Solving Systems of Polynomial Equations

Abstract

Abstract. One of the most classical problems of mathematics is to solve systems of polynomial equations in several unknowns. Today, polynomial models are ubiquitous and widely applied across the sciences. They arise in robotics, coding theory, optimization, mathematical biology, computer vision, game theory, statistics, machine learning, control theory, and numerous other areas. The set of solutions to a system of polynomial equations is an algebraic variety, the basic object of algebraic geometry. The algorithmic study of algebraic varieties is the central theme of computational algebraic geometry. Exciting recent developments in symbolic algebra and numerical software for geometric calculations have revolutionized the field, making formerly inaccessible problems tractable, and providing fertile ground for experimentation and conjecture. The first half of this book furnishes an introduction and represents a snapshot of the state of the art regarding systems of polynomial equations. Afficionados of the well-known text books by Cox, Little, and O’Shea will find familiar themes in the first five chapters: polynomials in one variable, Gröbner