Mixed discriminants (Q358842)

A fundamental topic in mathematics is the study of systems of polynomial equations in \(n\) unknowns \(x=(x_1,\dots,x_n)\) over an algebraically closed field \(K\): \(f_1(x)=\dots=f_n(x)=0\). In this paper \(f_1(x),\dots,f_n(x)\) are Laurent polynomials \(f_i(x)= \sum_{a\in A_i}c_{i,a}x^a\) with \(A_i\subset {\mathbb Z}^n\). According to Bernstein's Theorem if the coefficients \(c_{i,a}\) are generic the number of solutions of the above system in the torus \((K^*)^n\) equals the mixed volume of the Newton polytopes \(Q_i= \text{conv} (A_i)\subset {\mathbb R}^n. \) This paper concerns with the non generic case. The authors define the discriminant variety as the closure of the locus of coefficients \(c_{i,a}\) for which the above system has a non-degenerate multiple root. If the discriminant variety is an hypersurface, the mixed discriminant of the above system is the irreducible polynomial defining it. The Cayley trick expresses the mixed discriminant as an \(A-\)discriminant in the sense of Gel'fand, Kapranov and Zelevinsky. The main result of this paper is to show that the degree of the mixed discriminant is a piecewise linear function in the Plucker coordinates of a mixed Grassmannian. An explicit degree formula is given for the case of plane curves.