Real Algebraic and Analytic Geometry
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14. Claus Scheiderer:
Sums of squares on real algebraic curves.

e-mail:
homepage: http://www.math.uni-konstanz.de/~scheider/index.html

Submission: 2002, September 21.

Abstract:
Given an affine algebraic variety V over IR with compact set V(IR) of real points, and a non-negative polynomial function f\in IR[V] with finitely many real zeros, we establish a local-global criterion for f to be a sum of squares in IR[V]. We then specialize to the case where V is a curve. The notion of virtual compactness is introduced, and it is shown that in the local-global principle, compactness of V(IR) can be relaxed to virtual compactness. The irreducible curves are classified on which every non-negative polynomial is a sum of squares. All results are extended to the more general framework of preorders. Moreover, applications to the K-moment problem from analysis are given. In particular, Schmüdgen's solution of the K-moment problem for compact K is extended, for dim(K)=1, to the case when K is only virtually compact.

Mathematics Subject Classification (1991): 14P05,11E25,14H99,14P10,44A60.

Keywords and Phrases: Non-negative polynomials, sums of squares, positivity, preorders, archimedean, real algebraic curves, moment problem.

Full text, 30p.: dvi 170k, ps.gz 112k, pdf 355k.