Algebraic characterization of rings of continuous \(\mathbb{R}((t))\)-valued functions (Q2136909)

This paper generalizes already existent characterizations of rings of continuous functions on a compact space, taking values on \(\mathbb{R}\) or on \(\mathbb{Q}_p\). The ring considered here is \(C(X;\mathbb{R}((t))\), where \(X\) is still a compact space and \(\mathbb{R}((t))\) is the field of Laurent series, with the topology linked to the order induced by: \(\sum_{n=m}^{\infty} a_n t^b >0 \Longrightarrow a_m >0\). Such a ring contains the field of fractions \(\mathbb{R}(t)\) and the main result is its characterization among all commutative rings with that property. Let \(A\supseteq\mathbb{R}(t)\) be a commutative ring. To provide a sufficient condition for the existence of a representation \(\Phi:A\longrightarrow C(X,\mathbb{R}((t))\), for some compact space \(X\), the authors use an \(\mathbb{R}(t)\)-\textit{divisibility}, strictly linked to the canonical \(v_t\) valuation on \(\mathbb{R}((t))\), and choose \(X\) to be the set \(Spv_t^{\max}(A)\) of maximal \(R(t)\)-\textit{divisibilities} on \(A\) extending \(|\). The set \(Spv_t^{\max}(A)\) is endowed with a topology making it a compact space. A technical tool used to get their results is the one-one correspondence between the valuation divisibilities and the Bourbaki valuation maps on \(A\). Their ``Representation Theorem'' gives conditions for injectivity and surjectivity of the representation \(\Phi\) in a ring theoretic form. The tool to get it is the ``Translation Lemma''; it translates the canonical divisibility \(|*\) on \(C(X,\mathbb{R}((t))\) defined by: \[ g|* f \iff v_t (g(x)) \leq v_t(f(x)), \forall x\in X, \] into the condition: \[ (\exists h\in C(X,\mathbb{R}(t)): f^2 -t g^2 = h^2. \] As a final result, they characterize the rings \(A\) isomorphic to \(C(X,\mathbb{R}((t))\) in terms of existence of an \(\mathbb{R}(t)\)-\textit{divisibility} on \(A\) such that the induced seminorm \( || \ ||\) is a norm in \(A\) and the space \((A,|| \ ||)\) is complete.