Simple and Nearly Optimal Polynomial Root-finding by Means of Root Radii Approximation

We propose a new simple but nearly optimal algorithm for the approximation of all sufficiently well isolated complex roots and root clusters of a univariate polynomial. Quite typically the known root-finders at first compute some crude but reasonably good approximations to well-conditioned roots (that is, those isolated from the other roots) and then refine the approximations very fast, by using Boolean time which is nearly optimal, up to a polylogarithmic factor. By combining and extending some old root-finding techniques, the geometry of the complex plane, and randomized parametrization, we accelerate the initial stage of obtaining crude to all well-conditioned simple and multiple roots as well as isolated root clusters. Our algorithm performs this stage at a Boolean cost dominated by the nearly optimal cost of subsequent refinement of these approximations, which we can perform concurrently, with minimum processor communication and synchronization. Our techniques are quite simple and elementary; their power and application range may increase in their combination with the known efficient root-finding methods.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figur

Uniform bounds for the number of rational points on hyperelliptic curves of small Mordell-Weil rank

We show that there is a bound depending only on g and [K:Q] for the number of K-rational points on a hyperelliptic curve C of genus g over a number field K such that the Mordell-Weil rank r of its Jacobian is at most g-3. If K = Q, an explicit bound is 8 r g + 33 (g - 1) + 1. The proof is based on Chabauty's method; the new ingredient is an estimate for the number of zeros of a logarithm in a p-adic `annulus' on the curve, which generalizes the standard bound on disks. The key observation is that for a p-adic field k, the set of k-points on C can be covered by a collection of disks and annuli whose number is bounded in terms of g (and k). We also show, strengthening a recent result by Poonen and the author, that the lower density of hyperelliptic curves of odd degree over Q whose only rational point is the point at infinity tends to 1 uniformly over families defined by congruence conditions, as the genus g tends to infinity.Comment: 32 pages. v6: Some restructuring of the part of the argument relating to annuli in hyperelliptic curves (some section numbers have changed), various other improvements throughou

Connectedness properties of the set where the iterates of an entire function are bounded

We investigate some connectedness properties of the set of points K(f) where the iterates of an entire function f are bounded. In particular, we describe a class of transcendental entire functions for which an analogue of the Branner-Hubbard conjecture holds and show that, for such functions, if K(f) is disconnected then it has uncountably many components. We give examples to show that K(f) can be totally disconnected, and we use quasiconformal surgery to construct a function for which K(f) has a component with empty interior that is not a singleton.Comment: 21 page

Cubic Polynomial Maps with Periodic Critical Orbit, Part II: Escape Regions

The parameter space $\mathcal{S}_p$ for monic centered cubic polynomial maps with a marked critical point of period $p$ is a smooth affine algebraic curve whose genus increases rapidly with $p$. Each $\mathcal{S}_p$ consists of a compact connectedness locus together with finitely many escape regions, each of which is biholomorphic to a punctured disk and is characterized by an essentially unique Puiseux series. This note will describe the topology of $\mathcal{S}_p$, and of its smooth compactification, in terms of these escape regions. It concludes with a discussion of the real sub-locus of $\mathcal{S}_p$.Comment: 51 pages, 16 figure

Perturbations of quadratic centers of genus one

We propose a program for finding the cyclicity of period annuli of quadratic systems with centers of genus one. As a first step, we classify all such systems and determine the essential one-parameter quadratic perturbations which produce the maximal number of limit cycles. We compute the associated Poincare-Pontryagin-Melnikov functions whose zeros control the number of limit cycles. To illustrate our approach, we determine the cyclicity of the annuli of two particular reversible systems.Comment: 28 page