Group, ring, etc. actions on objects.
The terminology and notation used is suggestive of groups acting on sets, but this framework can be used for modules, algebras, etc.
A group action is a functor from
to Sets.
Warning
An Action object only keeps a weak reference to the underlying set which is acted upon. This decision was made in trac ticket #715 in order to allow garbage collection within the coercion framework (this is where actions are mainly used) and avoid memory leaks.
sage: from sage.categories.action import Action
sage: class P: pass
sage: A = Action(P(),P())
sage: import gc
sage: _ = gc.collect()
sage: A
Traceback (most recent call last):
...
RuntimeError: This action acted on a set that became garbage collected
To avoid garbage collection of the underlying set, it is sufficient to create a strong reference to it before the action is created.
sage: _ = gc.collect()
sage: from sage.categories.action import Action
sage: class P: pass
sage: q = P()
sage: A = Action(P(),q)
sage: gc.collect()
0
sage: A
Left action by <__main__.P instance at ...> on <__main__.P instance at ...>
AUTHOR:
Bases: sage.categories.functor.Functor
This is a consistent interface for acting on a by g, regardless of whether it’s a left or right action.
Bases: sage.categories.action.Action
An action that acts as the inverse of the given action.
TESTS:
This illustrates a shortcoming in the current coercion model. See the comments in _call_ below:
sage: x = polygen(QQ,'x')
sage: a = 2*x^2+2; a
2*x^2 + 2
sage: a / 2
x^2 + 1
sage: a /= 2
sage: a
x^2 + 1
Bases: sage.categories.action.Action