A Symbolic Homotopy Algorithm for Solving Composable Polynomial Systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces a symbolic homotopy algorithm that leverages composable polynomial structures to efficiently compute isolated regular solutions of polynomial systems, with applications to invariant theory.

Contribution

It presents a probabilistic algorithm exploiting composable structures to solve polynomial systems more efficiently than traditional methods.

Findings

Algorithm has polynomial complexity in input size and solutions

Applicable to systems with algebraically independent polynomials

Effective for invariant polynomial systems under reflection groups

Abstract

We study the problem of computing the isolated regular solutions of a system \((f_1,\ldots,f_n)\) of \(n\) polynomial equations in \(n\) variables \((X_1, \dots, X_n)\) over a field of characteristic zero \(k\). We focus on systems with a \emph{composable structure}, where each polynomial \(f_i\) can be expressed as a composition \( f_i = h_i(g_1,\dots,g_n)\). Exploiting this structure allows us to reduce the original system to one in the \(g_j\) variables, thereby significantly improving the efficiency of symbolic solution algorithms. We present a probabilistic algorithm that computes all isolated regular solutions, with arithmetic complexity being polynomial in the input size and in the number of solutions. A first important application is when \(f_1, \dots, f_n\) belong to the subring \(k[g_1, \dots, g_n]\), where \(g_1, \dots, g_n\) are algebraically independent polynomials in \(k[X_1, \dots, X_n]\). Another important application is to systems of invariant polynomials under finite reflection groups, since by the Chevalley-Shephard-Todd theorem their invariant rings are polynomial algebras. Typical examples include the symmetric groups \(S_n\), the hyperoctahedral groups \(B_n\), the dihedral groups \(I_2(m)\), and the exceptional finite reflection groups \(E_6, E_7, E_8, F_4, H_3, H_4\).