Related papers: Approximate Pythagoras Numbers on $*$-algebras ove…

We bound the Pythagoras number of a real projective subvariety: the smallest positive integer $r$ such that every sum of squares of linear forms in its homogeneous coordinate ring is a sum of at most $r$ squares. Enhancing existing methods,…

This paper presents algorithms for computing the length of a sum of squares and a Pythagoras element in a global field $K$ of characteristic different from $2$. In the first part of the paper, we present algorithms for computing the length…

We give an example of a polynomial of degree 4 in 5 variables that is the sum of squares of 8 polynomials and cannot be decomposed as the sum of 7 squares. This improves the current existing lower bound of 7 polynomials for the Pythagoras…

We prove that the ring of integers in the totally real cubic subfield $K^{(49)}$ of the cyclotomic field $\mathbb{Q}(\zeta_7)$ has Pythagoras number equal to $4$. This is the smallest possible value for a totally real number field of odd…

We prove that the Pythagoras number of the ring of integers of the compositum of all real quadratic fields is infinite. The same holds for certain infinite totally real cyclotomic fields. In contrast, we construct infinite degree totally…

Representations of nonnegative polynomials as sums of squares are central to real algebraic geometry and the subject of active research. The sum-of-squares representations of a given polynomial are parametrized by the convex body of…

Let $\mathcal{A}$ be a sequence of $rk$ terms which is made up of $k$ distinct integers each appearing exactly $r$ times in $\mathcal{A}$. The sum of all terms of a subsequence of $\mathcal{A}$ is called a subsequence sum of $\mathcal{A}$.…

We study the Pythagoras numbers $py(3,2d)$ of real ternary forms, defined for each degree $2d$ as the minimal number $r$ such that every degree $2d$ ternary form which is a sum of squares can be written as the sum of at most $r$ squares of…

We show that for all real biquadratic fields not containing $\sqrt{2}$, $\sqrt{3}$, $\sqrt{5}$, $\sqrt{6}$, $\sqrt{7},$ and $\sqrt{13}$, the Pythagoras number of the ring of algebraic integers is at least $6$. We will also provide an upper…

The simplest cubic fields $\mathbb{Q}(\rho)$ are generated by a root $\rho$ of the polynomial $x^3-ax^2-(a+3)x-1$ where $a\geq -1$. In this paper, we will show that the Pythagoras number of the order $\mathbb{Z}[\rho]$ is equal to $6$ for…

We show that any sum of squares in a field of transcendence degree $1$ over $\mathbb{Q}$ is a sum of $5$ squares, answering a question of Pop and Pfister. We deduce this result from a representation theorem, in $k(C)$, for quadratic forms…

We study the sums of squares on cylinders of the form $X \times \mathbb{A}_K$ for a (weakly) factorial curve $C$. We prove the equality of the Pythagoras numbers of the ring of regular functions on the cylinder with that of the field of…

Siegel proved that every totally positive element of a number field K is the sum of four squares, so in particular the Pythagoras number is uniformly bounded across number fields. The p-adic Kochen operator provides a p-adic analogue of…

Let $n$ be a natural number. Recall that a C*-algebra is said to be $n$-subhomogeneous if all its irreducible representations have dimension at most $n$. In this short note, we give various approximation properties characterising…

We give upper bounds for the level and the Pythagoras number of function fields over fraction fields of integral Henselian excellent local rings. In particular, we show that the Pythagoras number of $\mathbb{R}((x_1,\dots,x_n))$ is $\leq…

Given a set $P$ of points and a set $U$ of axis-parallel unit squares in the Euclidean plane, a minimum ply cover of $P$ with $U$ is a subset of $U$ that covers $P$ and minimizes the number of squares that share a common intersection,…

Let $K$ be a quartic number field containing $\sqrt{2}$ and let $\mathcal{O}\subseteq K$ be an order such that $\sqrt{2}\in \mathcal{O}$. We prove that the Pythagoras number of $\mathcal{O}$ is at most 5. This confirms a conjecture of…

We prove that every sum of squares in the rational function field in two variables $K(X,Y)$ over a hereditarily pythagorean field $K$ is a sum of $8$ squares. More precisely, we show that the Pythagoras number of every finite extension of…

We examine the Pythagoras number $\mathcal{P}(\mathcal{O}_K)$ of the ring of integers $\mathcal{O}_K$ in a totally real biquadratic number field $K$. We show that the known upper bound $7$ is attained in a large and natural infinite family…

We show that every $\alpha$-approximate minimum cut in a connected graph is the unique minimum $(S,T)$-terminal cut for some subsets $S$ and $T$ of vertices each of size at most $\lfloor2\alpha\rfloor+1$. This leads to an alternative proof…