cubics | tpiezas

Posts Tagged ‘cubics’

17 Apr

The equation ap^3+bq^3+cr^3+ds^3 = 0

Posted by tpiezas in algebra, Diophantine, identities, mathematics, number theory. Tagged: cubics, diophantine, identities. Leave a comment

Theorem 2: “Likewise, given one non-trivial solution to the cubic,

$a_1y_1^3+a_2y_2^3+a_3y_3^3+\dots+a_ny_n^3 = 0$

then an infinite more can be found.”

Proof: As before, we will start with a particular example and derive the rest by induction. The following is identically true,

$ax_1^3+bx_2^3+cx_3^3+dx_4^3 = (ay_1^3+by_2^3+cy_3^3+dy_4^3)\,(ay_1^3-by_2^3)^3$

where,

$\begin{aligned} x_1 &=y_1(ay_1^3+2by_2^3)\\ x_2 &= -y_2(2ay_1^3+by_2^3)\\ x_3 &= y_3(ay_1^3-by_2^3)\\ x_4 &= y_4(ay_1^3-by_2^3) \end{aligned}$

Thus, if one has initial { $y_1, y_2, y_3, y_4$ } such that the RHS is zero, this leads to a second, the { $x_1, x_2, x_3, x_4$ }. By iteration, these can be used to generate a third, and so on. The reason why { $x_3, x_4$ } have a common factor will be clear in a moment.

This is by A. Desboves, but it is not hard to generalize it to n cubes. The basis is the identity,

$\text{(1)}\;\; a(ax^4+2bxy^3)^3 + b(-2ax^3y-by^4)^3 = (ax^3+by^3)(ax^3-by^3)^3$

If the first factor of the RHS, $ax^3+by^3$ , can be expressed as a sum of n cubes,

$ax^3+by^3 = c_1z_1^3+c_2z_2^3+\dots +c_nz_n^3$

it is a simple matter of distributing the second factor of the RHS among the n cubes so that (1) assumes the form,

$au_1^3+bu_2^3 = c_1v_1^3+c_2v_2^3+\dots +c_nv_n^3$

which explains the common factor of { $x_3, x_4$ } in the 4-cube identity. Hence from { $x, y, z_i$ }, we get new solutions { $u_i, v_i$ } leading to further solutions, ad infinitum.

There doesn’t seem to be any example of a diagonal quartic surface,

$a_1y_1^4+a_2y_2^4+a_3y_3^4+\dots+a_ny_n^4 = 0$

which has been proven to have only one non-trivial and primitive integer solution. Based upon the quadratic and cubic cases, it is tempting to speculate that if it has one, then there may be in fact an infinity.

16 Apr

The equation ap^2+bq^2+cr^2+ds^2 = 0

Posted by tpiezas in algebra, Diophantine, identities, mathematics, number theory. Tagged: cubics, identities, quadratic, squares. Leave a comment

In the previous post, it was discussed that an initial non-trivial integer solution to the diagonal quartic surface,

$ax_1^4+bx_2^4+cx_3^4+dx_4^4 = 0$

apparently does not help in determining if the equation has an infinite number of primitive integer solutions. However, it is different for its quadratic and cubic counterparts.

Theorem 1: “In general, given one non-trivial solution to the quadratic,

$a_1y_1^2+a_2y_2^2+\dots+a_ny_n^2 = 0$

then an infinite more can be found.”

Theorem 2: “Likewise, given one non-trivial solution to the cubic,

$a_1y_1^3+a_2y_2^3+\dots+a_ny_n^3 = 0$

then an infinite more can be found.”

Proof of Theorem 1 (Theorem 2 will be discussed in the next post):

We’ll start with n = 3,4 and prove the rest by induction. There is the identity,

$ax_1^2+bx_2^2+cx_3^2 = (ay_1^2+by_2^2+cy_3^2)\,(az_1^2+bz_2^2+cz_3^2)^2$

where,

$(x_1, x_2, x_3) = (uy_1-vz_1, uy_2-vz_2, uy_3-vz_3)$

and,

$(u,v) = (az_1^2+bz_2^2+cz_3^2,\, 2(ay_1z_1+by_2z_2+cy_3z_3)\,)$

Thus, if one has an initial solution $(y_1, y_2, y_3)$ , then the RHS of the identity becomes zero, and one gets a parametrization in the $(x_1, x_2, x_3)$ for three free variables $(z_1, z_2, z_3)$ . An example is given in this page, form 2b. For n = 4, it is just a generalization,

$ax_1^2+bx_2^2+cx_3^2+dx_4^2 = (ay_1^2+by_2^2+cy_3^2+dy_4^2)(az_1^2+bz_2^2+cz_3^2+dz_4^2)^2$

where,

$(x_1, x_2, x_3, x_4) = (uy_1-vz_1, uy_2-vz_2, uy_3-vz_3, uy_4-vz_4)$

and,

$(u,v) = (az_1^2+bz_2^2+cz_3^2+dz_4^2,\, 2(ay_1z_1+by_2z_2+cy_3z_3+dy_4z_4)\,)$

The pattern is easily seen for n = 5,6, ad infinitum. If only it was that easy for the quartic case.

