Related papers: Stubborn Polynomials

We initiate a systematic study of nonnegative polynomials $P$ such that $P^k$ is not a sum of squares for any odd $k\geq 1$, calling such $P$ \emph{stubborn}. We develop a new invariant of a real isolated zero of a nonnegative polynomial in…

We study separable plus quadratic (SPQ) polynomials, i.e., polynomials that are the sum of univariate polynomials in different variables and a quadratic polynomial. Motivated by the fact that nonnegative separable and nonnegative quadratic…

We investigate the quantitative relationship between nonnegative polynomials and sums of squares of polynomials. We show that if the degree is fixed and the number of variables grows then there are significantly more nonnegative polynomials…

We completely characterize sections of the cones of nonnegative polynomials, convex polynomials and sums of squares with polynomials supported on circuits, a genuine class of sparse polynomials. In particular, nonnegativity is characterized…

The relationship between nonnegative polynomials and sums of squares is one of the central questions in real algebraic geometry. A modern approach is to look at nonnegative polynomials and sums of squares on a real variety. We survey the…

We study nonnegative (psd) real sextic forms $q(x_0,x_1,x_2)$ that are not sums of squares (sos). Such a form has at most ten real zeros. We give a complete and explicit characterization of all sets $S\subset\mathbb{P}^2(\mathbb{R})$ with…

Ternary sextics and quaternary quartics are the smallest cases where there exist nonnegative polynomials that are not sums of squares (SOS). A complete classification of the difference between these cones was given by G. Blekherman via…

We show that if a polynomial $f\in \mathbb{R}[x_1,\ldots,x_n]$ is nonnegative on a closed basic semialgebraic set $X=\{x\in\mathbb{R}^n:g_1(x)\ge 0,\ldots,g_r (x)\ge 0\}$, where $g_1,\ldots,g_r\in\mathbb{R}[x_1,\ldots,x_n]$, then $f$ can be…

We show that every real nonnegative polynomial $f$ can be approximated as closely as desired by a sequence of polynomials $\{f_\epsilon\}$ that are sums of squares. Each $f_\epsilon$ has a simple et explicit form in terms of $f$ and…

We study the boundary of the cone of real polynomials that can be decomposed as a sum of squares (SOS) of real polynomials. This cone is included in the cone of nonnegative polynomials and both cones share a part of their boundary, which…

We observe that the E-resultant of a very ample rank 2 vector bundle E on a real projective curve (with no real points) is nonnegative when restricted to the space of real sections. Moreover, we show that if E has a section vanishing at…

A polynomial with rational coefficients is said to be pure with respect to a rational prime $p$ if its Newton polygon has one slope. In this article, we prove that the number of irreducible factors of the $n$-th iterate of a pure polynomial…

A polynomial that is nonnegative need not be a sum of squares of polynomials. This classical gap, identified by Hilbert in 1888, lies at the heart of why the global optimization of multivariate quartic polynomials is NP-hard. Yet we show…

In 2010, Marshall settled the strip conjecture, according to which every polynomial in $\mathbb{R}[x,y]$, nonnegative on the strip $[-1,1]\times\mathbb{R}$, is a sum of squares and of squares times $1-x^2$. We consider affine nonsingular…

Most integers are composite and most univariate polynomials over a finite field are reducible. The Prime Number Theorem and a classical result of Gau{\ss} count the remaining ones, approximately and exactly. For polynomials in two or more…

We study algebraic dynamical systems (and, more generally, $\sigma$-varieties) $\Phi:{\mathbb A}^n_{\mathbb C} \to {\mathbb A}^n_{\mathbb C}$ given by coordinatewise univariate polynomials by refining a theorem of Ritt. More precisely, we…

Given a graph $G$, its genus polynomial is $\Gamma_G(x) = \sum_{k\geq 0} g_k(G)x^k$, where $g_k(G)$ is the number of 2-cell embeddings of $G$ in an orientable surface of genus $k$. The Log-Concavity Genus Distribution (LCGD) Conjecture…

We present a Hilbert space geometric approach to the problem of characterizing the positive bivariate trigonometric polynomials that can be represented as the square of a two variable polynomial possessing a certain stability requirement,…

Let X be an irreducible hypersurface in $\mathbb{P}^n$ of degree $d\geq 3$ with only isolated semi-weighted homogeneous singularities, such that $exp(\frac{2\pi i}{k})$ is a zero of the Alexander polynomial. Then we show that the…

We construct families of explicit polynomials f with rational coefficients that are sums of squares of polynomials over the real numbers, but not over the rational numbers. Whether or not such examples exist was an open question originally…