Is there a trick to using Norm[] on real vectors that avoids results like Abs[x]^2 and that is more straightforward than Sqrt[Total[vector^2]]?
No, not really. ComplexExpand@Norm[{x, y}] does not seem more straightforward.
ComplexExpand@Norm[{x, y}]
I often use norm = Sqrt[# . #]&, fwiw.
norm = Sqrt[# . #]&
Thanks, Michael Rogers. Just reading your post triggered a solution. The function "norm[list]" would be perfectly clear to anyone who saw it and could do exactly what I want. May failure to see that is typical. I can spend more time pouring over Wolfram documentation than would take to write a function and give a name that means exactly what I want it to say.
