General Solutions to Certain Real Degree Equations and their

Applications

Pushpa N. Rathie1 and Luan Carlos de S. M. Ozelim2

1
Department of Statistics, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, 70910-900, Brazil, email:

pushpanrathie@yahoo.com (corresponding author)

2
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Brasilia, Brasilia,

70910-900, Brazil, email: luanoz@gmail.com

Abstract

One of the most common problems in mathematical sciences is the solution of certain

real degree equations. This paper generalizes previous results by giving the explicit

closed-form analytical solutions to some equations whose degree is an arbitrary real

number. The solutions are in terms of H-functions. By means of the results, a new

solution of the Bring-Jerrard quintic equation is proposed. Besides, the general solution

is applied to solve problems in diversified branches of science, such as reliability

theory, information theory and hydraulics. These problems have played a major role in

each area, and include the determination of discrete decreasing reversed hazard, failure

rate functions, alternate depths and sequent depths. Every solution can be converted to a

computable form, which evidences the practical and computational applicability of the

results.

Keywords: Real degree equation; statistics; hydraulics; reliability theory; information

theory; Lagrange’s expansion; H-function.

MSC 2000: 33C60; 65H05

1 Introduction

1
The solution of polynomial equations is one of the most ordinary problems in modern

and ancient Mathematics. The solution of first degree equations, such as x    0 do

not require more than a simple division. Since the Babylonians, the solution to the

general quadratic equation, such as x 2   x    0 , is known. This solution uses nothing

further than the basic operations and a square root.

After some time, in the 16-th century, the solution to the general cubic equation, such as

x 3   x 2  x    0 , was presented by Cardan, based on a previous work by Tartaglia

and dal Ferro. The solution, besides the basic operations and the square root,

incorporated cubic roots. After a short period, Ferrari showed how the combination of

both the solutions of quadratic and cubic equations could be used to solve the 4-th

degree equation. Since that time, mathematicians started working on the quintic

equation. Even remarkable scientists such as Leibniz, Tschirnhausen, Euler,

Vandermonde, Lagrange and Ruffini, could not provide the solution to the general

quintic equation [10],[21].

Although these mathematicians could not give the solution, their attempts brought up a

wide range of new ideas and methods which were used by Abel to finally prove the

impossibility of solving by radicals the general equation of degree higher than four.

Subsequently, Galois developed a theory, so-called Galois theory, which sets conditions

to the solvability of this kinds of equations [21]. This theory has found applications in

physical and mathematical sciences, giving some important steps on the way of an

important area of algebra, the group theory[10].

Knowing that no radical solution to the general quintic equation could be found, the

subsequent efforts aimed the creation of other methods which go beyond the basic

operations and the extraction of roots. These methods required functions which could be

interpreted as more complicated radicals, the hyperradicals. Following this idea,

2
Hermite[7], Gordan[5], Kiepert[9] and Kronecker[12] provided the solution using

elliptic modular functions. A few years later, Klein[11] employed the icosahedrons’

symmetry to algebraic methods of solving quintic equations in terms of the

hypergeometric function. This special function has been used by other contributors such

as Glasser[4], Cockle[3] and Harley[6]. They presented the solutions of quintic

equations as combinations of hypergeometric functions.

This paper generalizes Glasser’s results[4] by solving a wider class of equations in

terms of another special function, the H-function[13]. Firstly, one shall apply

Lagrange’s Inversion Theorem [23] and then convert the resulting series in H-functions.

After observing the solutions provided, it could be seen that, for some cases, the real

powers of H-functions could be given as H-functions. A result for these cases is given.

The results are applied to solve some problems in mathematics and engineering, such as

reliability theory, information theory and hydraulics, which show that such solutions

have great applicability to practical issues. Also, one may note that the results given

here can be converted to G-functions, which are implemented in computational

softwares such as Maple and Mathematica.

Some basic definitions will be omitted in the present work, however, precise references

will be given, at proper places, in order to provide good sources to the reader.

2 The Solutions

In this section, solutions to two general equations are obtained in terms of H-function.

Besides, a result for certain types of powers of H-function is also mentioned.

