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decomposeFraction -- decompose a rational number

Synopsis

Description

Given a rational number $t$ and a prime $p$, decomposeFraction(p, t) returns a sequence ($a$,$b$,$c$) of integers, with $b$ and $c$ nonnegative, such that $t = a/(p^b(p^c-1))$.

i1 : (a, b, c) = decomposeFraction(3, 4/45)

o1 = (64, 2, 4)

o1 : Sequence
i2 : 4/45 == a/(3^b * (3^c - 1))

o2 = true

If the number $t$ is of the form $a/p^b$, then the function returns ($a$,$b$,$0$). Setting the option NoZeroC => true forces the third entry of the output sequence to be nonzero, even if that means increasing the first entry.

i3 : decomposeFraction(3, 4/27)

o3 = (4, 3, 0)

o3 : Sequence
i4 : (a, b, c) = decomposeFraction(3, 4/27, NoZeroC => true)

o4 = (8, 3, 1)

o4 : Sequence
i5 : 4/27 == a/(3^b * (3^c - 1))

o5 = true

Ways to use decomposeFraction :

For the programmer

The object decomposeFraction is a method function with options.