A polynomial is a linear function that is a combination of the argument raised to different integer powers.
Polynomials are among the most common mathematical objects. The Extreme Optimization Mathematics Library for
.NET has extensive support for common polynomials and Chebyshev
polynomials.
The PolynomialBase class
All polynomial classes are derived from PolynomialBase This class defines a number of properties shared
by all polynomial classes. PolynomialBase is itself derived from LinearCombination.
The Parameters of a polynomial are the
coefficients of the polynomial.
The Degree of a polynomial is the highest
power that appears in the sum. The number of parameters of the polynomial equals the degree plus one.
General polynomials are implemented by the Polynomial
class. The Constant, Line, and Quadratic classes all inherit from Polynomial. They
represent polynomials of fixed degree 0, 1, and 2, respectively. An instance of one of these specialized classes can
be substituted whenever a Polynomial instance is used in an expression.
Constructing polynomials
The Polynomial class has three constructors: The
first constructor takes the degree of the polynomial as its only argument. All coefficients are initially set to
zero. The second constructor takes an array of Double values containing
the coefficients. The third constructor takes a single Vector argument. This Vector should contain the coefficients of the polynomial. The
following example illustrates three different ways of constructing the polynomial.
x
3 - 5
x2 + 9
x + 2
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Polynomial p1 = new Polynomial(3);
p1.Coefficients[3] = 1;
p1.Coefficients[2] = -5;
p1.Coefficients[1] = 9;
p1.Coefficients[0] = 2;
Polynomial p2 = new Polynomial(new double[] {2, 9, -5, 1});
Vector coefficients = new Vector(2, 9, -5, 1);
Polynomial p3 = new Polynomial(coefficients);
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Dim p1 As Polynomial = new Polynomial(3);
p1.Coefficients(3) = 1
p1.Coefficients(2) = -5
p1.Coefficients(1) = 9
p1.Coefficients(0) = 2
Dim p2 As Polynomial = New Polynomial(New Double() {1, -5, 9, 2})
Dim coefficients As Vector = Vector.Create(2, 9, -5, 1)
Dim p3 As Polynomial = New Polynomial(coefficients)
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Notice that the coefficients in the constructors for p2 and p3 are listed in order of
degree. The nth element of the array or Vector
is the coefficient of degree n.
You can also create a polynomial using one of several static methods.
The GetInterpolatingPolynomial(array<Double>[]()[], array<Double>[]()[]) method returns
the polynomial that interpolates a set of points. The x-coordinates of the points must be distinct. The x and
y-coordinates must be given as two separate Double arrays. The following creates
the interpolating polynomial through a set of four points:
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double[] xValues = new double[] {1, 2, 3, 4};
double[] yValues = new double[] {1, 4, 10, 8};
Polynomial p4;
p4 = Polynomial.GetInterpolatingPolynomial(xValues, yValues);
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Dim xValues As Double() = New Double() {1, 2, 3, 4}
Dim yValues As Double() = New Double() {1, 4, 10, 8}
Dim p4 As Polynomial
p4 = Polynomial.GetInterpolatingPolynomial(xValues, yValues);
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The FromRoots(array<Double>[]()[]) method constructs a
Polynomial whose roots are given by the arguments passed to the method. The roots are provided as a
Double array. They can be in any order. The same root can appear multiple times.
The following constructs a polynomial with roots 1, 2 (twice), and 4:
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double[] roots = new double[] {1, 2, 2, 4};
Polynomial p5 = Polynomial.FromRoots(roots);
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Dim roots As Double() = New Double() {1, 2, 3, 4}
Dim p5 As Polynomial = Polynomial.FromRoots(roots);
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The LeastSquaresFit()()() method
constructs a Polynomial that is the least squares fit of a specified degree through a given set of
points.
