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I want to declare a function I(t), but Maple interprets I as the imaginary unit. Can I use a Maple command to assume I is an variable? I've looked in the manual, but I can't seem to find a solution.

Jamgreen
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    You could try using capital $\iota$ (Iota) instead. – user1337 Dec 01 '13 at 13:42
  • The other one where I occasionally get into trouble is D used as a name. It is used for some derivatives... – GEdgar Dec 01 '13 at 14:22
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    I really like the capital Iota idea. A variation is interface(imaginaryunit= Iota). That way you only have to type one letter for variable I, and the appearance of imaginary I remains the same. – Carl Love Dec 02 '13 at 18:24

3 Answers3

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Maple 17, but not older Maple, will allow local I at the top level. But the following will work in any Maple: First pick some symbol other than I to represent the imaginary unit. Let's say I pick _I. Then issue the command interface(imaginaryunit= _I);.

Carl Love
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$I$ as a name is protected in Maple, therefore you cannot use it. But there are other possibilities, for example you can declare a local name $I$ via

local $I$ := ...

The imaginary unit is then still available via _I.

For a reference see the manual on protected names. Hope, that helped.

Dan Rust
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BIS HD
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If one should define some codes just for using $I$ as an alphabet, so what about using I1 or I2 instead. Indeed, by doing this, there is no need to change the meaning of $I$ in Maple.

Mikasa
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