How to tangle with a nested radical (Q1345068)

In this expository paper the author quotes a number of theorems, obtained by herself and others, and gives a commentary on each. The problem of denesting depth-2 real radicals has been solved, but for greater depths there are no efficient algorithms which achieve minimal depth nestings. The author has an algorithm for simplifying nested radicals, assuming that one allows roots of unity to be used: however it involves the calculation of splitting fields and Galois groups for which at present only exponential-time algorithms exist. Some problems pointing the direction to further progress are given.