Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 13:18:13 -0400
From: rgr@rio.sci.ccny.cuny.edu (Roger Kuhlman)
Subject:  New version of Magnus

Dear Colleague:

Gilbert Baumslag has asked me to write to you on his behalf.

For some years now we have been involved in the production of some very
user-friendly software to carry out experiments and perform computations with
groups given by a finite presentation. You can begin to use our software
immediately without the burden of learning yet another programming language.

Despite the fact that much still remains to be done to make this package
really complete, many people have found it to be extremely useful and it has
played a part in the solution of some open problems, most worthy of which is
the Tarski problem, recently answered positively by Olga Kharlampovich and
Alexei G. Myasnikov.

Recently, we have added a new ingredient into computations with infinite
groups. We are using genetic algorithms with exciting results.

If you would like to a guided tour of this software you can do so on line, at:

http://zebra.sci.ccny.cuny.edu/web/html/aboutmagnus.html

The easiest way to acquire Magnus is through the links on this page, or
if you find it difficult to download Magnus, we can send you a CD-ROM  with
versions for the Linux and Sun operating systems. However, please try to
download first, as the online verison will invariably be more up-to-date.

If you need any help with installation, please e-mail me at the above address.

To keep current on the Magnus project, and to contribute suggestions, results
and problems, send an e-mail to:

users-request@zebra.sci.ccny.cuny.edu

with the word subscribe in the subject field.


I hope that you will find this software both enjoyable to use and useful.
Please forgive me if you find this e-mail  to be an intrusion.


Roger Kuhlman