ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Ring sum normal form

Ring sum normal form is a way to write mathematical expressions in a way that makes them easier to understand. It's kind of like putting numbers in a certain order when we count.

So, imagine you have a bunch of shapes like circles, triangles, and squares. We can use a mathematical expression to add them up and see how many shapes we have in total. But sometimes, the expression can get really long and hard to understand.

Ring sum normal form helps us to simplify this expression by putting shapes that are similar together. For example, all the circles get added up, then all the triangles get added up, and so on. This makes it easier to see how many of each shape we have.

It's like putting all the red apples in one pile, all the green apples in another pile, and so on. This way, we can quickly see how many apples we have of each color without having to count them all one by one.

So, ring sum normal form is a way to group mathematical objects that are similar together, making it easier to see what we have in total.