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Tschirnhausen Transformation


A transformation of a polynomial equation f(x)=0 which is of the form y=g(x)/h(x) where g and h are polynomials and h(x) does not vanish at a root of f(x)=0. The cubic equation is a special case of such a transformation. Tschirnhaus (1683) showed that a polynomial of degree n>2 can be reduced to a form in which the x^(n-1) and x^(n-2) terms have 0 coefficients. In 1786, E. S. Bring showed that a general quintic equation can be reduced to the form

 x^5+px+q=0.

In 1834, G. B. Jerrard showed that a Tschirnhaus transformation can be used to eliminate the x^(n-1), x^(n-2), and x^(n-3) terms for a general polynomial equation of degree n>3.


See also

Bring Quintic Form, Cubic Equation

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References

Boyer, C. B. A History of Mathematics. New York: Wiley, pp. 472-473, 1968.Tschirnhaus. Acta Eruditorum. 1683.

Referenced on Wolfram|Alpha

Tschirnhausen Transformation

Cite this as:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Tschirnhausen Transformation." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/TschirnhausenTransformation.html

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