Using a bihomogeneous resultant to find the singularities of rational space curves (Q1946962)

The paper under review presents a new type of Sylvester-like matrix to compute the resultant of three bihomogeneous polynomials of different bi-degrees. The case when the three polynomials have the same bi-degree has been worked out by \textit{A. L. Dixon} [Lond. M. S. Proc. (2) 6, 468--478 (1908; JFM 39.0219.02)], so these matrices can be regarded as a generalization of Dixon's. This resultant matrix is then used to compute the singularities of a space curve by using the so-called \(\mu\)-\textit{basis} of a given parametrization of the curve. A \(\mu\)-basis of a spatial parametrization is essentially a basis of the (free) module of syzygies of the ideal generated by the coordinates of the parametrization. The main result of the paper is that the resultant matrix, when specialized into some polynomials defined via a specific \(\mu\)-basis of a parametrization of the curve, drops in rank exactly \(\sum_{Q}\nu_Q(\nu_Q-1),\) where \(\nu_Q\) denotes the multiplicity of the point \(Q\) in the curve, and the sume is being taken over all singular (proper and virtual) points of the curve. An algorithm is then designed to compute the singular points of the curve by using the specialized matrix, some examples are displayed and a few conjectures on the intermediate steps of the algorithm are presented at the end of the paper.