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For a complex $n\times n$ matrix $A$, $\mathrm{tr}(A^k)$ is the sum of the $k$th powers of its eigenvalues, counted with algebraic multiplicity. This does not require diagonalizability: a similar upper triangular matrix has the eigenvalues on its diagonal, and taking powers raises those diagonal entries to their corresponding powers. Newton's identities therefore recover its characteristic polynomial from the first $n$ such traces.

For the Jordan block $A=\left(\begin{array}{cc}2& 1\\ 0& 2\end{array}\right)$, $\mathrm{tr}A=4$ and $\mathrm{tr}(A^2)=8$. Hence $e_1=4$ and $e_2=(4^2-8)/2=4$, giving $\det (zI-A)=z^2-4z+4=(z-2{)}^2$. The repeated eigenvalue is recovered even though this matrix is not diagonalizable.^[ref]

Newton's identities let two different summaries of the same polynomial roots talk to each other. Elementary symmetric polynomials record products of distinct root positions; power sums record sums of individual powers, $p_r={\sum }_{i=1}^n{x}_i^r$. Either can be easier to obtain in a particular problem. The identities turn one into the other, often avoiding any need to find the individual polynomial roots.

Write $e_0=1$ and $e_m=0$ for $m>n$. For every positive integer $m$, the identity isIt is a polynomial identity over the integers, so it remains true on substitution in any commutative ring. To solve it for $e_m$ by division, however, $m$ must have a multiplicative inverse. Over a field of characteristic zero, the first $n$ power sums recover every elementary symmetric polynomial. The same recovery works when the positive characteristic of a field is greater than $n$; small characteristic needs care.^[ref]

The first three relations are $e_1=p_1$, $2e_2=e_1{p}_1-p_2$, and $3e_3=e_2{p}_1-e_1{p}_2+p_3$. When division by two and three is permitted, this becomesFor the three roots $1,2,3$, their power sums are $p_1=6$, $p_2=14$, and $p_3=36$. The formulas give $e_2=(36-14)/2=11$ and $e_3=(216-252+72)/6=6$, recovering the polynomial $z^3-6z^2+11z-6$ from aggregate data.

The beauty is that the summaries do not depend on the order of the polynomial roots. In symmetric polynomials, one can work with quantities that survive every relabeling; in linear algebra, traces of matrix powers give the same kind of aggregate information about eigenvalues. The identities convert those summaries into coefficients of a characteristic polynomial.

A short derivation packages the identities into a formal power series. Let $E(t)={\prod }_i(1+x_{i}t)={\sum }_{m\ge 0}{e}_m{t}^m$. Since its constant coefficient is one, it has an inverse as a formal power series, and its formal derivative satisfiesMultiply by $E(t)$ and compare the coefficient of $t^{m-1}$. This gives Newton's identities without a convergence assumption or division by $m$. The division issue arises only when using them to recover $e_m$. The logarithmic-derivative approach is also developed in Newton's Identities (January 2019 notes) by Milan Mossé (§4, pp. 6–8).

The alternate name Newton-Girard identities recalls Albert Girard's earlier work. A modern historical account credits formulas through sixth powers to Albert Girard in 1629 and discusses their later appearance in Isaac Newton's Arithmetica universalis.^[ref] This citation refers to that account; the original historical editions have not been inspected here.

Let $D={\sum }_p{r}_{p}p\in X^{(d)}$. The derivative of the Abelian sum map is most naturally stated using principal parts. The tangent space of the symmetric product of a curve at $D$ is $H^0({\mathcal{O}}_D(D))$, and the tangent space of the Jacobian variety is $H^0(K_X{)}^{\ast }$. With these identifications,Its dual is restriction of holomorphic one-forms to the length-$d$ divisor scheme. In particular,The last equality is the Riemann-Roch theorem. These formulas apply to repeated points as well as distinct ones.

Here is a direct proof of the repeated-point Abel differential formula. At a multiplicity-$r$ point, choose a local coordinate $t$ with $t(p)=0$. A nearby local divisor is described by the roots $t_1,\dots ,t_r$, or, without making an ordering choice, by their elementary symmetric functions $e_1,\dots ,e_r$:These $e_k$ are smooth local coordinates on the symmetric product of a curve, including at the repeated divisor. Under a first-order deformation, minus the logarithmic variation of this defining polynomial is the principal partThe sign can be checked at $r=1$: moving the point from $0$ to $ϵa$ gives $v=a/t$, and the Abel integral changes by $a\omega (p)$.

Write $\omega =({\sum }_{j\ge 0}{c}_j{t}^j)dt$ and its local primitive as $F(t)={\sum }_{j\ge 0}{c}_j{t}^{j+1}/(j+1)$. The local contribution to the Abelian sum map is ${\sum }_{i}F(t_i)$. Newton's identities, linearized at $e_1=\cdots =e_r=0$, giveSubstituting in the primitive therefore givesSumming over the support proves the theorem. In particular, a multiplicity-$r$ point tests the first $r$ coefficients of a holomorphic one-form, not just its value. The residue pairing between principal parts of order at most $r$ and differential jets through order $r-1$ is perfect. Thus the annihilator of the derivative is precisely the holomorphic one-forms vanishing to order at least $r_p$ at every $p$, namely $H^0(K_X(-D))$.

