Solving the quintic by iteration (Q918135)

The problem of solving algebraic equations of degree \(d\) is studied. For \(d\ge 3\) iterative algorithms like Newton's method may fail because of the appearance of additional attractors. In order to avoid this problem the authors establish that the roots can be reliably extracted by a tower of algorithms if and only if the Galois group associated to the equation is nearly solvable which in turn is equivalent to \(d\le 5\). In this context a tower of algorithms is a finite number of algorithms, linked together serially. The proof relies on the classical reduction of the quintic equation to the icosahedral equation and the use of generally convergent purely iterative algorithms defined by \textit{S. Smale} [Bull. Am. Math. Soc., New Ser. 13, 87--121 (1985; Zbl 0592.65032)]. It is translated to an explicit algorithm for solving the quintic equation.