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Polynomial whose nonzero terms all have the same degree
In mathematics, a homogeneous polynomial, sometimes called quantic in older texts, is a polynomial whose nonzero terms all have the same degree.[1] For example, x 5 + 2 x 3 y 2 + 9 x y 4 {\displaystyle x^{5}+2x^{3}y^{2}+9xy^{4}} is a homogeneous polynomial of degree 5, in two variables; the sum of the exponents in each term is always 5. The polynomial x 3 + 3 x 2 y + z 7 {\displaystyle x^{3}+3x^{2}y+z^{7}} is not homogeneous, because the sum of exponents does not match from term to term. The function defined by a homogeneous polynomial is always a homogeneous function.
An algebraic form, or simply form, is a function defined by a homogeneous polynomial.[notes 1] A binary form is a form in two variables. A form is also a function defined on a vector space, which may be expressed as a homogeneous function of the coordinates over any basis.
A polynomial of degree 0 is always homogeneous; it is simply an element of the field or ring of the coefficients, usually called a constant or a scalar. A form of degree 1 is a linear form.[notes 2] A form of degree 2 is a quadratic form. In geometry, the Euclidean distance is the square root of a quadratic form.
Homogeneous polynomials are ubiquitous in mathematics and physics.[notes 3] They play a fundamental role in algebraic geometry, as a projective algebraic variety is defined as the set of the common zeros of a set of homogeneous polynomials.
A homogeneous polynomial defines a homogeneous function. This means that, if a multivariate polynomial P is homogeneous of degree d, then
for every λ {\displaystyle \lambda } in any field containing the coefficients of P. Conversely, if the above relation is true for infinitely many λ {\displaystyle \lambda } then the polynomial is homogeneous of degree d.
In particular, if P is homogeneous then
for every λ . {\displaystyle \lambda .} This property is fundamental in the definition of a projective variety.
Any nonzero polynomial may be decomposed, in a unique way, as a sum of homogeneous polynomials of different degrees, which are called the homogeneous components of the polynomial.
Given a polynomial ring R = K [ x 1 , … , x n ] {\displaystyle R=K[x_{1},\ldots ,x_{n}]} over a field (or, more generally, a ring) K, the homogeneous polynomials of degree d form a vector space (or a module), commonly denoted R d . {\displaystyle R_{d}.} The above unique decomposition means that R {\displaystyle R} is the direct sum of the R d {\displaystyle R_{d}} (sum over all nonnegative integers).
The dimension of the vector space (or free module) R d {\displaystyle R_{d}} is the number of different monomials of degree d in n variables (that is the maximal number of nonzero terms in a homogeneous polynomial of degree d in n variables). It is equal to the binomial coefficient
Homogeneous polynomial satisfy Euler's identity for homogeneous functions. That is, if P is a homogeneous polynomial of degree d in the indeterminates x 1 , … , x n , {\displaystyle x_{1},\ldots ,x_{n},} one has, whichever is the commutative ring of the coefficients,
where ∂ P ∂ x i {\displaystyle \textstyle {\frac {\partial P}{\partial x_{i}}}} denotes the formal partial derivative of P with respect to x i . {\displaystyle x_{i}.}
A non-homogeneous polynomial P(x1,...,xn) can be homogenized by introducing an additional variable x0 and defining the homogeneous polynomial sometimes denoted hP:[2]
where d is the degree of P. For example, if
then
A homogenized polynomial can be dehomogenized by setting the additional variable x0 = 1. That is
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