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In mathematics, a quartic equation is one which can be expressed as a quartic function equaling zero. The general form of a quartic equation is Graph of a polynomial function of degree 4, with its 4 roots and 3 critical points. + + + + = where a ≠ 0.
Vieta's formulas are then useful because they provide relations between the roots without having to compute them. For polynomials over a commutative ring that is not an integral domain, Vieta's formulas are only valid when a n {\displaystyle a_{n}} is not a zero-divisor and P ( x ) {\displaystyle P(x)} factors as a n ( x − r 1 ) ( x − r 2 ) …
Graph of a polynomial of degree 4, with 3 critical points and four real roots (crossings of the x axis) (and thus no complex roots). If one or the other of the local minima were above the x axis, or if the local maximum were below it, or if there were no local maximum and one minimum below the x axis, there would only be two real roots (and two complex roots).
Given a general quadratic equation of the form + + = , with representing an unknown, and coefficients , , and representing known real or complex numbers with , the values of satisfying the equation, called the roots or zeros, can be found using the quadratic formula,
Since the 16th century, similar formulas (using cube roots in addition to square roots), although much more complicated, are known for equations of degree three and four (see cubic equation and quartic equation). But formulas for degree 5 and higher eluded researchers for several centuries.
This allows computing the multiple root, and the third root can be deduced from the sum of the roots, which is provided by Vieta's formulas. A difference with other characteristics is that, in characteristic 2, the formula for a double root involves a square root, and, in characteristic 3, the formula for a triple root involves a cube root.
One property of this form is that it yields one valid root when a = 0, while the other root contains division by zero, because when a = 0, the quadratic equation becomes a linear equation, which has one root. By contrast, in this case, the more common formula has a division by zero for one root and an indeterminate form 0/0 for the
Finding the roots (zeros) of a given polynomial has been a prominent mathematical problem.. Solving linear, quadratic, cubic and quartic equations in terms of radicals and elementary arithmetic operations on the coefficients can always be done, no matter whether the roots are rational or irrational, real or complex; there are formulas that yield the required solutions.