Difference between revisions of "Polynomial"
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For example, these are polynomials: | For example, these are polynomials: | ||
| − | * <math>4x^2 + 6x - 9</math> | + | * <math>4x^2 + 6x - 9</math>, in the variable x |
| − | * <math>x^3 + 3x^2y + 3xy^2 + y^3</math> | + | * <math>x^3 + 3x^2y + 3xy^2 + y^3</math>, in the variables x and y |
| − | * <math>5x^4 - 2x^2 + 9</math> | + | * <math>5x^4 - 2x^2 + 9</math>, in the variable x |
| + | * <math>\sin^2{x} + 5</math>, in the variable <math>\sin x</math> | ||
| − | + | However, | |
* <math>\sin^2{x} + 5</math> | * <math>\sin^2{x} + 5</math> | ||
* <math>\frac{4x+3}{2x-9}</math> | * <math>\frac{4x+3}{2x-9}</math> | ||
| − | + | are functions, but ''not'' polynomials, in the variable x | |
==Introductory Topics== | ==Introductory Topics== | ||
Revision as of 15:55, 29 June 2006
A polynomial is a function in one or more variables that consists of a sum of variables raised to integral powers and multiplied by coefficients.
For example, these are polynomials:
, in the variable x
, in the variables x and y
, in the variable x
, in the variable 
, in the variable x
, in the variables x and y
, in the variable x
, in the variable 
However,
are functions, but not polynomials, in the variable x
Introductory Topics
A More Precise Definition
A polynomial in one variable is a function 
. Here, 
is the 
th coefficient and 
. The integer 
is called the degree, abbreviated deg, of the polynomial. Often, the leading coefficient of a polynomial will be equal to 1. In this case, we say we have a monic polynomial.
Finding Roots of Polynomials
What is a root?
A root is a value for a variable that will make the polynomial equal zero. For an example, 2 is a root of 
because 
. For some polynomials, you can easily set the polynomial equal to zero and solve the equations to find roots, but in some cases it is much more complicated.
The Fundamental Theorem of Algebra
The fundamental theorem of algebra states that any polynomial with complex coefficients can be written as
where 
is a constant, the 
are (not necessarily distinct) complex numbers and is the highest power of 
that 
contains (also called the degree). It's very easy to find the roots of a polynomial in this form because the roots will be 
. This also tells us that the degree of a given polynomial is at least as large as the number of distinct roots of that polynomial.
Factoring
Different methods of factoring can help find roots of polynomials. Consider this polynomial:
This polynomial easily factors to:
Now, the roots of the polynomial are clearly -3, -2, and 2.
The Rational Root Theorem
We are often interested in finding the roots of polynomials with integral coefficients. Consider such a polynomial . It can be shown that if has a rational root 
and this fraction is fully reduced, then 
is a factor of 
and 
is a factor of 
. This is convenient because it means we must check only a small number of cases to find all rational roots of many polynomials. It is also especially convenient when dealing with monic polynomials.
Descartes' Law of Signs
By the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra, the maximum number of distinct factors (not all necessarily real) of a polynomial of degree n is n. This tells us nothing about whether or not these roots are positive or negative. Decartes' Rule of Signs says that for a polynomial P(x), the number of positive roots to the equation is equal to the number of sign changes in the coefficients of the polynomial, or is less than that number by a multiple of 2. The number of negative roots to the equation is the number of sign changes in the coefficients of P(-x), or is less than that by a multiple of 2.
Binomial Theorem
Binomial theorem can be very useful for factoring and expanding polynomials.
Intermediate Topics
Olympiad Topics
Other Resources
An extensive coverage of this topic is given in A Few Elementary Properties of Polynomials by Adeel Khan.
