Description
The function RootOf is a place holder for representing all the roots of an equation in one variable. In particular, it is the standard representation for Maple algebraic numbers, algebraic functions (see evala), and finite fields GF(p^k), p prime, k > 1 (see mod).
Maple automatically generates RootOfs to express the solutions to polynomial equations and systems of equations (see solve), eigenvalues of matrices (see LinearAlgebra:-Eigenvalues and rational function integrals (see int). Maple can apply diff, series, evalf, and simplify to RootOf expressions.
If x is not specified, then expr must be either a univariate expression or an expression in _Z. In this case, the RootOf represents the roots of expr with respect to its single variable or _Z, respectively. If the first argument is not an equation, then the equation expr = 0 is assumed.
The RootOf function checks the validity of its arguments and solves it for polynomials of degree one. The RootOf is expressed in a single-argument canonical form, obtained by making the argument primitive and expressing the RootOf in terms of the global variable _Z.