From: Joel VanderWerf <vjoel@...>
Date: 2004-01-27T09:56:59+09:00
Subject: OT: Re: ruby-math and "why is ** not abelian?"

Josef 'Jupp' SCHUGT wrote:
> Hi!
> 
> * Van Jacques:
> 
>>If + is commutative, and the successor operation to + is *, which
>>is also commutative;
>>(a*b = b*a), then why isn't a**b = b**a since ** is successor
>>operation to * ?
> 
> 
> Neither (Float, +) nor (Float, *) is a group. A non-group cannot be
> an Abelian group.

But non-groups can be commutative.