RootIntervals[{poly1,poly2,…}]
gives a list of isolating intervals for the real roots of any of the polyi, together with a list of which polynomials actually have each successive root.
RootIntervals[poly]
gives isolating intervals for real roots of a single polynomial.
RootIntervals[polys,Complexes]
gives bounding rectangles for complex roots.
RootIntervals
RootIntervals[{poly1,poly2,…}]
gives a list of isolating intervals for the real roots of any of the polyi, together with a list of which polynomials actually have each successive root.
RootIntervals[poly]
gives isolating intervals for real roots of a single polynomial.
RootIntervals[polys,Complexes]
gives bounding rectangles for complex roots.
Details
- The coefficients of poly must be integers or rationals.
- An isolating interval for a root
of a polynomial poly is an interval where the only root of poly contained in the interval is
. - If a root is real, the isolating interval is an open real interval, or a point. If a root is not real, the isolating interval is an open rectangle, disjoint from the real axis.
- Multiple roots give multiple entries in the second list generated by RootIntervals.
Examples
open all close allBasic Examples (2)
Scope (6)
Isolate the real roots of a polynomial:
RootIntervals[(x ^ 4 - 2)(x ^ 4 - 3)]Isolate the real roots of a list of polynomials:
RootIntervals[{x ^ 4 - 2, x ^ 4 - 3, x ^ 6 - 3}]Isolate the complex roots of a polynomial:
RootIntervals[x ^ 4 - 2, Complexes]Isolate the complex roots of a list of polynomials:
RootIntervals[{x ^ 4 - 2, x ^ 4 - 3}, Complexes]Polynomials may have multiple roots; pairs of polynomials may have common roots:
RootIntervals[{(x ^ 2 - 3)(x ^ 4 - 2) ^ 2 , x ^ 6 - 27, x ^ 8 - 4}]RootIntervals[{x ^ 3 - 1, x ^ 4 - 1}, Complexes]Isolating intervals of rational roots may be single points:
RootIntervals[x(x - 1)(x - 2)]Applications (1)
Find numeric approximations of real roots of a polynomial:
poly = x ^ 777 - 22x ^ 123 + 21x ^ 33 - 17x ^ 5 + 2x ^ 2 - 1;ints = RootIntervals[poly][[1]]FindRoot[poly, {x, #[[1]], #[[2]]}, Method -> "Brent"]& /@ intsReduce uses a similar approach, but factoring the polynomial for Root objects takes time:
Reduce[poly == 0, x, Reals]//TimingCompute approximations of the Root objects:
N[%[[2]]]Properties & Relations (1)
Find real and complex roots of polynomials:
poly = (x ^ 2 - 2) ^ 2(x ^ 4 - 3);Isolate the real roots; multiple roots are indicated in the second part of the output:
RootIntervals[poly]Use CountRoots to count the real roots; multiple roots are counted with multiplicities:
CountRoots[poly, {x, -Infinity, Infinity}]Use Reduce to find the real roots; multiple roots are given once:
Reduce[poly == 0, x, Reals]Isolate the complex roots; multiple roots are indicated in the second part of the output:
RootIntervals[poly, Complexes]Use Reduce to find the complex roots; multiple roots are given once:
Reduce[poly == 0, x]Use Solve to find the complex roots with multiplicities:
Solve[poly == 0, x]See Also
Roots Solve Reduce Root CountRoots FindRoot IsolatingInterval
Tech Notes
Related Guides
History
Text
Wolfram Research (2007), RootIntervals, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/RootIntervals.html.
CMS
Wolfram Language. 2007. "RootIntervals." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/RootIntervals.html.
APA
Wolfram Language. (2007). RootIntervals. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/RootIntervals.html
BibTeX
@misc{reference.wolfram_2026_rootintervals, author="Wolfram Research", title="{RootIntervals}", year="2007", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/RootIntervals.html}", note=[Accessed: 13-June-2026]}
BibLaTeX
@online{reference.wolfram_2026_rootintervals, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={RootIntervals}, year={2007}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/RootIntervals.html}, note=[Accessed: 13-June-2026]}