Maxima Source Code Blocks in Org Mode

Introduction
Requirements and Setup
Org Mode Features for Maxima Source Code Blocks
Examples of Use

Org Mode support for Maxima

Introduction

Maxima is a computer algebra system descended from Macsyma, which was originally released in 1982. It is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License.

Maxima is written in Common Lisp. It can be accessed and extended in Lisp.

Requirements and Setup

Maxima binaries are available for Windows and Linux. These either require a compatible Common Lisp or an executable Lisp image. Mac OS X users can install via brew or MacPorts. The combinations of operating system and Lisp implementation known to run Maxima can be found on the Maxima ports page.

There are several versions of Maxima, some with different names. The variable org-babel-maxima-command can be set to the name of your Maxima executable. The default value is "maxima".

Maxima ships with Emacs modes. Instructions for configuring them can be found on emacswiki. imaxima is an Emacs front end with image that displays fully typeset math in your Emacs window.

You must activate Maxima by adding a line to org-babel-load-languages:

(org-babel-do-load-languages
 'org-babel-load-languages
 '((maxima . t))) ; this line activates maxima

Org Mode Features for Maxima Source Code Blocks

Header Arguments

There are no Maxima-specific default header argument values.

The header argument, :cmdline, can be used to pass command line arguments to Maxima.

Sessions

Org-mode support for Maxima does not include sessions.

Result Types

Maxima produces the full range of result types.

Examples of Use

The following source code block uses maxima as a calculator for powers of 12, where the powers are passed with a variable.

#+name: test-maxima
#+header: :exports results
#+header: :var x=1.3121254
#+begin_src maxima 
  programmode: false;
  print(12^x);
#+end_src

26.06280316745402

Of course, maxima is more than a calculator.

#+name: solve-maxima
#+header: :exports results
#+begin_src maxima :results output
  programmode: false;
  eq: x**2-16 = 0;
  solution: solve(eq, x);
  print(solution);
#+end_src

solve: solution:
                                    x = - 4
                                     x = 4
[%t1, %t2]

With gnuplot installed (4.0 or higher), 3D graphics are possible. This example is from a tutorial on the maxima/gnuplot interface.

#+name: 3d-maxima
#+header: :file images/maxima-3d.png
#+header: :exports results
#+header: :results graphics
#+begin_src maxima 
  programmode: false;
  plot3d(atan(-x^2+y^3/4),[x,-4,4],[y,-4,4],[grid,50,50],[gnuplot_pm3d,true]);
#+end_src