2.1 The first generalization of the known results

Consider the general equation:

3
x     (  x)  (1)

In order to give a solution of such equation, one shall apply Lagrange’s inversion

theorem[23] for f ( x)  x :

 n d n 1
 (  x) n 

x   n 1 (2)
n 1 n! dx
x 

This can be further manipulated in order to obtain:

 1 n
   [  (   ) ] (n  1) 
x       if  (   ) 1  1 (3)
  n 0 ((  1)n  2)n! 

in which ( z ) denotes the gamma function [1]. By comparing Eq.(3) to the series

expansions of the H-Function, and noticing its convergence issues [2],[8], one shall

obtain:

a) If   1 :

    
 1
(0,  )  
x      H 11,,21         , if
     (0,1), ( 1,   1)  

   
1
   ( )  1
     1
 

(4)

   1 1 
     (1,1), (2,   1)  
x      H 21,,11           , otherwise
       (1,  )  
 

(5)

b) If   1 :

  
x (6)
1  

c) If 0    1 :

4
     
 1
(0,  ), (2,1   ) 
x      H 21,,11         , if
     (0,1)  

   
1
   ( )   1
      1

(7)

  1 1  
  1,1       (1,1)  ,
x      H 1, 2         otherwise
       (1,  ), ( 1,1   )  
 

(8)

d) If   0 :

x   (9)

e) If   0 :

  
 1
     ( 2,1   )   
1

x      H 11,,21          , if    ( )  1
      1
       ( 0,1), (1,  )  

(10)

  1 1 
  1,1       (1,1), (0, )  
x      H 1, 2         , otherwise
       ( 1,1   )  
 

(11)

The solutions above cover all the possibilities of the coefficients of Eq. (1), giving the

closed-form explicit solution to any equation which can be written in the form of such

equation.

2.2 The second generalization of the previous results

Consider now the other general equation:

x  *   *  * x  * (12)

5
It can be seen, by comparing Eq.(12) to Eq.(1) that, in general, one is not a special case

of the other. Only if  *   ,   0 ,    *  1 ,  *   /  and  *   1 they become

explicitly correlated. Thus, the solutions of Eq.(12) are as important as the ones of Eq.

(1). Hence, by applying the variable change x  *  y one gets:

*
y   *  * y  *

(13)


Now, by using Lagrange’s theorem, for f ( x )  x  * , Eq.(13) provides:

( *) n d n1    * n   * 1 
  * 
x   (  *)  *   n 1 
x  (14)
n 1 n! dx  *  x *

By rearranging Eq.(14) and assuming that sign( )  sign( *) , one obtains:

n
  1 
 * 

   *  *  *    *  
   n 
 ( *)  *  *
if (15)
* 
 
 * 


 1

x 
 *  *  * 
1

* n 0 n!   *    
   1n    1 
  *    * 

Again, by analyzing Eq.(15) and H-Function’s series definition, the solutions are given

as:

a) If  * /  *  1 :

   * 
  *  (1  , )
 (  *)  * 1,1   1 
* * 
x  H 1,2   *  *  *  ,
*    * 
( 0,1), (  ,  1)
  *  * 

 *   *    * *
*

If    ( *) * 
 *   *  
 * 1 (16)

   * 
1
(1,1), (  1,  1)
 (  *)  * 1,1    1 
 * 
* * 
x 
*
H 2,1   *  *  *  
   (  ,  * ) 
, otherwise (17)
 * * 

b) If  * /  *  1 :

(18)
1
  * *
x 
 

1   * 

c) If 0   * /  *  1 :

6
 
 * 
 1 (1 
 *  * 
 ( *) * 1,1  , ), (  1,1  )

x  H 2,1   *  * *   *  *  *  * ,
*  
 (0,1) 

 *   *    * *
*

If    ( *) *   *  1
 *   *  
(19)


   *  (1,1)
1 
 ( *) * 1,1    *1 

x  H1,2   *  *    *   * , otherwise (20)
*    ( , ), ( ,1  )
   *  *  *  * 

d) If  * /  *  0, as  *  0 :

1
x  (  *  *)  *

(21)

e) If  * /  *  0 :

   * 
(  1,1  ) 
 ( *)  * 1,1 
 * 
 1 
* * 
x   H 1, 2  *  *  *  ,
*   *
(0,1), ( , )
 * * 

 *   *    * *
*

If    ( *) *   *  1
 *   *  
(22)

   * 
1
(1,1), (1  , )
 (  *)  * 1,1    1  
 * 
* * 
x  
*
H 2,1   *  *  *  
   (  ,1   * ) 
, otherwise (23)
 * * 

Again, for every set of parameters of Eq.(12) the solution is presented above, giving the

exact closed-form solution to any equation which has the arrangement of Eq.(12).

2.3 The powers of H-Functions as H-functions

By the arrangement made above on equations (16),(17),(19),(20),(22) and (23), if one

take   1 one shall get x in terms of H-functions. However, going back to the equations

cited above, and changing x for its H-function value, one can easily obtain the powers of

x as H-functions as well.

