Simple Approximate Varieties for Sets of Empirical Points

We present a symbolic-numeric approach for the analysis of a given set of noisy data, represented as a finite set $\X$ of limited precision points. Starting from $\X$ and a permitted tolerance $\varepsilon$ on its coordinates, our method automatically determines a low degree monic polynomial whose associated variety passes close to each point of $\X$ by less than the given tolerance $\varepsilon$.