5
votes
4answers
529 views

How to get exact roots of this polynomial?

The equation $$ 64x^7 -112x^5 -8x^4 +56x^3 +8x^2 -7x - 1 = 0 $$ has seven solutions $x = 1$, $x = -\dfrac{1}{2}$ and $x = \cos \dfrac{2n\pi}{11}$, where $n$ runs from $1$ to $5$. With ...
2
votes
2answers
161 views

How to find solutions that yield of root of unity?

I have a polynomial with coefficients that are integer polynomials in another (complex) variable. For example: 1 + (1 - v^2) #1 + (-3 - v^2) #1^2 + #1^3 & I ...
11
votes
2answers
372 views

Surprises simplifying simple polynomials

I came across some somewhat surprising behavior of Simplify today, on something very simple. Let's take two cubic polynomials that we know have the same value: ...