As an example, take Eq. (23) and   1 , thus:

7
 1  1 * 
1
(1,1), (1  , )
(  *)  * 1,1   1  
 * 
 * * 
x
*
H 1, 2  *  *

 * 

1 *
, (24)
 ( ,1  ) 
 * * 


On the other hand, since x is given in Eq.(24), by taking Eq.(23) and   m one gets:
m
  1  * 
  *  (1,1), (1  , )
1
 1 ,1    * 1    *  *   
 H 1, 2   *  *  
   ( 1 ,1   * )  
   *  *  

 m * 

(25)

1
(1,1), (1  , )
1 
 *  * ,
 * 

 m *m 1 H 11,,21   *  *  *  
  ( m ,1   * )
 

 * * 


which shows that, in some cases, powers of H-functions are H-functions.

3 Practical Applications

In this section solutions to problems in three different fields are derived. The solutions

will be presented as H-functions. For numerical applications, the series corresponding to

the H-function can be obtained paying attention to the convergence conditions [13]. The

convergence of these series is, in general, good.

3.1 Reliability Theory Problem

In [14] the following equation on reliability sharp bounds, in connection with discrete

decreasing reversed hazard (d-DRM), was encountered:

1  rmm 1
 m 1  , m  k , k  1,...
1  rm

(26)

They did not obtain the unique solution rm explicitly, thus, in order to obtain such

solution one shall rearrange Eq.(26) as:

m 1
rm   rmm 1 (27)
m   1 m   1

The comparison of Eq.(27) to Eq.(12) provides:

m 1
 *  1;  *  ; *  ; *  m  1 (28)
m   1 m   1

8
Thus, the solutions given by Eq.(16) and Eq.(17) for   1 and for  *,  *,  * and

 * given in Eq.(28) are:

rm 
m 
H 11,,21 
 m    m (0, m  1) ,
 if
m   1   m    1 (0,1), (1, m)
m 1

1
1
m

  m  1 
(m  1)    m  1
 m    1 

(29)

m   m    1 m 1 (1,1), ( 2, m) 
rm  H 21,,11  , otherwise
m   1   m    m (1, m  1) 

(30)

3.2 Information Theory Problem

In Eq. (4.1) of [15], the following was obtained:

(   1)
d
dt
 
H 1 ( X ; t )  r (t )    (   1) H 1 ( X ; t )   r (t )  0


(31)

where r (t ) is the failure rate function of X. Note that r(t) is the zero of the equation

above, thus, one shall apply the results presented in the present discussion in order to

find it. Hence, rearranging Eq.(31) as:

d 
 r (t )   (1   ) H1 ( X ; t)
r (t )  dt
 
   (   1) H 1 ( X ; t )

(32)

and comparing Eq.(32) to Eq. (12), it’s easy to realize that:

9
 d 
(1   )
H1 ( X ; t)
dt 1 (33)
 *  1;  *  ; *  ; *  
 
   (   1) H 1 ( X ; t )  
   (   1) H 1 ( X ; t ) 
Since   0;   1 , one shall get:

a) If 1    0 , the solutions are described by Eq.(19) and (20) for   1 and for

 *,  *,  * and  * given in Eq.(33);

b) If   1 , the solutions are described by Eq.(16) and (17) for   1 and for

 *,  *,  * and  * given in Eq.(33).

On the other hand, in the same work (Eq.(4.2)), the other following equation was

obtained:

d 
 
(1   )  H 2 ( X ; t )  exp((1   ) H 2 ( X ; t ))  r (t )  exp((1   ) H 2 ( X ; t ))   r (t )  0


 dt 

(34)

By rearranging Eq.(34) one gets:

r (t ) 
(1   )  d  
H 2 ( X ; t ) 
 r (t ) 

  dt 
  exp((1   ) H 2 ( X ; t ))

(35)

Again, the comparison of Eq.(35) and Eq.(12) implies:

(1   )  d   1
 *  1;  *   H 2 ( X ; t ) ;  *  ; *   (36)
  dt   exp((1   ) H 2 ( X ; t ))

One more time, since   0;   1 , one shall observe that:

a) If 1    0 , the solutions are described by Eq.(19) and (20) for   1 and for

 *,  *,  * and  * given in Eq.(36);

b) If   1 , the solutions are described by Eq.(16) and (17) for   1 and for

 *,  *,  * and  * given in Eq.(36).

3.3 Depth-energy relationship in open channel flows:

10
In [22] the following equation was obtained for the non-dimensional specific energy  :
2 2 m
2(1  m) 1 1
    (37)
3  2m 3  2m   

where  is the non-dimensional depth. In order to use the equations proposed, one

shall rearrange Eq.(37) as:

3  2m 1
   ( 2 2 m )
2(1  m) 2(1  m)

(38)

By comparing Eq.(38) to Eq.(12), the following is obtained:

3  2m 1
 *  1;  *  ;  *   ;  *   ( 2  2 m) (39)
2(1  m) 2(1  m)

For   1 and for  *,  *,  * and  * given in Eq.(39), Eq. (22) and Eq.(23) give

the solutions to Eq.(38).

