Approximate factorization of bivariate polynomials

A method is presented for the approximate factorization of unfactorable bivariate polynomials. An efficient iterative algorithm is developed to minimize an appropriate criterion. The approximate separation of bivariate polynomials may be considered as a special case of the approximate factorization for which a non-iterative algorithm is developed on the basis of the singular value decomposition concept. The basic ideas can be easily extended to the case of polynomials in more than two independent variables. Examples are presented to illustrate the utility of the methods.