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There are several meanings of the word content in mathematics.

The content of a polytope or other n-dimensional object is its generalized volume (i.e., its "hypervolume"). Just as a three-dimensional object has volume, surface area, and generalized diameter, an n-dimensional object has "measures" of order 1, 2, ..., n. The content of a region can be computed in the Wolfram Language using RegionMeasure[reg].

The content of an integer polynomial P in Z[x], denoted cont(P), is the largest integer k>=1 such that P/k also has integer coefficients. Gauss's lemma for contents states that if P and Q are two polynomials with integer coefficients, then cont(PQ)=cont(P)cont(Q) (Séroul 2000, p. 287).

For a general univariate polynomial P(x), the Wolfram Language command FactorTermsList[poly, x] returns a list of three elements, the first being the integer content k, the second being the polynomial content, i.e., a primitive (with respect to all variables) polynomial that does not depend on x and which divides all coefficients of P(x), and the third element being the primitive part of P(x). The original polynomial P(x) is then the product of these three parts. For example, FactorTermsList[9E x^3+3E, x] returns {3, E, 1+3x^2}.


See also

Polynomial, Primitive Part, Volume

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References

Séroul, R. Programming for Mathematicians. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, p. 287, 2000.

Referenced on Wolfram|Alpha

Content

Cite this as:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Content." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/Content.html

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