On the strong separation conjecture

DOI10.1007/S13398-019-00714-4MaRDI QIDQ2331762zbMATH OpenOpenAlexWikidataFDO

Authors F. Lucas, D. Schaub, M. Spivakovsky

Publication date 30 October 2019

Published in Revista de la Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Serie A: Matemáticas. RACSAM (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.09389

zbMATH Keywords

Pierce-Birkhoff conjecturereal algebraic geometryreal spectrumvaluations

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Polynomials in real and complex fields: location of zeros (algebraic theorems) (12D10) Real algebraic sets (14P05) Semialgebraic sets and related spaces (14P10)

Abstract: This paper contains a partial result on the Pierce--Birkhoff conjecture on piece-wise polynomial functions defined by a finite collection {f 1,. .., f r} of polynomials. In the nineteen eighties, generalizing the problem from the polynomial ring to an artibtrary ring $Sigma$, J. Madden proved that the Pierce--Birkhoff conjecture for $Sigma$ is equivalent to a statement about an arbitrary pair of points $alpha$, $$ $in$ Sper $Sigma$ and their separating ideal < $alpha$, $$ >, we refer to this statement as the local Pierce-Birkhoff conjecture at $alpha$, $$. In [8] we introduced a slightly stronger conjecture, also stated for a pair of points $alpha$, $$ $in$ Sper $Sigma$ and the separating ideal < $alpha$, $$ >, called the Connectedness conjecture, about a finite collection of elements {f 1, . . ., fr} $subset$ $Sigma$. In the paper [10] we introduced a new conjecture, called the Strong Connectednessconjecture, and proved that the Strong Connectedness conjecture in dimension n--1 implies the Strong Connectedness conjecture in dimension n in the case when ht(< $alpha$, $$ >) $le$ n -- 1.The Pierce-Birkhoff Conjecture for r = 2 is equivalent to the Connectedness Conjecture for r = 1, this conjecture is called the Separation Conjecture. The Strong Connectedness Conjecture for r = 1 is called the Strong Separation Conjecture. In the present paper, we fix a polynomial f $in$ R[x, z] where R is a real closed field and x = (x1, . . ., xn), z are n + 1 independent variables. We define the notion of two points $alpha$, $$ $in$ Sper R[x, z] being in good position with respect to f. The main result of this paper is a proof of the Strong Separation Conjecture in the case when $alpha$ and $$ are in good position with respect to f.

Review text

The paper under review contains a partial result on the Pierce-Birkhoff conjecture. The latter is the following. Let \(R\) be a real closed field (for example the field \(\mathbb{R}\) of reals). A function \(f:R^n\to R\) is called \textit{piecewise polynomial} if there is a finite collection \(\mathcal{P}\) of closed semialgebraic sets covering \(R^n\) such that for every \(P\in\mathcal{P}\) there is a polynomial \(p\) such that \(g|_P=p\). The \textit{Pierce-Birkhoff conjecture} states that given a piecewise polynomial function \(f:R^n\to R\) there is a finite family of polynomials \(p_{ij}\) such that \(f=\sup_i\inf_j(p_{ij})\). The Pierce-Birkhoff conjecture has been solved by Mahé in the case \(n=2\) over the reals (see [\textit{L. Mahé}, Rocky Mt. J. Math. 14, 983--985 (1984; Zbl 0578.41008)]). This result has been generalized by \textit{C. N. Delzell} [Rocky Mt. J. Math. 19, No. 3, 651--668 (1989; Zbl 0715.14047)] to arbitray real closed fields. \textit{J. J. Madden} gave in [Arch. Math. 53, No. 6, 565--570 (1989; Zbl 0691.14012)] a translation of the conjecture into a purely algebraic statement in terms of the real spectrum of the polynomial ring and separating ideals. This algebraic formulation allows one also to speak about the Pierce-Birkhoff conjecture for arbitrary ring. In previous papers by the authors [Manuscr. Math. 128, No. 4, 505--547 (2009; Zbl 1169.14039); J. Algebra 435, 124--158 (2015; Zbl 1386.14197)] this algebraic Pierce-Birkhoff conjecture has been generalized to the \textit{connectedness conjecture} and the strong \textit{connecetedness conjecture} with the \textit{strong separation conjecture} as a special case. The main result of the paper under review is a proof of the strong separation conjecture under a certain assumption on the orderings (i.e. on the elements of the real spectrum) involved.

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Cited in

(13)

• On connectedness of sets in the real spectra of polynomial rings
• An algebraic construction of the ring of piecewise polynomial functions
• On Krull's separation lemma
• Tight bounds and conjectures for the isolation lemma
• Separation problems and forcing
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 446461 (Why is no real title available?)
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 549851 (Why is no real title available?)
• The separable quotient problem and the strongly normal sequences
• A relaxation of the strong Bordeaux Conjecture
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 749214 (Why is no real title available?)
• On the Pierce-Birkhoff conjecture
• On strongly separable extensions
• Effectiveness of Demailly's strong openness conjecture and related problems

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