Symmetric non-negative forms and sums of squares (Q2664111)

The authors study \textit{symmetric} nonnegative homogeneous polynomials and relationships between the cone of symmetric sums of squares and the cone of symmetric nonnegative forms of fixed degree \(2d\) (in arbitrary numbers of variables). They provided a uniform representation of the cone of symmetric sums of squares and its dual cone in terms of linear matrix polynomials. In particular, by using the representation, they completely characterize the sums of squares cone \(\Sigma_{n,4}\) of degree \(4\) in \(n\) variable and its boundary, and therefore certify the difference between symmetric sums of squares and symmetric non-negative quartics. Also, they investigated the asymptotic behavior of the cone of sums of squares and nonnegative forms of fixed degree \(2d\) as the number \(n\) of variables grows. In detail, they showed that the difference between the cone of symmetric nonnegative forms and sums of squares does not grow arbitrarily large for any fixed degree \(2d\) (even though the (volume) difference between the two cones increases exponentially for any even degree \(2d\) as the number \(n\) of variables grows). In particular, they show that the cone of symmetric non-negative quartics and the cone of quartic symmetric sums of squares asymptotically become closer as the number of variables grows by proving the two cones approach the same limit (in degree \(4\)). They conjectured that the limits agree in any degree \(2d\) for \(d>2\).