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<B>*</B> _ _ _ <B>ASTERISK</B> _ _ _  _ _ _  _ _ _  _ _ _ <B>operator</B><P>
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The <em>*</em> operator is a prefix or infix n-ary multiplication operator. 
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syntax: </H3>
&lt;expression&gt; { <em>*</em> &lt;expression&gt;}+ 
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or <em>*</em>(&lt;expression&gt; {,&lt;expression&gt;}+) 
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&lt;expression&gt; may be any valid REDUCE expression. 
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examples: </H3>
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15*3; 

  45 


24*x*yvalue*2; 

  48*X*YVALUE 


*(6,x); 

  6*X 


on rounded; 

3*1.5*x*x*x; 

       3
  4.5*X  


off rounded; 

2x**2; 

     2
  2*X

</TT></PRE><P>REDUCE assumes you are using an implicit multiplication operator w
hen an 
identifier is preceded by a number, as shown in the last line above. Since 
no valid identifiers can begin with numbers, there is no ambiguity in 
making this assumption. 
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The multiplication operator is also valid with 
<A HREF=r37_0345.html>matrix</A> expressions 
of the 
proper dimensions: matrices A and B 
can be multiplied if 
A is n x m and B is 
m x p. Matrices and 
<A HREF=r37_0045.html>equation</A>s can also be 
multiplied by scalars: the 
result is as if each element was multiplied by the scalar. 
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