Efficient computation of the branching structure of an algebraic curve (Q766029)

An efficient algorithm for computing the branching structure of an algebraic curve is given. To describe the branching structure one has to specify which sheets of the covering are connected in which way at a given branch point, i.e. one has to identify the monodromy. Generators of the fundamental group of the base of the ramified covering punctured at the discriminant points of the curve are constructed via a minimal spanning tree of the discriminant points. This leads to paths of minimal length between the points. The branching structure is obtained by analytically continuing the roots of the equation defining the curve along the previously constructed generators of the fundamental group.