Representations of non-negative polynomials having finitely many zeros (Q2372654)

A quadratic module in a commutative ring \(A\) is a subset \(Q\) that contains 1, is closed under addition and is closed under multiplication by squares. Quadratic modules are among the basic structures in the algebraic theory of positivity. The membership problem continues to receive a great deal of attention: If \(a\in A\), how does one recognize whether \(a\in Q\)? There are various different answers to this question. Usually one assumes that \(Q\) is Archimedean, i.e., for each \(a\in A\) there is some \(n\in\mathbb{N}\) such that \(n- a\in Q\) . If this is the case then the representation space of \(Q\), \(P(Q)= \{\varphi\in\Hom(A, \mathbb{R})\mid\varphi(Q)\subseteq\mathbb{R}^{\geq}\}\), is compact. The elements of \(A\) are viewed as continuous functions from the representation space to \(\mathbb{R}\). It is known that \(a\in Q\) if \(Q\) is Archimedean and if \(a\) takes only positive values on \(P(Q)\). But what happens if \(a|_{P(Q)}\geq 0\)? One answer is due to \textit{C. Scheiderer} [J. Algebra 289, No. 2, 558--573 (2005; Zbl 1082.14058)]. In the present paper the author uses a lemma, called basic lemma, from [\textit{S. Kuhlmann}, \textit{M. Marshall} and \textit{N. Schwartz}, Adv. Geom. 5, No. 4, 583--606 (2005, Zbl 1095.14055)] to exhibit a simpler proof of Scheiderer's result and to obtain an improved result in the case of an Archimedean quadratic module on the coordinate ring of a real algebraic variety. Connections of the basic lemma with partitions of unity on the representation space are discussed.