The perturbation technique used in [22] provides some equations which are harder to

work with than the ones provided here. By converting the H-function result to a series,

the computation is easier. Recently, this last approach has been explored by solving a

more general form of Eq.(37) in [16],[18].

3.4 Depth-force relationship in open channel flows:

In [22] the following equation was obtained for the non-dimensional total force  * :
1 m
1  m 2 m 2m 1
 
*
    (40)
3  2m 3  2m   

Where  is the non-dimensional depth. In order to use the equations proposed, one

shall rearrange Eq.(40) as:

3  2m * 2  m (1 m )
 2 m     (41)
1 m 1 m

By comparing Eq.(41) to Eq.(12), the following is obtained:

11
 3  2m * 2m
 *  2  m;  *   ; *   ;  *  (1  m) (42)
1 m 1 m

For   1 and for  *,  *,  * and  * given in Eq.(42), Eq. (22) and Eq.(23) give

the solutions to Eq.(41).

Again, this approach provides a more simple solution than in [22] since the solutions

given here can be expressed as a series, which is easier to evaluate than the perturbation

equations given in such article. The approach presented here has been applied to a

generalization of Eq.(4) in recent papers [16],[17].

3.5 Normal depth Problem in Rectangular Channel Shape: Manning’s Equation

In [19] Manning’s equation for a rectangular section was obtained as:

 n5 / 3
Nb  (43)
(1  2  n ) 2 / 3

where N b and  n are parameters. Eq. (43) shall be rearranged as:

 n  N b3 / 5 (1  2  n ) 2 / 5 (44)

It’s easy to see that Eq.(44) is Eq.(1) for:

  0;   N b3 / 5 ;   1;   2;  2 / 5 (45)

Thus, the solution to Eq.(44) is given by Eq.(7) and (8) for the values of  ,  ,  ,  and

 given in Eq.(45).

3.6 Critical Depth Equation in a Trapezoidal Canal

In [20] the governing equation for the critical depth in a Trapezoidal canal was given as:

( c (1   c )) 3 / 2
Gb  (46)
(1  2 c )1 / 2

Eq.(46) can be converted to the following by making the substitution y  (0.5   c ) 2 :

12
 1
y  (2Gb2 )1 / 3 y 1 / 6 (47)
4

Where Gb ,  c and y are parameters. It’s easy to see that Eq.(47) is Eq.(12) for:

1 1
 *  1;  *  ;  *  (2Gb2 )1 / 3 ;  *  (48)
4 6

Our final result should be the critical depth parameter,  c . Thus, by the relation

between y and  c , one shall obtain:

y 1 / 2  0.5   c (49)

The solution to Eq.(47) is given by Eq.(19) and (20) for  *,  *,  * and  * given

in (48). Since we need the value of the square root of y,   1 / 2 shall be taken. Finally,

 c can be obtained by subtracting 0.5 from the previous result.

3.7 The Bring-Jerrard Quintic Form of a Quintic Equation

It is known that a general quintic equation can be reduced to a Bring-Jerrard form by

means of a quartic Tschirnhausen transformation [11]. The Bring-Jerrard form can be

expressed as [10],[11]:

z 5  c1 z  c0  0 (50)

Eq.(50) can be rearranged as:

z 5  c1 z  c 0 (51)

By comparing Eq.(51) to Eq.(12) and letting:

 *  5;  *  c0 ;  *  c1 ;  *  1 (52)

It is clear that a solution to Eq.(52) is given by Eq.(19) and (20) using parameters given

in Eq.(52).

13
4 Conclusion

General formulae for solutions of some general equations has been presented in terms of

H-function, which is a special function whose development has grown considerably

over the last years. These solutions are another step in the history of one of the most

common problems in mathematics and sciences in general: the root of polynomial

equations.

Since they are compact and well defined, the outcomes of this work has a wide

applicability to practical problems, such as engineering, physical and mathematical

sciences, as presented. For the cases considered in this paper, the series for the

corresponding H-function can be obtained. In general, these series converge uniformly

and with good rate of convergence, thus, by utilizing just a few terms of the expansion,

one shall obtain good approximations. The H-function results can be further converted

to G-functions, which are easily computable using mathematical softwares such as

Mathematica and Maple.

After some bibliographical research, one does not find much about the powers of H-

function. The results provided show H-functions as solutions (roots) of real degree

equations, which is another contribution to the development of this special function

whose importance has been realized by the scientific community.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the research grant agency DEG/UnB, Brasilia for

financial support.

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