摘要

This paper presents a criterion for the similarity of length-two elements in a noncommutative principal ideal domain. The criterion enables the authors to develop an algorithm for determining whether B (1) A (1) and B (2) A (2) are similar, where A (1),A (2),B (1),B (2) are first-order differential (difference) operators. The main step in the algorithm is to find a rational solution of a parametric differential (difference) Risch's equation, which has been well-studied in symbolic integration (summation).