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In numerical analysis, a root-finding algorithm is an algorithm for finding zeros, also called "roots", of continuous functions. A zero of a function f is a number x such that f ( x ) = 0 . As, generally, the zeros of a function cannot be computed exactly nor expressed in closed form , root-finding algorithms provide approximations to zeros.
Finding one root; Finding all roots; Finding roots in a specific region of the complex plane, typically the real roots or the real roots in a given interval (for example, when roots represents a physical quantity, only the real positive ones are interesting). For finding one root, Newton's method and other general iterative methods work ...
An illustration of Newton's method. In numerical analysis, the Newton–Raphson method, also known simply as Newton's method, named after Isaac Newton and Joseph Raphson, is a root-finding algorithm which produces successively better approximations to the roots (or zeroes) of a real-valued function.
A method analogous to piece-wise linear approximation but using only arithmetic instead of algebraic equations, uses the multiplication tables in reverse: the square root of a number between 1 and 100 is between 1 and 10, so if we know 25 is a perfect square (5 × 5), and 36 is a perfect square (6 × 6), then the square root of a number greater than or equal to 25 but less than 36, begins with ...
Laguerre's method may even converge to a complex root of the polynomial, because the radicand of the square root may be of a negative number, in the formula for the correction, , given above – manageable so long as complex numbers can be conveniently accommodated for the calculation. This may be considered an advantage or a liability ...
This is in contrast with other root-finding algorithms like the secant method, Sidi's generalized secant method or Newton's method, whose iterates will remain real if one starts with real numbers. Having complex iterates can be an advantage (if one is looking for complex roots) or a disadvantage (if it is known that all roots are real ...
Before continuing to the roots of (), it might be necessary to numerically improve the accuracy of the root approximations for (), for instance by Newton's method. Graeffe's method works best for polynomials with simple real roots, though it can be adapted for polynomials with complex roots and coefficients, and roots with higher multiplicity.
Every non-zero number x, real or complex, has n different complex number nth roots. (In the case x is real, this count includes any real nth roots.) The only complex root of 0 is 0. The nth roots of almost all numbers (all integers except the nth powers, and all rationals except the quotients of two nth powers) are irrational. For example,