Simplify Symbolic Expression
Simplify symbolic expressions in Live Editor
Open the Task
To add the Simplify Symbolic Expression task to a live script in the MATLAB Editor:
On the Live Editor tab, select Task > Simplify Symbolic Expression.
In a code block in your script, type a relevant keyword, such as
simplify
,symbolic
,rewrite
,expand
, orcombine
. SelectSimplify Symbolic Expression
from the suggested command completions.
Parameters
Method
— Specify simplification method
Simplify
(default) | Simplify fraction
| Rewrite
| Expand
| Combine
Specify the simplification method from the drop-down list:
Simplification Method | Description |
---|---|
Simplify | Perform algebraic simplification. |
Simplify fraction | Simplify symbolic rational expressions. |
Rewrite | Rewrite expressions in terms of another function. |
Expand | Expand expressions and simplify inputs of functions by using identities. |
Combine | Combine terms of identical algebraic structure. |
Effort
— Specify computational effort used to simplify
Minimum
(default) | Low
| Medium
| High
| Full
Specify the computational effort used for the Simplify
method
from the drop-down list:
Simplification Effort | Description |
---|---|
Minimum | Minimum effort with fastest computation time (can return most complicated result) |
Low | Low effort with faster computation time |
Medium | Medium effort with normal computation time |
High | High effort with slower computation time |
Full | Full effort with slowest computation time (can return simplest result) |
Multiply out brackets
— Multiply out brackets when expanding expressions
off
(default) | on
Select this check box to not expand special functions for the
Expand
method. This option expands the arithmetic part of an
expression, such as powers and roots, without expanding trigonometric, hyperbolic,
logarithmic, and special functions.
Ignore analytic constraints
— Ignore analytic constraints when expanding expressions
off
(default) | on
Select this check box to apply purely algebraic simplifications to the
Expand
method, such as log(a) + log(b) =
log(a*b)
with the assumption that a
and
b
are real positive numbers. Setting Ignore analytic
constraints
to on
can give you simpler solutions, which
could lead to results not generally valid. This option applies mathematical identities
that are convenient for most engineering workflow, but do not always hold for all values
of variables. In some cases, this option can lead to simpler results that are not
equivalent to the initial expression. For details, see Algorithms.
Algorithms
When you use Ignore analytic constraints
, then the simplification
follows some of these rules:
log(a) + log(b) = log(a·b) for all values of a and b. In particular, the following equality is valid for all values of a, b, and c :
(a·b)c = ac·bc.
log(ab) = b·log(a) for all values of a and b. In particular, the following equality is valid for all values of a, b, and c :
(ab)c = ab·c.
If f and g are standard mathematical functions and f(g(x)) = x for all small positive numbers, f(g(x)) = x is assumed to be valid for all complex values of x. In particular:
log(ex) = x
asin(sin(x)) = x, acos(cos(x)) = x, atan(tan(x)) = x
asinh(sinh(x)) = x, acosh(cosh(x)) = x, atanh(tanh(x)) = x
Wk(x·ex) = x for all branch indices k of the Lambert W function.
Version History
Introduced in R2020a