Toric Eigenvalue Methods for Solving Sparse Polynomial Systems

Abstract: We consider the problem of computing homogeneous coordinates of points in a zero-dimensional subscheme of a compact, complex toric variety $X$. Our starting point is a homogeneous ideal $I$ in the Cox ring of $X$, which in practice might arise from homogenizing a sparse polynomial system. We prove a new eigenvalue theorem in the toric compact setting, which leads to a novel, robust numerical approach for solving this problem. Our method works in particular for systems having isolated solutions with arbitrary multiplicities. It depends on the multigraded regularity properties of $I$. We study these properties and provide bounds on the size of the matrices appearing in our approach when $I$ is a complete intersection.