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I'm facing the following problem: Given an implicit curve given by $f(x,y)=0$ and an initial guess $(x_0,y_0)$ which is hopefully close to the curve, I want to find the point $(x,y)$ on the curve which is closest to $(x_0,y_0)$.

My attempt:

I thought of using FindRoot with the equation repeated twice, i.e.

FindRoot[{f[x,y],f[x,y]},{{x,x0},{y,y0}}]

But this fails spectacularly with $f(x,y)=y-x^2$ and initial points $(0,y_0)$ with $y_0$ large.

Is there a good way to solve this problem?

Thanks!

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    $\begingroup$ NMinimize[{EuclideanDistance[{x, y}, {x0, y0}], f[x, y] == 0}, {x, y}]? $\endgroup$
    – user484
    Commented Jul 8, 2015 at 6:36
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    $\begingroup$ "closest" - that kind of screams for the use of Minimize[], no? $\endgroup$
    – J. M.'s missing motivation ♦
    Commented Jul 8, 2015 at 6:37
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks guys. You can close the question now. $\endgroup$
    – user1337
    Commented Jul 8, 2015 at 6:42
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    $\begingroup$ Better yet, why not answer your own question instead, so you can share what you've learned? $\endgroup$
    – J. M.'s missing motivation ♦
    Commented Jul 8, 2015 at 7:00
  • $\begingroup$ It might be better to minimize an EuclideanDistance square (a square of the euclidean norm instead of the norm.) $\endgroup$
    – Igor
    Commented Jul 8, 2015 at 11:55

1 Answer 1

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RegionNearest will do this automatically for many cases, including $y-x^2=0$:

RegionNearest[ImplicitRegion[y - x^2 == 0, {x, y}], {0, y0}]

Mathematica graphics

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