Generalizing tropical Kontsevich's formula to multiple cross-ratios (Q2213801)

The Kontsevich formula for rational curves proven in [\textit{M. Kontsevich} and \textit{Yu. Manin}, AMS/IP Stud. Adv. Math. 1, 607--653 (1997; Zbl 0931.14030)] allows one to compute the number \(N_d\) of rational curves of degree \(d\) in the projective plane \(\mathbb{P}^2\) passing through a general configuration of \(3d-1\) points only knowing the value \(N_1=1\). The number \(N_d\) is known not to depend on the choice of the points and is called a \textit{Gromov-Witten invariant}. The idea is to consider a more general enumerative problem involving point conditions, line conditions and cross-ratios. The cross-ratio of four points on the projective line \(\mathbb{P}^1\) is a scalar that encodes their relative position to each other. Imposing a cross-ratio condition means forcing four chosen points to be in a chosen relative position. Computing in two different ways the number of degree \(d\) curves passing through \(3d-2\) points, meeting two lines and satisfying one cross-ratio condition yields the Kontsevich formula. A natural question is can one find a more general Kontsevich type recursive formula involving a larger family of invariants by adding more cross-ratio conditions. The reviewed paper provides such a formula. Tropical geometry is a powerful tool that enables the computation of classical enumerative invariants such as the Gromov-Witten invariants \(N_d\) through the use of correspondence theorems such as Mikhalkin's theorem from [\textit{G. Mikhalkin}, J. Am. Math. Soc. 18, No. 2, 313--377 (2005; Zbl 1092.14068)] that relate classical curves to tropical curves. The tropical geometry setup often allows one to reprove classical theorems mimicking their proof in the tropical world, combining it with correspondence theorems. This way, the classical Kontsevich formula was thus given a tropical proof in [\textit{A. Gathmann} and \textit{H. Markwig}, Adv. Math. 217, No. 2, 537--560 (2008; Zbl 1131.14057)]. This last paper use ideas from tropical intersection theory which were later generalized in [\textit{L. Allermann} and \textit{J. Rau}, Math. Z. 264, No. 3, 633--670 (2010; Zbl 1193.14074)]. The paper under review generalizes the tropical proof of the Kontsevich formula using tropical intersection theory to provide a recursive formula involving tropical invariants with more cross-ratio constraints. Using the correspondence theorem from [\textit{I. Tyomkin}, Adv. Math. 305, 1356--1383 (2017; Zbl 1401.14242)] which concerns rational curves subjects to point conditions and cross-ratio constraints, the author of the reviewed paper translates his tropical recursive formula into a classical formula generalizing the Kontsevich formula.