A symbolic-numeric approach for parametrizing ruled surfaces (Q2200134)

A ruled algebraic surface \(\mathcal S\) is the 0-locus of a trivariate polynomial with the property that it can be seen as the set of points swept by a straight line moving along a curve \(\mathcal C\) (possibly collapsed to a point). Ruled surfaces play an important role in computer aided design, and therefore they have been studied a lot in the literature. Both numeric and symbolic algorithms have been developed for treating problems related to ruled algebraic surfaces, such as parametrizing or implicitizing them. In this paper the authors present algorithms for the following problems: (a) for a given trivariate polynomial \(F\) describing an algebraic surface \(\mathcal S\), find a rational parametrization of a ruled algebraic surface \(\hat{\mathcal S}\) such that \(\mathcal S\) and \(\hat{\mathcal S}\) are ``close enough''; (b) for a given rational parametrization of an algebraic surface \(\mathcal S\), find another rational parametrization parametrizing a ruled algebraic surface \(\hat{\mathcal S}\) such that \(\mathcal S\) and \(\hat{\mathcal S}\) are ``close enough''. The algorithms developed in this paper can be seen as finding a parametric representation of an approximately given ruled algebraic surface.