Tschirnhaus transformations after Hilbert (Q2070058)

Summary: In this paper, we use enumerative geometry to simplify the formula for the roots of the general one-variable polynomial of degree \(n\), for all \(n\). More precisely, let \(\mathrm{RD}(n)\) denote the minimum \(d\) for which there exists a formula for the roots of the general degree \(n\) polynomial using only algebraic functions of \(d\) or fewer variables. In 1927, Hilbert sketched how the 27 lines on a cubic surface could be used to construct a 4-variable formula for the general degree 9 polynomial (implying \(\mathrm{RD}(9)\le 4)\). In this paper, we turn Hilbert's sketch into a general method. We show this method produces best-to-date upper bounds on \(\mathrm{RD}(n)\) for all \(n\), improving earlier results of Hamilton, Sylvester, Segre and Brauer.