Hi Chris,

The convention that I'm familiar with is that the notation (both cycle
notation and the two-line notation) represents the exchange of *elements*,
not positions.  See for example

http://www.math.caltech.edu/~2015-16/1term/ma006a/17.%20More%20permutations.pdf

pp. 4--5.

So my interpretation of t*s where t=(1,2) and s=(2,3) (multiplying from R
to L) would be:

1 -s-> 1 -t-> 2
2 -s-> 3 -t-> 3
3 -s-> 2 -t-> 1,

hence (1,2,3) ("1 goes to 2, 2 goes to 3, 3 goes to 1"), or (in list form)
[0, 2, 3, 1].

Is transposition of elements from right to left (my interpretation)
equivalent to transposition of positions from left to right (your
interpretation)?  I can't think of any counterexamples, but I'll chew on it.

At the very least, I think that just specifying a multiplication direction
without specifying what's being permuted (elements or positions) is
ambiguous.

Thanks again,
Alex

On Fri, Mar 12, 2021 at 8:29 AM Chris Smith <[email protected]> wrote:

> My thinking is expression in the transformations of the original list of
> items, [0,1,2,3]. If you first transpose the 2nd and third position you get
> [0,1,3,2] and then if you transpose 1st and 2nd position you get [0,3,1,2].
> You'll see my name all over the docs for that module so if you can find the
> error in my thinking here, you are close to the source ;-)
>
> /c
>
> On Thursday, March 11, 2021 at 9:47:05 PM UTC-6 [email protected] wrote:
>
>> Hi Chris,
>>
>> Thanks for your response.  When you write,
>>
>> > If you let `p = Permutation(1,2)(2,3)` then `p.list()` gives `[0, 3, 1,
>> 2]` which is consistent with R to L interpretation
>>
>> I think this is incorrect (and I contend that the docs are incorrect on
>> this point as well).
>> Multiplying the transpositions (1,2)(2,3) from R to L, we end up with the
>> cycle (1,2,3),
>> which in list form is [0, 2, 3, 1] (if `p.list()` is the second line of
>> 2-line permutation notation).
>>
>> What do you think?
>>
>> On Thu, Mar 11, 2021 at 7:33 PM Chris Smith <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> So documentation here, "The composite of two permutations p*q means
>>> first apply p, then q" should read "...apply q, then p", right? This would
>>> be an easy issue to open and fix if there is consensus that it is wrong as
>>> written. But note that using the composition of function syntax reverses
>>> the order, "One can use also the notation p(i) = i^p, but then the
>>> composition rule is (p*q)(i) = q(p(i)), not p(q(i)):"
>>>
>>> /c
>>>
>>> On Thursday, March 11, 2021 at 8:37:25 PM UTC-6 Chris Smith wrote:
>>>
>>>> Given elements `0,1,2,3`, `Permutation(1,2)(2,3)` interpreting R to L
>>>> gives `0123->0132->0312`; interpreting L to R gives `0123->0213->0231`
>>>>
>>>> If you let `p = Permutation(1,2)(2,3)` then `p.list()` gives `[0, 3, 1,
>>>> 2]` which is consistent with R to L interpretation. So the assumption that
>>>> spelling it `Permutation(1,2)*Permutation(2,3)` means left to right must be
>>>> wrong?
>>>>
>>>> /c
>>>>
>>>> On Monday, February 22, 2021 at 3:51:02 PM UTC-6 [email protected]
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hi everyone,
>>>>>
>>>>> I've been experimenting with the "Permutations" module, trying to
>>>>> follow the examples in the documentation here:
>>>>>
>>>>> https://docs.sympy.org/latest/modules/combinatorics/permutations.html
>>>>>
>>>>> As expected,
>>>>>
>>>>> Permutation(1, 2)(2, 3) == Permutation(1, 2) * Permutation(2, 3)
>>>>>
>>>>> But doesn't this mean that the permutations are applied from left to
>>>>> right, since (as described in the docs) left-to-right permutation
>>>>> multiplication p*q is equivalent to composition q o p?
>>>>>
>>>>> If so, this contradicts the documentation's claim that "The convention
>>>>> is that the permutations are applied from *right to left*".
>>>>>
>>>>> If not, I must be confused about something, and would appreciate any
>>>>> corrections.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks for your help,
>>>>> Alex
>>>>>
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