Efficient Incremental Algorithms for the Sparse Resultant and the Mixed Volume

We propose a new and efficient algorithm for computing the sparse resultant of a system of n + 1 polynomial equations in n unknowns. This algorithm produces a matrix whose entries are coefficients of the given polynomials and is typically smaller than the matrices obtained by previous approaches. The matrix determinant is a non-trivial multiple of the sparse resultant from which the sparse resultant itself can be recovered. The algorithm is incremental in the sense that successively larger matrices are constructed until one is found with the above properties. For multigraded systems, the new algorithm produces optimal matrices, i.e. expresses the sparse resultant as a single determinant. An implementation of the algorithm is described and experimental results are presented. In addition, we propose an efficient algorithm for computing the mixed volume of n polynomials in n variables. This computation provides an upper bound on the number of common isolated roots. A publicly available implementation of the algorithm is presented and empirical results are reported which suggest that it is the fastest mixed volume code to date.