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I'm a very beginner with Mathematica, and I do not get why I can't simplify this expression here:

Assuming[
  {
     a > 0, b > 0, c > 0, d > 0, e > 0, f > 0,
     b*e - f^2 > 0,
     a*e^2 - b*c*d + (f^2 - b*e)*c > 0
  }, 
  FullSimplify[
    Sqrt[a*e^2 - b*c*d + (f^2 - b*e)*c]/
    Sqrt[-a*e^2 + b*c*d + (-f^2 + b*e)*c]
  ]
]

In fact, it returns: $$\frac{\sqrt{a e^2-b c (d+e)+c f^2}}{\sqrt{-a e^2+b c (d+e)-c f^2}}$$ which is some kind of reordering of the terms, but not the full simplification. My expected result would be $-i$.

I'm assuming that everything is real, and the quantity under square root is positive.

EDIT: I've reproduced a MWE compared to original question, that was much more inricated.

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2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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expr = Sqrt[a*e^2 - b*c*d + (f^2 - b*e)*c]/
  Sqrt[-a*e^2 + b*c*d + (-f^2 + b*e)*c]

If we allow the indulgence:

expr /. Sqrt[a_]/Sqrt[b_] :> Sqrt[a/b] // FullSimplify

$i$

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ This gives the wrong result though. The expected answer is $-i$, not $i$ $\endgroup$
    – L.A.
    Commented Aug 9, 2023 at 16:25
  • $\begingroup$ Adding an If solves! $\endgroup$
    – L.A.
    Commented Aug 10, 2023 at 9:18
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$Version

(* "13.3.0 for Mac OS X ARM (64-bit) (June 3, 2023)" *)

Clear["Global`*"]

Assuming[{
  a > 0, b > 0, c > 0, d > 0, e > 0, f > 0,
  b*e - f^2 > 0,
  a*e^2 - b*c*d + (f^2 - b*e)*c > 0}, 
 Simplify@
  ComplexExpand[
   Sqrt[a*e^2 - b*c*d + (f^2 - b*e)*c]/
    Sqrt[-a*e^2 + b*c*d + (-f^2 + b*e)*c]]]

enter image description here

EDIT: Note, however, that FindInstance cannot find any instances for which the expression is Iwith the given assumptions.

FindInstance[{Sqrt[a*e^2 - b*c*d + (f^2 - b*e)*c]/
    Sqrt[-a*e^2 + b*c*d + (-f^2 + b*e)*c] == I, a > 0, b > 0, c > 0, d > 0, 
  e > 0, f > 0, b*e - f^2 > 0, a*e^2 - b*c*d + (f^2 - b*e)*c > 0}, {a, b, c, 
  d, e, f}]

(* {} *)

As opposed to,

FindInstance[{Sqrt[a*e^2 - b*c*d + (f^2 - b*e)*c]/
    Sqrt[-a*e^2 + b*c*d + (-f^2 + b*e)*c] == -I, a > 0, b > 0, c > 0, d > 0, 
  e > 0, f > 0, b*e - f^2 > 0, a*e^2 - b*c*d + (f^2 - b*e)*c > 0}, {a, b, c, 
  d, e, f}, 3]

(* {{a -> 113, b -> 12, c -> 63, d -> 68, e -> 662/29, f -> 379/25}, {a -> 112, 
  b -> 3, c -> 34, d -> 87, e -> 3/112 (17 + Sqrt[110721]), 
  f -> 83/20}, {a -> 90, b -> 73, c -> 50, d -> 11, e -> 76, f -> 5}} *)
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