15 Apr

Quartic equations

Posted by tpiezas in algebra, equations, mathematics. Tagged: cubics, octics, quadratic, quartics. Leave a comment

Composite degrees n are better solved by polynomial decomposition. However, for $n = 2^m$ , there is an alternative method. Thus, we’ll give two methods to solve the quartic. Given the depressed quartic,

$x^4+px^2+qx+r = 0$

Its resolvent cubic is simply,

$y^3+2py^2+(p^2-4r)y-q^2=0$

Method 1:

Given any root y of the cubic, then,

$\begin{aligned} x_{1,2} &=\tfrac{1}{2} \left(\sqrt{y} \pm \sqrt{-(2p+y)-\tfrac{2q}{\sqrt{y}}}\,\right)\\ x_{3,4} &= \tfrac{1}{2} \left(-\sqrt{y} \pm \sqrt{-(2p+y)+\tfrac{2q}{\sqrt{y}}}\, \right)\end{aligned}$

For convenience, one can choose the real root y. Notice that { $x_3, x_4$ } are the negative case of $\pm \sqrt{y}$ . The formula can easily be proven by squaring the variable y, forming the quadratic in { $x_1,\,x_2$ }, and eliminating y between them using resultants,

$\text{Factor}[\text{Resultant}[y^6+2py^4+(p^2-4r)y^2-q^2,\,x^2+xy+\frac{y^3+py-q}{2y},\,y]]\\ = (x^4+px^2+qx+r)^3$

proving any root of the sextic (a cubic in $y^2$ ) will suffice.

Method 2:

Given the three roots { $y_1, y_2, y_3$ } of the resolvent cubic, then,

$\begin{aligned} x_{1,2} &= \frac{\sqrt{y_1} \pm (\sqrt{y_2}+\sqrt{y_3}\,)}{2}\\ x_{3,4} &= \frac{-\sqrt{y_1} \pm (\sqrt{y_2}-\sqrt{y_3}\,)}{2}\end{aligned}$

where signs are chosen such that,

[1] $\sqrt{y_1}\sqrt{y_2}\sqrt{y_3} = -q$

Proof: Expanding,

$(x-x_1)(x-x_2)(x-x_3)(x-x_4) = 0$

using the formulas, we get,

$x^4-\frac{1}{2}(y_1+y_2+y_3)x^2-\sqrt{y_1}\sqrt{y_2}\sqrt{y_3}\,x\\+\frac{1}{16}(y_1^2+y_2^2+y_3^2-2(y_1y_2+y_1y_3+y_2y_3)) = 0$

From [1] and the properties of elementary symmetric polynomials, we find that it is in fact equal to,

$x^4+px^2+qx+r = 0$

A similar method was used to solve the octic $x^8-x^7+29x^2+29 = 0$ in this post, though now one had to take square roots of its resolvent septic.

15 Apr

Cubic equations

Posted by tpiezas in algebra, equations, mathematics. Tagged: cubics, quadratic, quartics. Leave a comment

Recall that solving the quadratic equation,

$x^2+ax+b = 0$

gives,

$x = \frac{1}{2}\,(-a \pm \sqrt{y}\,)$

where y is the linear,

$y = a^2-4b$

The solution to the cubic equation is simply a generalization. Given,

$x^3+ax^2+bx+c=0$

then,

$x =\frac{1}{3}\,(-a+y_1^{1/3}+y_2^{1/3})$

where the $y_i$ are now the two roots of the quadratic,

$y^2+(2a^3-9ab+27c)y+(a^2-3b)^3 = 0$

Notice that the constant term of its resolvent is a perfect cube. For prime degrees, if the irreducible equation is solvable, then it can be solved analogously. For depressed quintics (an easy linear transformation to make a = 0), then,

$x = \frac{1}{5}\,(y_1^{1/5}+y_2^{1/5}+y_3^{1/5}+y_4^{1/5})$

where the $y_i$ are now the four roots of its resolvent quartic. For non-binomial quintics, this quartic will have a constant term that is a perfect fifth power. And so on for other prime degrees.

10 Apr

Solvable sextics

Posted by tpiezas in algebra, equations, mathematics. Tagged: cubics, quadratic, sextics. 2 comments

In a previous post, we discussed the Bring-Jerrard quintic,

$x^5+ax+b=0$

and rational parametrizations for {a, b}. It turns out this has a sextic version. To illustrate, these irreducible equations are solvable,

$\text{(1)}\;\; x^6+3x+3 = 0$

$\text{(2)}\;\; x^6-7^2x-7^2 = 0$

However, each needs a different approach. The first factors into two cubics over $\sqrt{-3}$ , while the second factors into three quadratics whose coefficients are determined by a cubic. These two examples belong to two infinite (but not complete) families.