Polar invariants of plane curves and the Newton polygon (Q5929135)

Let us fix a convergent power series \(f=f(x,y) \in\mathbb{C} \{x,y\}\) in two variables \(x\) and \(y\) with an isolated singularity at the origin. If \((a,b) \in\mathbb{C}^2\), then the polar curve of \(f\) with respect to the direction \((a,b)\) is defined as the power series \(\partial f=a (\partial f/ \partial x)+b(\partial f/\partial y)\). Let \(g,h\in \mathbb{C}\{x,y\}\) and let \((g,h)_0\) denote the \(\mathbb{C}\)-codimension of the ideal generated by \(g\) and \(h\) in \(\mathbb{C} \{x,y\}\). For a generic \((a,b)\in \mathbb{C}^2\), the set of numbers defined by \[ \left\{ {(f,h)_0 \over\text{ord}(h)}:h \text{ is an irreducible divisor of }\partial f \right\} \] does not depend on \((a,b)\) and it is a topological invariant of the singularity \(\{(x,y)\in \mathbb{C}^2: f(x,y)= 0\}\) [see \textit{Lê Dung Trang}, \textit{F. Michel} and \textit{C. Weber}, Compos. Math. 72, 87-113 (1989; Zbl 0705.32021)]. The numbers of this set are known as the polar quotients of the singularity \(f=0\). The main result of the paper under revision is a factorization theorem for the generic polar curve \(\partial f\) using the Newton polygon \({\mathcal N}_f\) of \(f\). As a consequence, the authors give an explicit computation of the polar quotients of \(f=0\) when \(f\) is nondegenerate in the sense of Kouchnirenko [see \textit{A. G. Kushnirenko}, Invent. Math. 32, 1-31 (1976; Zbl 0328.32007)]. The proof of their main result is based on a preliminary result (Theorem 2.1) that compares the Newton polygon of \(f\) and the Newton polygon of the generic polar curve \(\partial f\). When the set of polar quotients of \(f=0\) are known, then the Łojasiewicz exponent \({\mathcal L} (f)\) of \(f\) can be obtained by the formula, due to \textit{B. Teissier} [Invent. Math. 40, 267-292 (1977; Zbl 0446.32002)], relating both topological invariants. Then, as an application of their results, the authors give an expression for \({\mathcal L}_0(f)\) when \(f\) is nondegenerate, thus giving an alternative proof of the formula proved by \textit{A. Lenarcik} in [Banach Cent. Publ. 44, 149-166 (1998; Zbl 0924.32007)].