The tropical analogue of polar cones (Q1030724)

Max-plus or tropical algebra refers to the analogue of classical algebra obtained by considering the max-plus semiring \({\mathbb R}_{\max}\). Max-plus convex cones and max-plus convex sets are defined via the max-plus linear combination \(\max(\lambda+x,\mu+y)\), where \(\lambda,\mu\in {\mathbb R}_{\max}\), and \(x,y\) belong to the set. In this paper the authors focus on some duality results. Starting from the classical duality theory that relates a convex cone with the set of linear inequalities that its points satisfy, they consider the polar of a max-plus convex cone \(V\in {\mathbb R}_{\max}\), defined as \[ V^0= \Big\{(f,g)\in ({\mathbb R}_{\max}^n)^2\;\Big|\;\max_i(f_i+\xi_i)\leq \max_j(g_j+\xi_j),\;\forall \xi\in V\Big\}, \] as well as its orthogonal \[ V^T= \Big\{(f,g)\in ({\mathbb R}_{\max}^n)^2\;\Big|\;\max_i(f_i+\xi_i)= \max_j(g_j+\xi_j),\;\forall \xi\in V\Big\}. \] Furthermore, for all \(W\subset ({\mathbb R}_{\max}^n)^2\), the ``dual'' polar cone is: \[ W^\diamondsuit= \Big\{\xi\in{\mathbb R}^n_{\max}\;\Big|\;\max_i(f_i+\xi_i)\leq \max_j(g_j+\xi_j),\;\forall (f,g)\in W\Big\}. \] A natural question is to ask which subsets \(W\) of \(({\mathbb R}^n_{\max})^2\) arise as polars of cones, or equivalently, which subsets are of the form \(W=(U^\diamondsuit)^0\) for some \(U\subset ({\mathbb R}^n_{\max})^2\). The main result of the paper is a bipolar theorem, that characterizes a subset \(W\subset ({\mathbb R}_{\max}^n)^2\) that is the polar of a cone (Theorem 1). As a variant of this result, the authors provide also a characterization of the subsets of \(({\mathbb R}_{\max}^n)^2\) that are the orthogonal of a cone (Theorem 2). The paper is organized as follows: in Section 2 the authors recall some notions and results concerning semimodules over idempotent semirings that are needed through the paper. The purpose of Section 3 is to establish separation theorems; in Theorems 5 and 6 they prove a separation result for complete polar cones and for complete congruences, and in Theorem 7 they prove a dual result concerning complete polar cones and complete congruences. In Section 5 they consider the non completed max-plus semiring \({\mathbb R}_{\max}\) equipped with the standard topology. In this section, they apply a perturbation technique to derive separation theorems which are appropriate for closed polar cones and congruences over \({\mathbb R}^n_{\max}\). Theorem 10 is the analogue of Theorem 7 in a non complete setting.