The multivariate resultant is a fundamental tool of computational algebraic
geometry. It can in particular be used to decide whether a system of n
homogeneous equations in n variables is satisfiable (the resultant is a
polynomial in the system's coefficients which vanishes if and only if the
system is satisfiable). In this paper we present several NP-hardness results
for testing whether a multivariate resultant vanishes, or equivalently for
deciding whether a square system of homogeneous equations is satisfiable. Our
main result is that testing the resultant for zero is NP-hard under
deterministic reductions in any characteristic, for systems of low-degree
polynomials with coefficients in the ground field (rather than in an
extension). We also observe that in characteristic zero, this problem is in the
Arthur-Merlin class AM if the generalized Riemann hypothesis holds true. In
positive characteristic, the best upper bound remains PSPACE.Comment: 13 page
