DavidB
11-05-2008, 09:15 PM
Hi, everybody.
I am second-guessing myself with this question: Can Newton’s Method (a.k.a. the Newton-Raphson Method) be used to compute complex roots? I had assumed that it could not; it always seems to be mentioned in the context of computing real roots and all the examples I have seen used to illustrate the method use equations with real roots. However, I don’t think I have ever seen it explicitly stated anywhere that Newton’s Method can not be used to find complex roots. In addition, somebody working on a solver for a cubic polynomial indicated that it could be. So now I am wondering.
Can Newton’s Method be used to compute complex roots?
I am second-guessing myself with this question: Can Newton’s Method (a.k.a. the Newton-Raphson Method) be used to compute complex roots? I had assumed that it could not; it always seems to be mentioned in the context of computing real roots and all the examples I have seen used to illustrate the method use equations with real roots. However, I don’t think I have ever seen it explicitly stated anywhere that Newton’s Method can not be used to find complex roots. In addition, somebody working on a solver for a cubic polynomial indicated that it could be. So now I am wondering.
Can Newton’s Method be used to compute complex roots?