GR 15 Proceedings A5(ii) Computer Methods in GR: Algebraic computing

Abstract

Algebraic computing in relativity and gravitation dates back more than thirty years, but only relatively recently has hardware of sufficient power to tackle large scale calculations become commonplace. Whereas it is generally understood throughout the relativity community that there are a number of packages available, the diversity of problems that the available packages can help with is not so widely appreciated. This session was devoted to computer algebra for relativity and gravitation from the point of view of developers. In this summary I expand this to include some background and outline what is available for users in the field.