There is also a sheaf cohomology description that explains its kernel geometrically. The sequencegives a connecting homomorphism $\delta :H^0({\mathcal{O}}_D(D))\to H^1({\mathcal{O}}_X)$. Represent a principal part by meromorphic lifts on coordinate disks; their differences on overlaps give its Čech cohomology class. Under Serre duality, pairing this class with $\omega$ is the sum of the residues of $v_p\omega$, so $\delta$ is the displayed derivative. Exactness shows that its kernel is $H^0({\mathcal{O}}_X(D))/\mathbb{C}$, of dimension $h^0({\mathcal{O}}_X(D))-1$, in agreement with the tangent directions to the complete linear system of a divisor in Solution 2.

Two consequences will be useful below. If $d\ge 2g-1$, then $K_X(-D)$ has negative degree and no nonzero sections, so $u_d$ is a submersion everywhere. Its image is open, and it is also closed because $X^{(d)}$ is compact. Since the Jacobian variety is connected, $u_d$ is surjective. Thus the points $u(p)$ generate the Jacobian variety as a group. Together with Abel's theorem, this identifies the degree-zero Picard group with the Jacobian variety: every line bundle has a meromorphic section and thus a divisor representation, injectivity is Abel's theorem, and surjectivity follows from $u_d(D)-du(p_0)$.

For $g\ge 1$, one can choose $g-1$ distinct points imposing independent conditions on $H^0(K_X)$: at each step a surviving nonzero holomorphic one-form has only finitely many zeros, so choose a point where it does not vanish. Their sum $D$ has $h^0(K_X(-D))=1$ and hence $h^0({\mathcal{O}}_X(D))=1$. The derivative has rank $g-1$ there. Consequently $W_{g-1}=u_{g-1}(X^{(g-1)})$ is an irreducible subvariety of dimension $g-1$. This also covers $g=1$, when $X^{(0)}$ and $W_0$ are points.

The Cartesian tensor law is $T_{ik}^{\prime }=Q_{ia}{Q}_{kb}{T}_{ab}$. In every complete tensor contraction, summation over a transformed index contracts a pair of $Q$ factors to a Kronecker delta. In detail,Thus all three are invariant under rotations. They are $\mathrm{tr}T$, $\mathrm{tr}(T^2)$ and $\mathrm{tr}(T^3)$. For a real symmetric tensor, orthogonal diagonalization givesExpanding ${\prod }_i(\lambda -{\lambda }_i)$ and using Newton's identities to recover the characteristic polynomial from traces of powers yieldsComparison identifies $\boxed{c_2=-1,c_1=\frac{1}{2},c_0=-\frac{1}{6}}$.

By Vieta's formulas, the elementary symmetric polynomials in the roots giveFor each root, ${\alpha }_j^3+c_1{\alpha }_j^2+c_2{\alpha }_j+c_3=0$. Multiplying by ${\alpha }_j^k$ and summing gives the power sum recurrenceIts initial values are $s_0=3$, $s_1=-c_1$ and $s_2=c_1^2-2c_2$. They are polynomials with integer coefficients in $c_1,c_2,c_3$. The recurrence uses only addition and multiplication by those coefficients, so induction proves the same for every $s_k$. This is the cubic case of Newton's identities.

For $c_1=0$, put ${\alpha }_1=u$, ${\alpha }_2=v$, ${\alpha }_3=-u-v$. Then $c_2=-(u^2+uv+v^2)$ and $c_3=uv(u+v)$. Expanding the product of root differences givesThis is the discriminant of a depressed cubic in depressed form, and the displayed identity also proves its expression in integer-coefficient symmetric polynomials.

At a multiplicity-$r$ point, choose a local parameter and elementary symmetric coordinates $e_1,\dots ,e_r$ for the nearby roots. The tangent principal part is $v={\sum }_{k=1}^r(-1{)}^{k-1}\delta e_k{z}^{-k}$. Newton's identities give $d(\sum z_i^k)=(-1{)}^{k-1}kd{e}_k$. Expanding the primitive of a holomorphic one-form proves the residue formula, including its sign. The dual map is restriction to the length-$r$ scheme, so it sees all jets through order $r-1$.

For the monic polynomial $q(z)=z^n-e_1{z}^{n-1}+\cdots +(-1{)}^n{e}_n$, its root power sums satisfyEach root obeys $q(x_i)=0$. Multiplying that equation by $x_i^{m-n}$ and summing over root positions proves the recurrence relation. The first $n$ power sums are initialized by Newton's identities; their later values require only this fixed-order recurrence. For $q(z)=z^3-6z^2+11z-6$, it gives $p_4=6\cdot 36-11\cdot 14+6\cdot 6=98$. Directly, $1^4+2^4+3^4=98$. No new root-solving step is needed.^[ref]

Exact reconstruction does not promise that small errors in power sums produce proportionally small errors in individual polynomial roots. For two roots, let $p_1=2$ and $p_2=2+\delta$. Newton's identities give $e_1=2$ and $e_2=1-\delta /2$, so the monic polynomial is $(z-1{)}^2-\delta /2$. Its polynomial roots are $1\pm \sqrt{\delta /2}$. A zero value of $\delta$ gives a multiple root; positive $\delta$ splits it into two real roots, and negative $\delta$ splits it into a complex-conjugate pair.

With $\delta =2{\epsilon }^2>0$, the second power sum changes by $2{\epsilon }^2$ while each polynomial root moves by $\epsilon$. The ratio $1/(2\epsilon )$ grows without bound as $\epsilon$ tends to zero. Thus coefficients can stay close while individual root locations are more sensitive. This is a reason to distinguish recovering coefficients by Newton's identities from subsequently approximating the polynomial roots.