Polynomials in the context of Word problem (mathematics education)

In mathematical systems theory, a multidimensional system or m-D system is a system in which not only one independent variable exists (like time), but there are several independent variables.

Important problems such as factorization and stability of m-D systems (m > 1) have recently attracted the interest of many researchers and practitioners. The reason is that the factorization and stability is not a straightforward extension of the factorization and stability of 1-D systems because, for example, the fundamental theorem of algebra does not exist in the ring of m-D (m > 1) polynomials.

An irreducible fraction (or fraction in lowest terms, simplest form or reduced fraction) is a fraction in which the numerator and denominator are integers that have no other common divisors than 1 (and −1, when negative numbers are considered). In other words, a fraction ⁠a/b⁠ is irreducible if and only if a and b are coprime, that is, if a and b have a greatest common divisor of 1. In higher mathematics, "irreducible fraction" may also refer to rational fractions such that the numerator and the denominator are coprime polynomials. Every rational number can be represented as an irreducible fraction with positive denominator in exactly one way.

An equivalent definition is sometimes useful: if a and b are integers, then the fraction ⁠a/b⁠ is irreducible if and only if there is no other equal fraction ⁠c/d⁠ such that |c| < |a| or |d| < |b|, where |a| means the absolute value of a. (Two fractions ⁠a/b⁠ and ⁠c/d⁠ are equal or equivalent if and only if ad = bc.)

In mathematics, birational geometry is a field of algebraic geometry in which the goal is to determine when two algebraic varieties are isomorphic outside lower-dimensional subsets. This amounts to studying mappings that are given by rational functions rather than polynomials; the map may fail to be defined where the rational functions have poles.