Geometrical aspects of the level of curves. (Q5942813)

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scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1643674
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Geometrical aspects of the level of curves.
scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1643674

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    Geometrical aspects of the level of curves. (English)
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    2001
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    The paper addresses the question whether the level, i.e., the minimal number of squares in the real function field representing \(-1\), of a smooth real affine integral curve without real points is \(2\) or \(3\) (these numbers are known to be the lower and upper bounds for the level). The main result is a geometric characterization of the level \(2\) curves via the existence of a specific element in the Picard group of the curve compactification. The case of hyperelliptic curves, especially, hyperelliptic quartics, is treated in more details. As an application the authors present a criterion to decide whether a real polynomial in two variables is representable as the sum of three squares.
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    sums of squares
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    real affine algebraic curves
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    real hyperelliptic curves
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    Picard group
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