Why did this error message appear?

Unable to perform assignment because value of type 'sym' is not convertible to 'double'.

line10.Unable to convert expression containing symbolic variables into double array. Apply 'subs' function first to

substitute values for variables.

1. m=600:1200;
2. r=ones(20,601);t=ones(20,601);
3. n0=1;
4. n1=1.75;d1=125;
5. n2=2.5;d2=87.5;
6. n3=1.45;
7. k=2*pi./m;
8. e1=n1*d1*k;e2=n2*d2*k;
9. x1= sym('x1',[1,601]);
10. r(1,:)=(n0+n1)/(2*n1)+(n1-n0)/(2*n1)*x1;
11. t(1,:)=(n1-n0)/(2*n1)+(n1+n0)/(2*n1)*x1;
12. for i=2:20
13. if rem(i,2)==0
14. t(i,:)=(n1+n2)/(2*n2)*t(i-1)*exp(2*e1*1i)+(n1-n2)/(2*n2)*r(i-1)*exp(-2*e1*1i);
15. r(i,:)=(-n1+n2)/(2*n2)*t(i-1)*exp(2*e1*1i)+(n2+n1)/(2*n2)*r(i-1)*exp(-2*e1*1i);
16. else
17. t(i,:)=(n1+n2)/(2*n1)*t(i-1)*exp(2*e2*1i)+(n2-n1)/(2*n1)*r(i-1)*exp(-2*e2*1i);
18. r(i,:)=(-n2+n1)/(2*n1)*t(i-1)*exp(2*e2*1i)+(n2+n1)/(2*n1)*r(i-1)*exp(-2*e2*1i);
19. end
20. end
21. solve(r(20,:),x);
22. T=t(20,:).*conj(t(20,:))*n3;
23. plot(m,T);

Answer 1

[Steven Lord]

Since r is a double array, anything that you want to assign into it must be a double array or convertible into a double array.

In this example:

r = 1:10

r = 1×10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

syms x y
z = x.^2+y.^2

z = 

what is the double precision value of z? Without having values for x and y we cannot convert z into a double array, and so trying to store z inside r won't work.

r(1) = z

Unable to perform assignment because value of type 'sym' is not convertible to 'double'.

Caused by:
Error using symengine
Unable to convert expression containing symbolic variables into double array. Apply 'subs' function first to substitute values for variables.

You could make r a symbolic array from the start, or you could substitute values for x and y into z (thus making z a plain number.)

rsym = sym(1:10)

[Jason Chen]

I try to make r a symbolic array from the start,but how can i make it a complex array at last and plot a image？

error symengine

Unable to convert expression containing symbolic variables into double array. Apply 'subs' function first to

substitute values for variables.

sym/double (line 709 )

Xstr = mupadmex('symobj::double', S.s, 0);

(line 26 )

double(t);

1. m=600:1200;
2. r=sym('r',[20,601]);
3. t=sym('t',[20,601]);
4. n0=1;
5. n1=1.75;d1=125;
6. n2=2.5;d2=87.5;
7. n3=1.45;
8. k=2*pi./m;
9. e1=n1*d1*k;e2=n2*d2*k;
10. x1= sym('x1',[1,601]);
11. r(1,:)=(n0+n1)/(2*n1)+(n1-n0)/(2*n1)*x1(1,:);
12. t(1,:)=(n1-n0)/(2*n1)+(n1+n0)/(2*n1)*x1(1,:);
13. for i=2:20
15. if rem(i,2)==0
16. t(i,:)=(n1+n2)/(2*n2)*t(i-1)*exp(2*e1*1i)+(n1-n2)/(2*n2)*r(i-1)*exp(-2*e1*1i);
17. r(i,:)=(-n1+n2)/(2*n2)*t(i-1)*exp(2*e1*1i)+(n2+n1)/(2*n2)*r(i-1)*exp(-2*e1*1i);
18. else
19. t(i,:)=(n1+n2)/(2*n1)*t(i-1)*exp(2*e2*1i)+(n2-n1)/(2*n1)*r(i-1)*exp(-2*e2*1i);
20. r(i,:)=(-n2+n1)/(2*n1)*t(i-1)*exp(2*e2*1i)+(n2+n1)/(2*n1)*r(i-1)*exp(-2*e2*1i);
21. end
22. end
23. for i=1:601
24. solve(r(20,i),x1(1,i));
25. end
26. double(t);
27. T=t(20,:).*conj(t(20,:))*n3;
28. plot(m,T);