilab. Look for the
zipped file with the latest date. Each zipped file is complete in itself. Mirror
sites include sunsite.unc.edu and tsx-11.mit.edu.
The file you are looking for is called scilab-2.1.1-linux.tar.gz. In
its unzipped form, the file is about 17MB in size. After utarring this file, you
will have a directory called scilab-2.1.1 with all related files and accessories.
After you have installed it, go to the bin subdirectory and modify the Scilab
shell script file. Replace the assignment of the SCI variable with the path
to the location of your Scilab files. For example, in my case I set the
value to
SCI="/home/khusain/scilab-2.1.1"
NOTE: If Scilab does not
show up in color the first time you invoke it, try *customization: -color
in your .Xdefaults file. Don't forget to run xrdb .Xdefaults to
enforce the change.
The prompt for Scilab is -->. You will see responses to your commands
immediately below where you type in entries.
A healthy example of how to use Scilab would probably be beneficial. Let's see
how to declare values:
-->x=1.0
This sets x equal to 1.0. To declare an array, use square brackets:
-->x=[1 2 3]
x =
! 1. 2. 3. !
See Figure 37.1 to see what it looks like on your screen.
Figure 37.1. The main screen for Scilab.
To declare a large array you can use indices of the form [start:end]. Use
a semicolon at the end of the line to indicate that you really do not want Scilab
to echo the results back to you. So the statement
-->x=[1:100];
declares x as a vector of values from 1 to 100 and does not display the
contents of x back to you. If you want to give staggered values of x,
you can use an increment operator in the form [start:increment:stop]. So,
this statement declares x to contain five odd numbers from 1:
-->x=[1:2:10]
x =
! 1. 3. 5. 7. 9. !
Let's try an example of a simple matrix multiplication problem of ax=b. First
declare the a matrix, separating all the rows with semicolons. If you do
not use semicolons, the values in matrix a will be interpreted as a 25x1
vector instead of a 5x5 matrix.
-->a=[ 1 1 0 0 0; 1 1 1 0 0; 0 1 1 1 0; 0 0 1 1 1; 0 0 0 1 1]
a =
! 1. 1. 0. 0. 0. !
! 1. 1. 1. 0. 0. !
! 0. 1. 1. 1. 0. !
! 0. 0. 1. 1. 1. !
! 0. 0. 0. 1. 1. !
Then declare X as a vector.
-->X=[ 1 3 5 7 9 ]
X =
! 1. 3. 5. 7. 9. !
To get the dimensions right for the multiplication, you have to use the single
quote operator (') to get the transpose of X. Then put the results of the
multiplication of a and X transpose into b.
-->b= a * X'
b =
! 4. !
! 9. !
! 15. !
! 21. !
! 16. !
-->
The results look right. In fact, Scilab displayed the dimensions correctly too,
since the results of the multiplication are a matrix of size 5x1.
More Information
on Scilab
The documentation for the Scilab application is in the doc/intro directory
where you installed Scilab. It contains a PostScript document called intro.ps
which contains the user's manual titled Introduction to Scilab. Take time to read
this manual carefully.
For a list of all the available functions in Scilab, you can look in the man/LaTex-doc
directory for a PostScript file called Docu.ps. (Yes, the file names are
cryptic!) Print this file for a handy paper list of all the available functions.
All these functions are still accessible from the help buttons in the front panel.
Pari
The Pari package is useful for doing symbolic mathematical operations. Its primary
features include an arbitrary precision calculator, its own programming facilities,
and interfaces to C libraries.
Where to Get Pari
To get Pari, use the FTP site megrez.math.u-bordeaux.fr, and from the
/pub/pari/unix directory get the gplinux.tar.gz file. The binaries
may not work with a later version of Linux because the binaries are built with older
versions of shared libraries. If you have a newer version of Linux than the one supported
by Pari, either you can edit the sources yourself or wait until the authors of Pari
catch up. Sorry.
With the version of Linux on the CD-ROM at the back of this book, you need to
compile your own version of Pari. The source files are in the pari-1.39.03.tar.gz
file. The source tar file unpacks into three directories: src,
doc, and samples. You will find the samples very useful indeed.
To compile the sources, run the Makemakefile command in the src
directory. When creating this version, remove the definition of the option -DULONG_NOT_DEFINED
from the CFLAGS macro in the newly created Makefile. Then type
make at the prompt. Be prepared to wait a while for this package to compile.
Running Pari
After you have installed the source files for Pari, type gp at the console
prompt. Your prompt will be a question mark (?). Start by typing simple
arithmetic expressions at this prompt. You should be rewarded with answers immediately.
Let's look at the following sample session:
? 4*8
%1=32
? 4/7*5/6
%2=10/21
The answer was returned to us in fractions. To get real numbers, introduce just
one real number in the equation. You will then get the answer as a real number. The
percent signs identify the returned line numbers.
? 4.0/7 * 5/6
%3=0.476190476190476190476190
To set the precision in number of digits, you use the ?\precision command.
The maximum number of digits is 315,623, a large number for just about all users.
