Polynomial

INTRODUCTION
In mathematics, a polynomial (from Greek
poly, "many" and medieval Latin binomium,
"binomial"[1] [2] [3]) is an expression of finite
length constructed from variables (also known
as indeterminates) and constants, using only
the operationstheory.
of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and
non-negative integer exponents. The term
"polynomial" can also be used as an adjective,
for quantities that can be expressed as a
polynomial of some parameter, as in
"polynomial time" which is used in
computational complexity

OVERVIEW
polynomial is either zero, or can be written as
the sum of one or more non-zero terms. The
number of terms is finite. These terms consist
of a constant (called the coefficient of the
term) which may be multiplied by a finite
number of variables (usually represented by
letters). Each variable may have an exponent
that is a non-negative integer, i.e., a natural
number. The exponent on a variable in a term
is called the degree of that variable in that
term, the degree of the term is the sum of the
degrees of the variables in that term, and the
degree of a polynomial is the largest degree
of any one term. Since x = x1, the degree of

Polynomial functions
A polynomial function is a function that can be defined by evaluating a
polynomial. A function of one argument is called a polynomial function if it
satisfies

for all arguments x, where n is a non-negative integer and a0, a1,a2, ..., an
are constant coefficients.
For example, the function , taking real numbers to real numbers, defined by

is a polynomial function of one argument. Polynomial functions of multiple

arguments can also be defined, using polynomials in multiple variables, as
in

An example is also the function f(x) = cos(2arccos(x)) which, although it

doesn't look like a polynomial, is a polynomial function since for every x it is
true that f(x) = 2x2 1 (see Chebyshev polynomials).

Polynomial equations
A polynomial equation is an equation in which a
polynomial is set equal to another polynomial.

is a polynomial equation. In case of a polynomial equation

the variable is considered an unknown, and one seeks to
find the possible values for which both members of the
equation evaluate to the same value (in general more
than one solution may exist). A polynomial equation is to
be contrasted with a polynomial identity like (x + y)(x y)
= x2 y2, where both members represent the same
polynomial in different forms, and as a consequence any
evaluation of both members will give a valid equality. This
means that a polynomial identity is a polynomial equation
for which all possible values of the unknowns are solutions

Elementary properties of
polynomials
A sum of polynomials is a polynomial.
A product of polynomials is a polynomial.
A composition of two polynomials is a polynomial,
which is obtained by substituting a variable of the
first polynomial by the second polynomial.
The derivative of the polynomial anxn + an-1xn-1 +
... + a2x2 + a1x + a0 is the polynomial nanxn-1 + (n1)an-1xn-2 + ... + 2a2x + a1. If the set of the
coefficients does not contain the integers (for
example if the coefficients are integers modulo some
prime number p), then kak should be interpreted as
the sum of ak with itself, k times. For example, over
the integers modulo p, the derivative of the
polynomial xp+1 is the polynomial 0.

Evaluation of a
polynomial
Evaluation of a polynomial consists of assigning a
number to each variable and carrying out the indicated
multiplications and additions. Actual evaluation is
usually more efficient using the Horner scheme:
In elementary algebra, methods are given for solving
all first degree and second degree polynomial
equations in one variable. In the case of polynomial
equations, the variable is often called an unknown. The
number of solutions may not exceed the degree, and
will equal the degree when multiplicity of solutions and
complex number solutions are counted. This fact is
called the fundamental theorem of algebra.

HISTORY
Determining the roots of polynomials, or "solving
algebraic equations", is among the oldest
problems in mathematics. However, the elegant
and practical notation we use today only
developed beginning in the 15th century. Before
that, equations were written out in words. For
example, an algebra problem from the Chinese
Arithmetic in Nine Sections, circa 200 BCE, begins
"Three sheafs of good crop, two sheafs of
mediocre crop, and one sheaf of bad crop are sold
for 29 dou." We would write 3x + 2y + z = 29.

Notation
The earliest known use of the equal sign is in
Robert Recorde's The Whetstone of Witte, 1557.
The signs + for addition, for subtraction, and the
use of a letter for an unknown appear in Michael
Stifel's Arithemetica integra, 1544. Ren Descartes,
in La gometrie, 1637, introduced the concept of
the graph of a polynomial equation. He popularized
the use of letters from the beginning of the
alphabet to denote constants and letters from the
end of the alphabet to denote variables, as can be
seen above, in the general formula for a polynomial
in one variable, where the a 's denote constants
and x denotes a variable. Descartes introduced the
use of superscripts to denote exponents as well.[6]

Number of variables
One classification of polynomials is based on the number of
distinct variables. A polynomial in one variable is called a
univariate polynomial, a polynomial in more than one variable is
called a multivariate polynomial. These notions refer more to the
kind of polynomials one is generally working with than to
individual polynomials; for instance when working with univariate
polynomials one does not exclude constant polynomials (which
may result, for instance, from the subtraction of non-constant
polynomials), although strictly speaking constant polynomials do
not contain any variables at all. It is possible to further classify
multivariate polynomials as bivariate, trivariate, and so on,
according to the maximum number of variables allowed. Again, so
that the set of objects under consideration be closed under
subtraction, a study of trivariate polynomials usually allows
bivariate polynomials, and so on. It is common, also, to say simply
"polynomials in x, y, and z", listing the variables allowed. In this
case, xy is allowed

Extensions of the concept of a polynomial

Polynomials can involve more than one variable, in which they are
called multivariate. Rings of polynomials in a finite number of
variables are of fundamental importance in algebraic geometry
which studies the simultaneous zero sets of several such
multivariate polynomials. These rings can alternatively be
constructed by repeating the construction of univariate
polynomials with as coefficient ring another ring of polynomials:
thus the ring R[X,Y] of polynomials in X and Y can be viewed as
the ring (R[X])[Y] of polynomials in Y with as coefficients
polynomials in X, or as the ring (R[Y])[X] of polynomials in X with
as coefficients polynomials in Y. These identifications are
compatible with arithmetic operations (they are isomorphisms of
rings), but some notions such as degree or whether a polynomial
is considered monic can change between these points of view.
One can construct rings of polynomials in infinitely many
variables, but since polynomials are (finite) expressions, any
individual polynomial can only contain finitely many variables .

DIVISION ALGORITHM:
If f(x) and are polynomials, and the degree of d(x)
is less than or equal to the degree of f(x), then
there exist unique polynomials q(x) and r(x), so
that

and so that the degree of r(x) is less than the

degree of d(x). In the special case where r(x)=0,
we say that d(x) divides evenly into f(x).