Refined descendant invariants of toric surfaces (Q2421597)

Genus zero tropical descendant invariants on a toric surface, as introduced by \textit{H. Markwig} and \textit{J. Rau} in [Manuscr. Math. 129, No. 3, 293--335 (2009; Zbl 1171.14039)], are tropical analogues of rational descendant Gromov-Witten invariants, defined as integrals over the moduli space of stable maps of rational curves. The main result of the article under review is the construction of a refined (i.e. depending on a parameter \(y\)) genus zero tropical descendant invariant \(RD_y\left(\Delta, \overline{n}\right)\) of a toric surface associated to a convex lattice polygon \(\Delta\). Here, \(\overline{n} = (n_k)_{k \geq 0}\) denotes a sequence of non-negative integer numbers. In order to define these invariants, the authors use the construction of the moduli spaces of plane marked rational tropical curves and evaluation maps between them. Moreover, they define a refined multiplicity of a plane rational marked tropical curve for which they introduce a refined multiplicity of a marked vertex of any valency. This is done recursively, starting with the known case of trivalent vertices. The definition of a refined multiplicity of a marked vertex of valency \(n \geq 4\) is one of the main novelties of this article. The authors show that the invariant \(RD_y\left(\Delta, \overline{n}\right)\) generalizes other known refined invariants: \begin{itemize} \item The Block-Göttsche refined invariant as defined in [\textit{F. Block} and \textit{L. Göttsche}, Compos. Math. 152, No. 1, 115--151 (2016; Zbl 1348.14125)]. \item The Göttsche-Schroeter refined invariant as defined in [\textit{L. Göttsche} and \textit{F. Schroeter}, J. Algebr. Geom. 28, No. 1, 1--41 (2019; Zbl 1439.14183)]. \end{itemize} Also, they show that when the parameter \(y\) tends to \(1\), one obtains the genus zero tropical descendant invariants of Markwig and Rau mentioned above. The invariant \(RD_y\left(\Delta, \overline{n}\right)\) is shown to satisfy an enumerative property (similar to the Block-Göttsche and the Göttsche-Schroeter refined invariant). Namely, it counts certain rational plane curves through a generic configuration of points. This enumerative property enables the authors to use combinatorial computational tools and generalize the so called \textit{lattice path algorithm}, developed in [Markwig and Rau, loc. cit.] to compute Markwigs and Rau's genus zero tropical descendant invariants, to compute the refined descendant invaraints \(RD_y\left(\Delta, \overline{n}\right)\). This is done in the appendix. Finally, the authors discuss on the uniqueness of the invariant \(RD_y\left(\Delta, \overline{n}\right)\) and calculate it explicitly in a series of examples.