Curves in Cages: An Algebro-Geometric Zoo
Gabriel Katz · American Mathematical Monthly · 2006
An algebraic plane curve is the solution set of a polynomial equation P(x, y) = 0, where x and y are real or complex variables. By definition, the degree of the curve is the degree of the polynomial P(x, y). 1 When P(x, y) is a product of two non-constant polynomials over a given number field, the curve is called reducible;