NSolve

NSolve[expr,vars]

attempts to find numerical approximations to the solutions of the system expr of equations or inequalities for the variables vars.

NSolve[expr,vars,Reals]

finds solutions over the domain of real numbers.

Details and Options

The system expr can be any logical combination of:

	lhs==rhs	equations
	lhs!=rhs	inequations
	lhs>rhs or lhs>=rhs	inequalities
	expr∈dom	domain specifications
	{x,y,…}∈reg	region specification
	ForAll[x,cond,expr]	universal quantifiers
	Exists[x,cond,expr]	existential quantifiers

NSolve[{expr₁,expr₂,…},vars] is equivalent to NSolve[expr₁&&expr₂&&…,vars].
A single variable or a list of variables can be specified.
NSolve gives solutions in terms of rules of the form:
{} no solutions

{{x->sol_x,y->sol_y,…},…} several solutions

{{}} solution set is full dimensional
When a single variable is specified and a particular root of an equation has multiplicity greater than one, NSolve gives several copies of the corresponding solution.
NSolve[expr,vars] assumes by default that quantities appearing algebraically in inequalities are real, while all other quantities are complex.
In NSolve[expr,vars,Reals] all variables, parameters, constants, and function values are restricted to be real.
NSolve[expr&&vars∈Reals,vars,Complexes] solves for real values of variables, but function values are allowed to be complex.
NSolve[…,x∈reg,Reals] constrains x to be in the region reg. The different coordinates for x can be referred to using Indexed[x,i].
NSolve deals primarily with linear and polynomial equations.
The following options can be given:

Method	Automatic	what method should be used
VerifySolutions	Automatic	whether to verify solutions
WorkingPrecision	Automatic	precision to be used in computations

Possible Method settings include "EndomorphismMatrix" and "Homotopy".

Examples

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Basic Examples (5)

Approximate solutions to a polynomial equation:

Approximate real solutions to a polynomial equation:

Approximate solutions to a system of polynomial equations:

Approximate real solutions to a system of polynomial equations:

Solve equations in a geometric region:

Scope (45)

Complex Equations in One Variable (8)

Univariate polynomial equations:

Polynomial equations with inexact coefficients:

Polynomial equations with multiple roots:

Algebraic equations:

Transcendental equations:

Univariate elementary function equations over bounded regions:

Univariate holomorphic function equations over bounded regions:

Equation with a purely imaginary period over a vertical stripe in the complex plane:

Systems of Complex Equations in Several Variables (8)

Systems of linear equations:

Linear equations with inexact coefficients:

Underdetermined systems of linear equations:

Linear equations with no solutions:

Systems of polynomial equations:

Underdetermined systems of polynomial equations:

Algebraic equations:

Transcendental equations:

Real Equations in One Variable (11)

Polynomial equations:

Polynomial equations with multiple roots:

Algebraic equations:

Piecewise equations:

Transcendental equations, solvable using inverse functions:

Transcendental equations, solvable using special function zeros:

Transcendental inequalities, solvable using special function zeros:

Exp-log equations:

High-degree sparse polynomial equations:

Algebraic equations involving high-degree radicals:

Equations involving irrational real powers:

Equation with a double root:

Tame elementary function equations:

Elementary function equations in bounded intervals:

Holomorphic function equations in bounded intervals:

Systems of Real Equations and Inequalities in Several Variables (9)

Linear systems:

Polynomial systems:

Quantified polynomial systems:

Algebraic systems:

Piecewise systems:

Transcendental systems solvable using inverse functions:

Systems exp-log in the first variable and polynomial in the other variables:

Quantified system:

Systems elementary and bounded in the first variable and polynomial in the other variables:

Quantified system:

Systems holomorphic and bounded in the first variable and polynomial in the other variables:

Quantified system:

Systems with Mixed Variable Domains (1)

Mixed real and complex variables:

Geometric Regions (8)

Solve over special regions in 2D:

Plot it:

Solve over special regions in 3D:

Plot it:

An implicitly defined region:

A parametrically defined region:

Derived regions:

Plot it:

Regions dependent on parameters:

Plot it:

Find values of parameters , , and for which the circles contain the given points:

Plot it:

Use to specify that is a vector in :

In this case is a vector in :

Generalizations & Extensions (1)

All variables are solved for:

Working precision can be given as the last argument:

Options (3)

Method (1)

By default NSolve introduces slicing hyperplanes for underdetermined complex systems:

With Method->{"UseSlicingHyperplanes"->False}, NSolve gives parametric solutions:

VerifySolutions (1)

NSolve verifies solutions obtained using non-equivalent transformations:

With VerifySolutions->False, NSolve does not verify the solutions:

Some of the solutions returned with VerifySolutions->False are not correct:

This uses a fast numeric test in an attempt to select correct solutions:

In this case the simple numeric verification gives the correct solution set:

WorkingPrecision (1)

By default, NSolve finds solutions of exact equations using machine-precision computations:

This computes the solutions using 50-digit precision:

Applications (11)

Geometry (11)

Find intersection points of a circle and a parabola:

Find the intersection of InfiniteLine[{0,0},{1,1}] and InfiniteLine[{{0,1},{1,0}}]:

Plot it:

Find the intersections of InfiniteLine[{0,0},{1,1}] and Circle[{0,0},1]:

Plot it:

Find all pairwise intersections between five random lines:

Use BooleanCountingFunction to express that exactly two conditions are true:

Plot it:

Find the pairwise intersections of the circles Circle[{1/3 Cos[k 2π/5],1/3 Sin[k 2π/5]}] for k=0,…,4:

Plot it:

Find the intersection of InfiniteLine[{{-1,1,1},{1,1,1}}] and InfinitePlane[{{2,0,0},{0,2,0},{0,0,2}}]:

Plot it:

Find the intersections of InfiniteLine[{{-1,1,1},{1,1,1}}] and Sphere[{0,0,0},3]:

Plot it:

Find the intersections of InfiniteLine[{{-1,1/3,1/2},{1,1/3,1/2}}] and the boundary of Tetrahedron[{{0,0,0},{1,0,0},{0,1,0},{0,0,1}}]:

Plot it:

Find the intersection for three random planes:

Plot it:

Find the intersections of the spheres Sphere[{1/3 Cos[k 2π/3],1/3 Sin[k 2π/3],0}] for k=0,1,2:

Plot it:

Find all the intersections of exactly three planes among 10 random planes:

Use BooleanCountingFunction to find the condition of exactly three things being true:

Plot it:

Properties & Relations (7)

Solutions approximately satisfy the equations:

Solutions are given as replacement rules and can be directly used for substitution:

NSolve uses {} to represent the empty or no solution:

NSolve uses {{}} to represent the universal solution or that all points satisfy the equations:

For univariate equations, NSolve repeats solutions according to their multiplicity:

Find solutions over specified domains:

NSolve is a global equation solver:

FindRoot is a local equation solver:

NSolve gives approximate results:

Use Solve to get exact solutions:

Use FindInstance to get exact solution instances:

Use NDSolve to solve differential equations numerically:

Possible Issues (3)

Solutions obtained with machine-precision numeric computations may not be accurate:

With higher WorkingPrecision more accurate results are produced:

Approximate solutions may not satisfy the equations due to numeric errors:

The equations are satisfied up to a certain tolerance:

Using higher WorkingPrecision will give solutions with smaller tolerance:

If the solutions set is infinite, NSolve gives its intersection with random hyperplanes:

Use ContourPlot and ContourPlot3D to view the real part of solutions:

Neat Examples (1)

Solve the equation :

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NSolve

Details and Options

Examples

Basic Examples (5)