Talk:Hilbert's thirteenth problem

Further information[edit]

Wikipedia is f*cking badass! I love wikipedia! So nice to find so many math snippets on almost everything!! Also, there's some relevant info here: http://www.math.niu.edu/~rusin/known-math/98/hilb_13.

Nomographs[edit]

Can some knowledgeable person please explain (either here or in the Nomograph article) what the connection is between Hilbert's 13th problem and nomography? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.122.8.80 (talk) 16:34, 17 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

A nomogram drawn on paper can have at most two variables (one for each axis/dimension of the paper). Thus, it is useful to reduce problems to a form in which there are two variables, since they can be solved by nomography. e.g. ax^2+bx+c=0 has three variables, so you can't use a two-dimensional paper nomogram to solve it. But if reduced to x^2 + (b/a)x + (c/a) = 0, now the problem can be solved, since there are two variables.

Hilbert wanted to reduce the seventh-degree polynomial to a three-variable problem. Three-variable problems are manageable since you can use multiple sheets of paper to get a third dimension. ComradePenguinMonster (talk) 11:20, 11 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Terms in general 7th degree equation?[edit]

Stupid question: should not a general 7th degree equation have terms in $x^{6},x^{5}$ and $x^{4}$ as well? p.r.newman (talk) 06:57, 15 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]