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Inverse of a Polynomial

Name: Anonymous 2008-09-09 15:39

If you have something like, say, x = 3*y^2, it's trivial to write y as a function of x (y = sqrt(x/3)).

But what about a polynomial? Like, say, x = 3*y^2 + 2*y. Is that doable "easily"?

Name: Anonymous 2008-09-09 16:51

You can usually only construct an inverse if the function is continuous and monotonic. It's possible to mess around with functions taking several values in some simpler cases (your example should be y = +/- sqrt(x/3)) but generally not feasible.

Name: 4tran 2008-09-09 20:47

"yes" up to quartics.
However, if both sides are high order polynomials, it gets pretty hairy.

eg x^3 - x = y^3 + y + 8

>>2
complex, multivalued functions, etc... @__@

Name: Anonymous 2008-09-10 19:50

FYI the way to solve this up to quadratic is using the quadratic formula, taking a and b directly, and including the other variable on c.

In x = 3*y^2 + 2*y, you solve for y with a=3, b=2 and c=-x.

Name: Anonymous 2008-09-14 17:54

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