Planar piecewise algebraic curves (Q1064766)

Algebraic curves are interpreted as the zeroes of a polynomial f(x,y), where f is represented in Bernstein-Bezier form. Several pieces of algebraic curves then correspond to the zeroes of a surface that is piecewise defined in terms of its Bernstein-Bezier form. Continuity considerations for piecewise algebraic curves are thus reduced to (well- known) continuity conditions for piecewise Bernstein-Bezier surfaces. The paper also discusses several algorithms to process piecewise algebraic curves, such as intersections, plotting, distance between curves. Also discussed is the implicitization of rational curves.