A solution in radicals or algebraic solution is a

closed-form expression In mathematics, a closed-form expression is a mathematical expression that uses a finite number of standard operations. It may contain constants, variables, certain well-known operations (e.g., + − × ÷), and functions (e.g., ''n''th ro ...

, and more specifically a closed-form

algebraic expression In mathematics, an algebraic expression is an expression built up from integer constants, variables, and the algebraic operations ( addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and exponentiation by an exponent that is a rational number). ...

, that is the solution of a

polynomial equation In mathematics, an algebraic equation or polynomial equation is an equation of the form :P = 0 where ''P'' is a polynomial with coefficients in some field (mathematics), field, often the field of the rational numbers. For many authors, the term '' ...

, and relies only on addition, subtraction, multiplication,

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

, raising to integer powers, and the extraction of th roots (square roots, cube roots, and other integer roots). A well-known example is the solution :

x=\frac

of the

quadratic equation In algebra, a quadratic equation () is any equation that can be rearranged in standard form as ax^2 + bx + c = 0\,, where represents an unknown value, and , , and represent known numbers, where . (If and then the equation is linear, not q ...

ax^2 + bx + c =0.

There exist more complicated algebraic solutions for

cubic equation In algebra, a cubic equation in one variable is an equation of the form :ax^3+bx^2+cx+d=0 in which is nonzero. The solutions of this equation are called roots of the cubic function defined by the left-hand side of the equation. If all of th ...

s and

quartic equation In mathematics, a quartic equation is one which can be expressed as a ''quartic function'' equaling zero. The general form of a quartic equation is :ax^4+bx^3+cx^2+dx+e=0 \, where ''a'' ≠ 0. The quartic is the highest order polynomi ...

s. The

Abel–Ruffini theorem In mathematics, the Abel–Ruffini theorem (also known as Abel's impossibility theorem) states that there is no solution in radicals to general polynomial equations of degree five or higher with arbitrary coefficients. Here, ''general'' means th ...

,Jacobson, Nathan (2009), Basic Algebra 1 (2nd ed.), Dover, and, more generally

Galois theory In mathematics, Galois theory, originally introduced by Évariste Galois, provides a connection between field theory and group theory. This connection, the fundamental theorem of Galois theory, allows reducing certain problems in field theory to ...

, state that some

quintic equation In algebra, a quintic function is a function of the form :g(x)=ax^5+bx^4+cx^3+dx^2+ex+f,\, where , , , , and are members of a field, typically the rational numbers, the real numbers or the complex numbers, and is nonzero. In other words, a ...

s, such as :

x^5-x+1=0,

do not have any algebraic solution. The same is true for every higher degree. However, for any degree there are some polynomial equations that have algebraic solutions; for example, the equation

x^ = 2

can be solved as

x=\pm\sqrt 0 .

The eight other solutions are nonreal

complex number In mathematics, a complex number is an element of a number system that extends the real numbers with a specific element denoted , called the imaginary unit and satisfying the equation i^= -1; every complex number can be expressed in the fo ...

s, which are also algebraic and have the form

x=\pm r\sqrt 0,

where is a fifth

root of unity In mathematics, a root of unity, occasionally called a de Moivre number, is any complex number that yields 1 when raised to some positive integer power . Roots of unity are used in many branches of mathematics, and are especially important ...

, which can be expressed with two nested square roots. See also for various other examples in degree 5.

Évariste Galois Évariste Galois (; ; 25 October 1811 – 31 May 1832) was a French mathematician and political activist. While still in his teens, he was able to determine a necessary and sufficient condition for a polynomial to be solvable by radicals, ...

introduced a criterion allowing one to decide which equations are solvable in radicals. See

Radical extension In mathematics and more specifically in field theory, a radical extension of a field ''K'' is an extension of ''K'' that is obtained by adjoining a sequence of ''n''th roots of elements. Definition A simple radical extension is a simple extensi ...

for the precise formulation of his result. Algebraic solutions form a subset of

s, because the latter permit

transcendental function In mathematics, a transcendental function is an analytic function that does not satisfy a polynomial equation, in contrast to an algebraic function. In other words, a transcendental function "transcends" algebra in that it cannot be expressed alge ...

s (non-algebraic functions) such as the

exponential function The exponential function is a mathematical function denoted by f(x)=\exp(x) or e^x (where the argument is written as an exponent). Unless otherwise specified, the term generally refers to the positive-valued function of a real variable, ...

, the

logarithmic function In mathematics, the logarithm is the inverse function to exponentiation. That means the logarithm of a number to the base is the exponent to which must be raised, to produce . For example, since , the ''logarithm base'' 10 ...

, and the

trigonometric functions In mathematics, the trigonometric functions (also called circular functions, angle functions or goniometric functions) are real functions which relate an angle of a right-angled triangle to ratios of two side lengths. They are widely used in al ...

and their inverses.

References

Algebra Equations {{algebra-stub