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double[] xValues = new double[7];
double[] yValues = new double[7];
double angle = 0;
for(int index = 0; index < 7; index++)
{
xValues[index] = Math.Cos(angle);
yValues[index] = -Math.Sin(angle);
angle = angle + Constants.Pi / 6;
}
Polynomial p6 = Polynomial.LeastSquaresFit(xValues, yValues, 4);
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Dim xValues As Double() = New Double(7)
Dim yValues As Double() = New Double(7)
Dim angle As Double = 0
Dim index As Integer
For index = 0 to 6
xValues(index) = Math.Cos(angle)
yValues(index) = -Math.Sin(angle)
angle = angle + Constants.Pi / 6
Next
Dim p6 As Polynomial = Polynomial.LeastSquaresFit(xValues, yValues, 4);
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Working with polynomials
Polynomial implements all methods and properties of the
Curve class.
The ValueAt(Double) method returns the value of the
polynomial at a specified point. SlopeAt(Double) returns
the derivative. These methods are overloaded to take both real and DoubleComplex arguments. The complex version returns a complex number.
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Console.WriteLine("p1.ValueAt(2) = {0}", p1.ValueAt(2));
Console.WriteLine("p1.SlopeAt(2) = {0}", p1.SlopeAt(2));
DoubleComplex z = new DoubleComplex(1, -2);
Console.WriteLine("p1.ValueAt(1-2i) = {0}", p1.ValueAt(z));
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Console.WriteLine("p1.ValueAt(2) = {0}", p1.ValueAt(2))
Console.WriteLine("p1.SlopeAt(2) = {0}", p1.SlopeAt(2))
Dim z As DoubleComplex = New DoubleComplex(1, -2)
Console.WriteLine("p1.ValueAt(1-2i) = {0}", p1.ValueAt(z))
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The GetDerivative()()() method returns the
polynomial that is the derivative of a polynomial. If the derivative is a constant, a line, or a quadratic curve, an
instance of the corresponding type is returned.
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Curve derivative = p1.GetDerivative();
Console.WriteLine("Slope at 2 (derivative) = {0}",
derivative.ValueAt(2));
Console.WriteLine("Type of derivative: {0}",
derivative.GetType().FullName);
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Dim derivative As Curve = p1.GetDerivative()
Console.WriteLine("Slope at 2 (derivative) = {0}", _
derivative.ValueAt(2))
Console.WriteLine("Type of derivative: {0}", _
derivative.GetType().FullName)
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Integral(Double, Double) evaluates the definite integral over a
specified interval. The integral is calculated directly using the coefficients of the polynomial. No numerical
approximations are used.
The parameters of a polynomial correspond to the coefficients of the polynomial. To make it easier to work with
polynomial coefficients, an indexer property has been defined, which can be used to get and set individual
coefficients directly. In Visual Basic .NET and other languages that don't support indexers, the indexed property
Coefficient should be used instead.
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Polynomial p = new Polynomial(1, 1, -1, -2);
Console.WriteLine(p[1]);
p[1] = 0;
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Dim p As Polynomial = New Polynomial(1, 1, -1, -2)
Console.WriteLine(p.Coefficient(1))
p.Coefficient(1) = 0
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Operations on polynomials
The result of adding or subtracting two polynomials is a new polynomial. Similarly, the result of multiplying two
polynomials is a new polynomial.
