Upper Bounds on Resolvent Degree via Sylvester's Obliteration Algorithm

For each $n$, let RD$(n)$ denote the minimum $d$ for which there exists a formula for the general polynomial of degree $n$ in algebraic functions of at most $d$ variables. In this paper, we recover an algorithm of Sylvester for determining non-zero solutions of systems of homogeneous polynomials, which we present from a modern algebro-geometric perspective. We then use this geometric algorithm to determine improved thresholds for upper bounds on RD$(n)$.