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Trident curve

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Trident curve

In mathematics, a trident curve (also trident of Newton or parabola of Descartes) is any member of the family of curves that have the formula:

x y + a x 3 + b x 2 + c x = d

Trident curves are cubic plane curves with an ordinary double point in the real projective plane at x = 0, y = 1, z = 0; if we substitute x = x/z and y = 1/z into the equation of the trident curve, we get

a x 3 + b x 2 z + c x z 2 + x z = d z 3 ,

which has an ordinary double point at the origin. Trident curves are therefore rational plane algebraic curves of genus zero.

References

Trident curve Wikipedia