On the complexity of the gradient of a rational function

The Baur-Strassen method implies L(?f) ? 4L(f), where L(f) is the complexity of computing a rational function f by arithmetic circuits, and ?f is the gradient of f. We show that L(? f) ? 3L(f) + n, where n is the number of variables in f. In addition, the depth of a circuit for the gradient is estimated.