Algorithms for trigonometric curves (simplification, implicitization, parameterization) (Q1267067)

The aim of the paper is to investigate trigonometric curves (TCs) and to provide algorithms that solve three important problems for TCs: their simplification, implicitization, and parameterization. A TC is a real plane curve where each coordinate is given parametrically by a trigonometric polynomial, i.e. by a truncated Fourier series. Since a TC can have many different trigonometric parameterizations, the TC simplification problem is the following: given a parameterization of the TC, how can be obtained a simple equivalent parameterization? The authors provide the POLYSIMPLIFY algorithm that checks whether a polynomial simplification exists, and finds one if this is the case. The technique is based on the fact that computation of a Lüroth generator of a function field generated by polynomials can be modified and adapted to trigonometric polynomials. Given a parametrization of a TC, the implicitization problem asks for the polynomial equation of the curve, if the TC is algebraic. The authors improve some of their previous results and give an IMPLICITIZATION method that works for arbitrary TCs and does not require factorization. Finally, given the equation of an algebraic curve, the parameterization problem consists in finding for it a trigonometric parameterization. Since any TC has a parameterization in terms of rational functions, the proposed PARAMETERIZE method computes first a rational parameterization, and then tries to extract a trigonometric parameterization from it, when this is possible. All the algorithms within the paper have been implemented in Maple/Java and are available at the following Web site address: http://www.math.ncsu.edu/\(^{\sim}\)hong/software/trig/trig.html.