Teaching NotesSymmetric functions in the classroom

摘要

In the Further Pure 1 module of the OCR A level syllabus, students aregiven a gentle introduction to the idea of symmetric rational functions(SRFs). An SRF in the variables x1, x2, , x, is left unchanged by anypermutation of these variables (unchanged, that is, other than in the order ofthe terms and factors). To take an example,