Pythagoras numbers for ternary forms (Q6937335)

The authors study the Pythagoras number \(\operatorname{py}(3, 2d)\) of real ternary forms of degree \(2d\), which is defined as the smallest integer \(r\) such that every ternary form of degree \(2d\) that is a sum of squares can be expressed as a sum of at most \(r\) squares of degree \(d\) forms.\N\NDue to the result by \textit{C. Scheiderer} [Math. Z. 286, No. 1--2, 559--570 (2017; Zbl 1420.11070)], it was known that\N\[\Nd + 1 \leq \operatorname{py}(3, 2d) \leq d + 2.\N\]\NIn the article, the authors prove that\N\[\N\operatorname{py}(3, 2d) = d + 1 \quad \text{for all } d \leq 6,\N\]\Nand they conjecture that this equality holds for all positive integers \(d\).