The Polynomial class implements these operations through
overloaded operators. Static methods are available for languages that don't support operator overloading. The
following table summarizes these operations:
Polynomial operators and their static (Shared) method equivalents
The following example shows how to use these operators:
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Polynomial a = new Polynomial(2, -2, 4);
Polynomial b = new Polynomial(1, -3);
Polynomial c;
Console.WriteLine("a = {0}", a.ToString());
Console.WriteLine("b = {0}", b.ToString());
c = a + b;
Console.WriteLine("a + b = {0}", c.ToString());
c = a - b;
Console.WriteLine("a - b = {0}", c.ToString());
c = a * b;
Console.WriteLine("a * b = {0}", c.ToString());
c = a / b;
Console.WriteLine("a / b = {0}", c.ToString());
c = a % b;
Console.WriteLine("a % b = {0}", c.ToString());
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Dim a As Polynomial = New Polynomial(2, -2, 4)
Dim b As Polynomial = New Polynomial(1, -3)
Dim c As Polynomial = New Polynomial
Console.WriteLine("a = {0}", a.ToString())
Console.WriteLine("b = {0}", b.ToString())
c = Polynomial.Add(a, b)
Console.WriteLine("a + b = {0}", c.ToString())
c = Polynomial.Subtract(a, b)
Console.WriteLine("a - b = {0}", c.ToString())
c = Polynomial.Multiply(a, b)
Console.WriteLine("a * b = {0}", c.ToString())
c = Polynomial.Divide(a, b)
Console.WriteLine("a / b = {0}", c.ToString())
c = Polynomial.Modulus(a, b)
Console.WriteLine("a % b = {0}", c.ToString())
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As with integers, division of polynomials is not always exact. The division operator returns a polynomial such
that the degree of the remainder of the division is less than the degree of the divisor.
The Divide method has an
Divide(Polynomial, Polynomial, Polynomial%)
that allows you to obtain both the quotient and remainder at the same time. This method takes a third
out parameter that will hold the remainder.
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Polynomial d;
c = Polynomial.Divide(a, b, out d);
Console.WriteLine("Using Divide method:");
Console.WriteLine(" a / b = {0}", c.ToString());
Console.WriteLine(" a % b = {0}", d.ToString());
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Dim d As Polynomial
c = Polynomial.Divide(a, b, out d)
Console.WriteLine("Using Divide method:")
Console.WriteLine(" a / b = {0}", c.ToString())
Console.WriteLine(" a % b = {0}", d.ToString())
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Note also that Constant, Line, and Quadratic objects can be used in
polynomial expressions, as they inherit from Polynomial.
Finding roots of polynomials
A polynomial of degree n has at most n real roots, some of which may occur several times. The
FindRoots()()() method attempts to find all the real
roots of a polynomial. For example, the polynomial x3 + x2 - 2 has one real
root at x = 1:
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Polynomial polynomial1 = new Polynomial(1, 1, 0, -2);
double[] roots = polynomial1.FindRoots();
Console.WriteLine("Number of roots of p: {0}", roots.Length);
Console.WriteLine("Value of root 1 = {0}", roots[0]);
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Dim p As Polynomial = New Polynomial(1, 1, 0, -2)
Dim roots As Double() = polynomial1.FindRoots()
Console.WriteLine("Number of roots of p: {0}", roots.Length)
Console.WriteLine("Value of root 1 = {0}", roots(0))
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In the complex domain, a polynomial of degree n always has n roots. The Polynomial
class defines the FindComplexRoots()()() method,
which returns an array of DoubleComplex numbers that are the
approximate roots of the polynomial.
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Polynomial polynomial2 = new Polynomial(1, 1, 0, -2);
DoubleComplex[] roots = polynomial2.FindComplexRoots();
Console.WriteLine("Number of roots of p: {0}", roots.Length);
Console.WriteLine("Value of root 1 = {0}", roots[0]);
Console.WriteLine("Value of root 2 = {0}", roots[1]);
Console.WriteLine("Value of root 3 = {0}", roots[2]);
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Dim polynomial2 As Polynomial = New Polynomial(1, 1, 0, -2)
Dim roots As DoubleComplex() = polynomial2.FindComplexRoots()
Console.WriteLine("Number of roots of p: {0}", roots.Length)
Console.WriteLine("Value of root 1 = {0}", roots(0))
Console.WriteLine("Value of root 2 = {0}", roots(1))
Console.WriteLine("Value of root 3 = {0}", roots(2))
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The roots are returned in order of increasing real part, and, if the real parts are equal, increasing imaginary
part.