On real tropical bases and real tropical discriminants (Q2515058)

The paper under review is an attempt to develop a version of tropical geometry that would be related to real algebraic geometry in the way that usual tropical geometry is related to complex algebraic geometry. Other approaches to this can be found in [\textit{D. Alessandrini}, Adv. Geom. 13, No. 1, 155--190 (2013; Zbl 1271.14091); \textit{D. Speyer} and \textit{L. Williams}, J. Algebr. Comb. 22, No. 2, 189--210 (2005; Zbl 1094.14048); \textit{C. Vinzant}, J. Algebra 352, No. 1, 392--407 (2012; Zbl 1243.13024)]. In this approach, \(\mathbb R\) (with the usual tropical operations) is replaced by the group \(\mathbb T\mathbb R=\{-1,1\}\times\mathbb R\), whose group operation takes the role of tropical multiplication, but there is no addition. Thus, polynomials over \(\mathbb T\mathbb R\) cannot be added and cannot be multiplied. However, the real tropical hypersurface \(\mathcal T_\mathbb R (f)\), corresponding to a polynomial \(f\) in \(n\) variables with coefficients in \(\mathbb T\mathbb R\), is defined to be the set of points in \(\mathbb T\mathbb R^n\) where the smallest monomials do not all have the same sign. Here monomials are (tropically) evaluated and compared in the group \((\mathbb R, +)\), while their signs are evaluated in the group \(\{-1,1\}\). For a polynomial \(F\) with coefficients in the field \(\mathbb K\) of real Puiseux series, a tropicalization \(f\) is defined by applying the evaluation map \(\mathbb K^*\to \mathbb T\mathbb R\) (recording the smallest exponent and the sign of the corresponding coefficient) to each coefficient of \(F\). Then the image under the coordinatewise valuation map \[ \mathrm{trop} : (\mathbb K^*)^n\to\mathbb T\mathbb R^n \] of the real hypersurface \(\mathcal V (F)\) defined by \(F\) is contained in \(\mathcal T_\mathbb R (f)\), but is not necessarily dense in it. Thus, Kapranov's theorem does not remain valid in this setting. The author proves that for polynomials \(F,G\in\mathbb K[x_1,\dots, x_n]\) with tropicalizations \(f\) and \(g\), the real tropical hypersurface corresponding to the tropicalization of the product \(FG\) is contained in the union \(\mathcal T_\mathbb R (f)\cup \mathcal T_\mathbb R (g) \), but, in contrast to the usual `complex' case, the inclusion may be strict. Let \(I\) be an ideal in \(\mathbb K[x_1,\dots, x_n]\). A real tropical basis of \(I\) is defined to be a finite generating set \(F_1\), \dots, \(F_r\) such that for the tropicalizations \(f_1\), \dots, \(f_r\) we have \[ \overline{\mathrm {trop} (\mathcal V(I))}=\mathcal T_\mathbb R(f_1)\cap\dots\cap\mathcal T_\mathbb R(f_r). \] The author points out that a real tropical basis need not exist even for a real radical ideal, but constructs real tropical bases for zero-dimensional real radical ideals, linear ideals and hypersurfaces coming from combinatorial patchworking. He applies this to the computation of the singular locus of a real tropical hypersurface, i.e., he computes the real tropical discriminant. Reviewer's note: There is a typographical error in the table on page 80. In the first column, labeled `Value', the last two entries should be \(-1^+\) and \(-1^-\).