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The roots, stationary points, inflection point and concavity of a cubic polynomial x 3 − 6x 2 + 9x − 4 (solid black curve) and its first (dashed red) and second (dotted orange) derivatives. The critical points of a cubic function are its stationary points , that is the points where the slope of the function is zero. [ 2 ]
This can be proved as follows. First, if r is a root of a polynomial with real coefficients, then its complex conjugate is also a root. So the non-real roots, if any, occur as pairs of complex conjugate roots. As a cubic polynomial has three roots (not necessarily distinct) by the fundamental theorem of algebra, at least one root must be real.
It follows that the roots of a polynomial with real coefficients are mirror-symmetric with respect to the real axis. This can be extended to algebraic conjugation: the roots of a polynomial with rational coefficients are conjugate (that is, invariant) under the action of the Galois group of the polynomial. However, this symmetry can rarely be ...
A cubic polynomial has three zeroes in the complex number plane, which in general form a triangle, and the Gauss–Lucas theorem states that the roots of its derivative lie within this triangle. Marden's theorem states their location within this triangle more precisely:
Similarly, the discriminant of a cubic polynomial is zero if and only if the polynomial has a multiple root. In the case of a cubic with real coefficients, the discriminant is positive if the polynomial has three distinct real roots, and negative if it has one real root and two distinct complex conjugate roots. More generally, the discriminant ...
Finding roots −1/2, −1/ √ 2, and 1/ √ 2 of the cubic 4x 3 +2x 2 −2x−1 showing how negative coefficients and extended segments are handled. Each number shown on a colored line is the negative of its slope and hence a real root of the polynomial. To employ the method, a diagram is drawn starting at the origin.
These two roots are also a root of the derivative of the polyomial. So, they are also a root of the greatest common divisor of the polynomial and its derivative, which can be computed with the Euclidean algorithm for polynomials. It follows that the three roots are real, and if the coefficients are rational numbers, the same is true for the roots.
Cubic equations, which are polynomial equations of the third degree (meaning the highest power of the unknown is 3) can always be solved for their three solutions in terms of cube roots and square roots (although simpler expressions only in terms of square roots exist for all three solutions, if at least one of them is a rational number).