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doi:10.1016/j.cpc.2007.01.003 
Copyright © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Cadabra: a field-theory motivated symbolic computer algebra system
Kasper Peetersa, 
Received 9 August 2006;
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Abstract
Field theory is an area in physics with a deceptively compact notation. Although general purpose computer algebra systems, built around generic list-based data structures, can be used to represent and manipulate field-theory expressions, this often leads to cumbersome input formats, unexpected side-effects, or the need for a lot of special-purpose code. This makes a direct translation of problems from paper to computer and back needlessly time-consuming and error-prone. A prototype computer algebra system is presented which features
-like input, graph data structures, lists with Young-tableaux symmetries and a multiple-inheritance property system. The usefulness of this approach is illustrated with a number of explicit field-theory problems.
Keywords: Field theory; Computer algebra
Article Outline
- 1. Field theory versus general-purpose computer algebra
- 2. Design goals and implementation
- 2.1. Graph structure
- 2.2. Symmetries
- 2.3. Properties
- 3. Typical examples
- 3.1. Index handling and substitution
- 3.2. Canonicalisation and Young-tableaux methods
- 3.3. Properties and property inheritance
- 4. Summary
- Acknowledgements
- References