For a modest precision of 10 digits to the right of the decimal point, use this:
?\precision=10
? 4.0/7*5/6
%4=0.476190047
You can even work with expressions, as shown in the following example:
? (x+2)*(x+3)
%5=x^2+5*x+6
You can assign values to variables to get the correct answer from evaluating an
expression:
? x=3
%6=3
? eval(%5)
%7=60
This is not where the power of Pari ends, though. You can factor numbers, solve
differential equations, and even factor polynomials. The FTP site for Pari contains
a wealth of information and samples. See megrez.math.u-bordeaux.fr. Also,
the docs directory contains samples and the manual to help you get started.
Using LISP-STAT
For statistical computing, consider using LISP-STAT. Written by Luke Tierney at
the University of Minnesota, LISP-STAT is a very powerful, interactive, object-oriented
LISP package.
Where to Get LISP-STAT
The LISP-STAT package is available from ftp.stat.umn.edu in the /pub/xlispstat
directory. Get the latest tar file version you can--currently, xlispstat-3-44.tar.gz.
In order to build this file you need the dld library for Linux. This dld
library is found in tsx-11.mit.edu in the /pub/linux/binaries/libs
directory as dld-3.2.5.bin.tar.gz. Install this dld library in
the /lib directory first.
Running xlispstat
At the command prompt in an Xterm, type xlispstat. You will be presented
with a > prompt. Type commands at this prompt. For example, to multiply
two matrices together, use the following command:
> (def a (matrix `(3 3) `(2 5 7 1 2 3 1 1 2)))
A
> (def b (matrix `(3 1) `(4 5 6)))
B
> (matmult a b)
#2A((75.0) (32.0) (21))
The variables in LISP-STAT are not case sensitive. Note the single quote (`)
before the list of numbers for the matrix. If you omit the quote, the list will be
evaluated and replaced with the result of the evaluation. By leaving the single quote
in there, you are forcing the interpreter to leave the list in its place.
Let's try solving a simple set of linear equations using LISP-STAT. The following
would be a simple example to solve:
3.8x + 7.2y = 16.5
1.3x - 0.9y = -22.1
The following script would set up and solve this linear equation problem:
> (def a (matrix `(2 2) `(3.8 7.2 1.3 -0.9)))
A
> (def b (matrix `(2 1) `(16.5 -22.1)))
B
> (matmult (inverse a) b)
#2A((-11.288732394366198) (8.249608763693271))
You can do other math operations on lists of numbers as well. See the following
example for calculating the mean of a list of numbers:
> (def sm (list 1.1 2.3 4.1 5.7 2.1))
SM
> (mean SM)
3.06
There are many plotting functions available for LISP-STAT. For plotting one variable,
try the function plot-function. For (x,y) pairs of numbers, use the plot-lines
function. For a function of two variables, use the spin-function. For 3-D
plots, use the spin-plot function.
Plots are not limited to lines. You can do histograms, planar plots, and so on.
(See Figure 37.2.) See the help pages for details on specifics of how to generate
these plots. Two or more plots can be linked together so that changes in one set
of data can be reflected in another. You can add points to a plot using the add-points
function. For reconfiguring how the points are displayed, you can send commands
to the plot windows. Plots can be linked together to enable more than one view of
the same data.
Figure 37.2. A histogram sample.
Each plot is displayed in an X window. You can move the mouse cursor over a point,
and it will echo back a value for you.
To get help on this system, use the help command. The help documentation
for this command should be visible. If nothing shows up, check the environment variables
to see if the binaries are in the PATH. For example, the command to get help on EIGENVALUES
and its invocation is shown in Figure 37.3.
Figure 37.3. Sample of using EIGENVALUES.
Where to Get More
Information About LISP-STAT
You can get a considerable amount of information from the documents available
online at the FTP site ftp.stat.ucla.edu (in directory /pub/lisp/xlisp/xlisp-stat/docs)
or in the Web page at http://euler.bd.psu.edu. For more information, read
the book LISP-STAT by Luke Tierney (John Wiley).
A Last Note
For simple math operations involving spreadsheets, you can always use the xspread
program provided with the X package. (The CD-ROM at the back of the book has version
2.1.) For more powerful spreadsheet functions, you might want to resort to a commercial
spreadsheet package and take advantage of its support, too. The XESS spreadsheet
is available for Linux from Applied Information systems, (919) 842-7801 or info@ais.com.
You can share data between spreadsheets, or use the API to develop and have access
to a full suite of math functions available on spreadsheets that run under DOS or
UNIX.
Wolfram Research has released its Mathematica program for Linux. The Mathematica
package has extensive numeric and symbolic capabilities, 2-D and 3-D graphics, and
a very large library of application programs. With an additional feature called MathLink,
you can exchange information between other applications on a network. You can get
more information about Mathematica from info@wri.com or http://www.wri.com.
Summary
You have several options when it comes to performing mathematical operations or
writing such applications under Linux. You can either write the code yourself using
C, FORTRAN, or other available languages--or you can use a package. If you are familiar
with MATLAB, consider using Scilab. For regular expressions and polynomials, try
using Pari. If you are a LISP user or want to do vector operations or statistics,
consider using the LISP-STAT package.
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