Faster Modular Composition

A new Las Vegas algorithm is presented for the composition of two polynomials modulo a third one, over an arbitrary field. When the degrees of these polynomials are bounded by n, the algorithm uses O(n^{1.43}) field operations, breaking through the 3/2 barrier in the exponent for the first time. The previous fastest algebraic algorithms, due to Brent and Kung in 1978, require O(n^{1.63}) field operations in general, and n^{3/2+o(1)} field operations in the particular case of power series over a field of large enough characteristic. If using cubic-time matrix multiplication, the new algorithm runs in n^{5/3+o(1)} operations, while previous ones run in O(n^2) operations. Our approach relies on the computation of a matrix of algebraic relations that is typically of small size. Randomization is used to reduce arbitrary input to this favorable situation