On the Pythagoras number of a real irreducible algebroid curve (Q1173740)

Given a commutative ring \(A\), its Pythagoras number \(p(A)\) is either infinite or the smallest natural number \(p\) such that every sum of squares in \(A\) is a sum of \(p\) squares in \(A\). In this paper \(p(A)\) is studied when \(A\) is a one dimensional, complete, noetherian, local, real domain, whose residue field is a real closed field \(R\). The more general case of one dimensional, excellent, henselian, local, real domains can be reduced - by completion - to the above situation. By embedding \(A\) into a formal power series ring \(R[[T]]\), one obtains both a numerical semigroup of values, \(G\), and a point \(g\) of a certain algebraic set in \(\mathbb{R}^ n\) defined after \(G\), that parametrizes algebraically all curves with a given semigroup \(G\). Conversely, the pair \((G,g)\) completely determines the ring \(A\). The strategy in the paper is then to obtain information about \(p(A)\) from this data structure \((G,g)\). Upper bounds for \(p(A)\) are given, depending on \(G\) only; lower bounds for \(p(A)\) are also described in terms of the pair \((G,g)\). Next it is shown that for curves of multiplicity 3, \(p(A)\leq 2\) [extending results of \textit{J. M. Ruiz}, J. Algebra 94, 126- 144 (1985; Zbl 0611.14023) which give \(p(A)=1\) for curves of multiplicity 1 or 2]. The bound \(p(A)\leq 2\), together with an algorithm to decide whether \(p(A)\) is 1, yields the computation of \(p(A)\) for curves of multiplicity 3. Finally, examples for any natural number \(n\) are given of curves whose Pythagoras number is exactly \(n\).