Numerically computing real points on algebraic sets (Q1956231)

Infinitesimal deformations are commonly used in real algebraic geometric algorithms. The author uses homotopy continuation to model the deformation, and presents an algorithm for computing a finite set of real roots of a polynomial system containing a point on each connected component. The algorithm computes a finite superset of the isolated roots over the real numbers. Some numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the computational steps of the algorithm.