Multiplying SparseArray by negative number Crashes Kernel

Question

Bug introduced in 9.0 and persisting through 11.0

Can anyone reproduce the following bug, or figure out a work-around. The following crashes the kernel on both Mathematica 10 and 11, on my macs, running OSX 10.10 and 10.11:

Cl[len_Integer] := SparseArray[{
  Band[{1, 1}] -> Table[-2., {len}],
  Band[{1, 2}] -> Table[1. + 1./(2 j - 1.), {j, 1., len - 1}],
  Band[{2, 1}] -> Table[1. - 1./(2 j + 1.), {j, 1., len - 1}]}, 
  {len, len}]

s = Cl[30]

t = -2. s

The last line (simply multiplying the matrix by a negative number) causes the crash. I have tried changing the matrix -- and some changes help, other do not. Multiplying by positive numbers is fine.

It works fine on v10.0.1 on a Mac. Do you possibly have some lingering definitions? Have you tried quitting the kernel and evaluating just these cells? — march, Feb 07 '17 at 19:21
Happens to me as well... -2. s crashes the kernel. Mac 10.11.6, Mathematica 11.0.1 — bill s, Feb 07 '17 at 19:23
Thanks -- turning off the Suggestions bar indeed eliminated the issue. — Erich Mueller, Feb 07 '17 at 21:03
Please indicate the exact versions you tested, and update the question. Always use all three components of the version number, e.g. 10.0.2 or 11.0.1. — Szabolcs, Mar 09 '17 at 13:48
I reproduced it in 9.0.1 on OS X, which I think introduced the suggestions bar. — Szabolcs, Mar 09 '17 at 13:53

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 09 '17 at 13:49

3

This is a bug. From @ilian's comment:

Workaround: turn off the Suggestions bar.

answered Mar 09 '17 at 13:49

Szabolcs

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Multiplying SparseArray by negative number Crashes Kernel

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