A property of discriminants
Classical Analysis and ODEs
2019-12-11 v1
Abstract
For the family P:=xn+a1xn−1+⋯+an of complex polynomials in the variable x we study its {\em discriminant} R:=Res(P,P′,x), R∈C[a], a=(a1,…,an). When R is regarded as a polynomial in ak, one can consider its discriminant D~k:=Res(R,∂R/∂ak,ak). We show that D~k=ck(an)d(n,k)Mk2Tk3, where ck∈Q∗, d(n,k):=min(1,n−k)+max(0,n−k−2), the polynomials Mk,Tk∈C[ak] have integer coefficients, ak=(a1,…,ak−1,ak+1,…,an), the sets {Mk=0} and {Tk=0} are the projections in the space of the variables ak of the closures of the strata of the variety {R=0} on which P has respectively two double roots or a triple root. Set Pk:=P−xP′/(n−k) for 1≤k≤n−1 and Pn:=P′. One has Tk={\rm Res}(Pk,Pk′,x) for k=n−1 and Tn−1={\rm Res}(Pn−1,Pn−1′,x)/an.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1701.02912,
title = {A property of discriminants},
author = {Vladimir Petrov Kostov},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1701.02912},
year = {2019}
}