ROOTS OF EQUATIONS

ROOTS OF POLYNOMIALS

In this chapter, we consider methods to find

the roots of polynomial equations of the
general form:
where n = order of the polynomial and the as
are constant coefficients

The roots of such polynomials follow these

rules:

For an nth order equation, there are n real or

complex roots (not necessarily distinct)
If n is odd, there is at least one real root.
If complex roots exist, they exist in conjugate pairs.

Mullers method is a generalization of the secant

method, in the sense that it does not require the
derivative of the function.
It is an iterative method that requires three
starting points (p0, f (p0)), (p1, f (p1)), and (p2, f
(p2)).
A parabola is constructed that passes through
the three points; then the quadratic formula is
used to find a root of the quadratic for the next
approximation.
It has been proved that near a simple root
Mullers method converges faster than the secant
method and almost as fast as Newtons method.
The method can be used to find real or complex
zeros of a function and can be programmed to
use complex arithmetic.

x3 x2

2c
b b 4ac

1 0
a
h1 h0
h0 x1 x0
h1 x2 x1

b ah 1 1

In Mullers method,
the sign is chosen to
agree with the sign of

c f x2

f x1 f x0
0
x1 x0
f x2 f x1
1
x2 x1

Example:
Use Mullers method with guesses of x0 =
4.5, x1=5.5 and x3=5 to determine a root of
the equation f(x)=x3 13x-12
h0 = 1
h1 =-.5
f(x0) = 20.625
f(x1) = 82.875
f(x2) = 48

0 = 62.25
1 = 69.75

x3 = 3.976487
New iteration: x0 = 5.5
x1 = 5
x2 = 3.976487
n

Xr

5.000000

3.976487

4.001050

4.000000

4.000000

Bairstows method is an iterative approach

related loosely to both the Muller and
Newton-Raphson methods
Approach:
Guess a value for the root at x = t
Divide the polynomial by the factor x t
Determine whether there is a remainder

If not, the guess was perfect and the root is equal to t

If there is a remainder, the guess can be systematically
and the procedure repeated until the remainder
disappears and a root is located.

To permit the evaluation of complex

roots, Bairstows method divides the
polynomial by a quadratic factor
2
If this is done, the result is a new
polynomial
2 = 2 + 1 3 + + 3 + 2
with a remainder
= 1 + 0

 Adjust

r and s so that the division

yields a zero remainder

ri 1 r1 r
si 1 s1 s

Identify the a coefficients

Determine the b coefficients
=
1 = 1 +
= + +1 + +2 = 2 0
Determine the c coefficients
=
1 = 1 +
= + +1 + +2 = 2 1
Solve the system:
2 + 3 = 1
1 + 2 = 0
Determine the next r and s

By: synthetic division:

an

a n 1
r1bn

bn

bn 1
r1c n

cn

c n 1

r1
s1

a n2
r1bn1
s1bn
bn 2
r1c n1
s1c n
c n 2 ..

a n 3 a 2
r1bn2
s1bn 1
bn 3 b 2

c2

a1

a0

b1

b0

c1

c0

Example: Determine the roots of the polynomial

f(x) = x5 -3.5x4+2.125x2 -3.875x+1.25 with initial
guesses r=s=-1.00000