mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

, a diagonal form is an algebraic form (

homogeneous polynomial In mathematics, a homogeneous polynomial, sometimes called quantic in older texts, is a polynomial whose nonzero terms all have the same degree. For example, x^5 + 2 x^3 y^2 + 9 x y^4 is a homogeneous polynomial of degree 5, in two variables; t ...

) without cross-terms involving different indeterminates. That is, it is :

\sum_^n a_i ^m\

for some given degree ''m''. Such forms ''F'', and the

hypersurface In geometry, a hypersurface is a generalization of the concepts of hyperplane, plane curve, and surface. A hypersurface is a manifold or an algebraic variety of dimension , which is embedded in an ambient space of dimension , generally a Euclidean ...

s ''F'' = 0 they define in

projective space In mathematics, the concept of a projective space originated from the visual effect of perspective, where parallel lines seem to meet ''at infinity''. A projective space may thus be viewed as the extension of a Euclidean space, or, more generally ...

, are very special in geometric terms, with many symmetries. They also include famous cases like the

Fermat curve In mathematics, the Fermat curve is the algebraic curve in the complex projective plane defined in homogeneous coordinates (''X'':''Y'':''Z'') by the Fermat equation :X^n + Y^n = Z^n.\ Therefore, in terms of the affine plane its equation is :x^ ...

s, and other examples well known in the theory of

Diophantine equation In mathematics, a Diophantine equation is an equation, typically a polynomial equation in two or more unknowns with integer coefficients, such that the only solutions of interest are the integer ones. A linear Diophantine equation equates to a c ...

s. A great deal has been worked out about their theory:

algebraic geometry Algebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics, classically studying zeros of multivariate polynomials. Modern algebraic geometry is based on the use of abstract algebraic techniques, mainly from commutative algebra, for solving geometrical ...

local zeta-function In number theory, the local zeta function (sometimes called the congruent zeta function or the Hasse–Weil zeta function) is defined as :Z(V, s) = \exp\left(\sum_^\infty \frac (q^)^m\right) where is a non-singular -dimensional projective algebr ...

s via

Jacobi sum In mathematics, a Jacobi sum is a type of character sum formed with Dirichlet characters. Simple examples would be Jacobi sums ''J''(''χ'', ''ψ'') for Dirichlet characters ''χ'', ''ψ'' modulo a prime number ''p'', defined by : J(\chi,\psi) = ...

Hardy-Littlewood circle method A twin prime is a prime number that is either 2 less or 2 more than another prime number—for example, either member of the twin prime pair (41, 43). In other words, a twin prime is a prime that has a prime gap of two. Sometimes the term ''twin p ...

Examples

X^2+Y^2-Z^2 = 0

is the

unit circle In mathematics, a unit circle is a circle of unit radius—that is, a radius of 1. Frequently, especially in trigonometry, the unit circle is the circle of radius 1 centered at the origin (0, 0) in the Cartesian coordinate system in the Eucl ...

in ''P''² :

X^2-Y^2-Z^2 = 0

is the

unit hyperbola In geometry, the unit hyperbola is the set of points (''x'',''y'') in the Cartesian plane that satisfy the implicit equation x^2 - y^2 = 1 . In the study of indefinite orthogonal groups, the unit hyperbola forms the basis for an ''alternative radi ...

in ''P''². :

x_0^3+x_1^3+x_2^3+x_3^3=0

gives the Fermat

cubic surface In mathematics, a cubic surface is a surface in 3-dimensional space defined by one polynomial equation of degree 3. Cubic surfaces are fundamental examples in algebraic geometry. The theory is simplified by working in projective space rather than a ...

in ''P''³ with 27 lines. The 27 lines in this example are easy to describe explicitly: they are the 9 lines of the form (''x'' : ''ax'' : ''y'' : ''by'') where ''a'' and ''b'' are fixed numbers with cube −1, and their 18 conjugates under permutations of coordinates. :

x_0^4+x_1^4+x_2^4+x_3^4=0

gives a

K3 surface In mathematics, a complex analytic K3 surface is a compact connected complex manifold of dimension 2 with trivial canonical bundle and irregularity zero. An (algebraic) K3 surface over any field means a smooth proper geometrically connected alg ...

in ''P''³. {{DEFAULTSORT:Diagonal Form Homogeneous polynomials Algebraic varieties