docs: def are_equivalent_xml(a_xml, b_xml, ignore_timestamps=False):
      """Determine if two SystemMetadata XML docs are semantically equivalent.
  
      Normalize then compare SystemMetadata XML docs for equivalency.
  
      Args:
        a_xml, b_xml: bytes
          UTF-8 encoded SystemMetadata XML docs to compare
  
        ignore_timestamps: bool
          ``True``: Timestamps in the SystemMetadata are ignored so that objects that are
          compared register as equivalent if only their timestamps differ.
  
      Returns:
        bool: **True** if SystemMetadata XML docs are semantically equivalent.
  
      Notes:
        The SystemMetadata is normalized by removing any redundant information and
        ordering all sections where there are no semantics associated with the order. The
        normalized SystemMetadata is intended to be semantically equivalent to the
        un-normalized one.
  
      """
  
      """Normalizes then compares SystemMetadata XML docs for equivalency.
    ``a_xml`` and ``b_xml`` should be utf-8 encoded DataONE System Metadata XML
    documents.
    """
      return are_equivalent_pyxb(
          d1_common.xml.deserialize(a_xml),
          d1_common.xml.deserialize(b_xml),
          ignore_timestamps,
      )