David Hilbert proved that a non-negative real quartic form f(x,y,z) is the sum of three squares of quadratic forms. We give a new proof which shows that if the complex plane curve Q defined by f is smooth, then f has exactly 8 such representations, up to equivalence. They correspond to those real 2-torsion points of the Jacobian of Q which are not represented by a conjugation-invariant divisor on Q.
Ternary real-valued quartics in $\mathbb{R}^3$ being invariant under octahedral symmetry are considered. The geometric classification of these surfaces is given. A new type of surfaces emerge from this classification.
Hilbert's ternary quartic theorem states that every nonnegative degree 4 homogeneous polynomial in three variables can be written as a sum of three squares of homogeneous quadratic polynomials. We give a linear-algebraic approach to Hilbert's theorem by showing that a structured cone of positive semidefinite matrices is generated by rank 1 elements.
In this work we will discuss the facial structure of the cone of nonnegative ternary quartics with real coefficients. We will establish an equivalence relation on the set of all faces, which preserves certain properties like dimension or the number of common zeros. Moreover we will give a complete list of equivalence classes and we will discuss their dimension and inclusions between them. Eventually we will be able to present a complete lattice of all faces of this particular cone.
Let F denote a homogeneous degree 4 polynomial in 3 variables, and let s be an integer between 1 and 5. We would like to know if F can be written as a sum of fourth powers of s linear forms (or a degeneration). We determine necessary and sufficient conditions for this to be possible. These conditions are expressed as the vanishing of certain concomitants of F for the natural action of SL_3.
We study the reciprocal variety to the linear space of symmetric matrices (LSSM) of catalecticant matrices associated with ternary quartics. With numerical tools, we obtain 85 to be its degree and 36 to be the ML-degree of the LSSM. We provide a geometric explanation to why equality between these two invariants is not reached, as opposed to the case of binary forms, by describing the intersection of the reciprocal variety and the orthogonal of the LSSM in the rank loci. Moreover, we prove that only the rank-$1$ locus, namely the Veronese surface $ν_4(\mathbb{P}^2)$, contributes to the degree o…
This paper proposes a totally constructive approach for the proof of Hilbert's theorem on ternary quartic forms. The main contribution is the ladder technique, with which the Hilbert's theorem is proved vividly.
The Gram spectrahedron of a real form $f\in\mathbb{R}[\underline{x}]_{2d}$ parametrizes all sum of squares representations of $f$. It is a compact, convex, semi-algebraic set, and we study its facial structure in the case of ternary quartics, i.e. $f\in\mathbb{R}[x,y,z]_4$. We show that the Gram spectrahedron of every smooth ternary quartic has faces of dimension 2, and generically none of dimension 1. We complete the proof that the so called Steiner graph of every smooth quartic is isomorphic to $K_4\coprod K_4$. Moreover, we show that the Gram spectrahedron of a generic psd ternary quartic c…
Quantifier elimination of positive semidefinite cyclic ternary quartic forms is studied in this paper. We solve the problem by the theory of complete discrimination systems, function \RealTriangularize in Maple15 and the so-called Criterions on Equality of Symmetric Inequalities method. The equivalent simple quantifier-free formula is proposed and is difficult to obtain automatically by previous methods or quantifier elimination tools.
In 1888, Hilbert proved that every non-negative quartic form f=f(x,y,z) with real coefficients is a sum of three squares of quadratic forms. His proof was ahead of its time and used advanced methods from topology and algebraic geometry. Up to now, no elementary proof is known. Here we present a completely new approach. Although our proof is not easy, it uses only elementary techniques. As a by-product, it gives information on the number of representations f=p_1^2+p_2^2+p_3^2 of f up to orthogonal equivalence. We show that this number is 8 for generically chosen f, and that it is 4 when f is ch…
We parametrize quartic commutative algebras over any base ring or scheme (equivalently finite, flat degree four $S$-schemes), with their cubic resolvents, by pairs of ternary quadratic forms over the base. This generalizes Bhargava's parametrization of quartic rings with their cubic resolvent rings over $\mathbb{Z}$ by pairs of integral ternary quadratic forms, as well as Casnati and Ekedahl's construction of Gorenstein quartic covers by certain rank 2 families of ternary quadratic forms. We give a geometric construction of a quartic algebra from any pair of ternary quadratic forms, and prove …
Given a nondegenerate ternary form $f=f(x_1,x_2,x_3)$ of degree 4 over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero, we use the geometry of K3 surfaces to construct a certain positive-dimensional family of irreducible representations of the generalized Clifford algebra associated to $f.$ From this we obtain the existence of linear Pfaffian representations of the quartic surface $X_f=\{w^4=f(x_1,x_2,x_3)\},$ as well as information on the Brill-Noether theory of a general smooth curve in the linear system $|\mathcal{O}_{X_f}(3)|.$
We show how one can use the representation theory of ternary quartics to construct all vector-valued Siegel modular forms and Teichmüller modular forms of degree 3. The relation between the order of vanishing of a concomitant on the locus of double conics and the order of vanishing of the corresponding modular form on the hyperelliptic locus plays an important role. We also determine the connection between Teichmüller cusp forms on \overline{M}_g and the middle cohomology of symplectic local systems on M_g. In genus 3, we make this explicit in a large number of cases.
Let ${\mathcal Q}_n^d$ be the vector space of forms of degree $d\ge 3$ on ${\mathbb C}^n$, with $n\ge 2$. The object of our study is the map $Φ$, introduced in papers [EI], [AI1], that assigns every nondegenerate form in ${\mathcal Q}_n^d$ the so-called associated form, which is an element of ${\mathcal Q}_n^{n(d-2)*}$. We focus on two cases: those of binary quartics ($n=2$, $d=4$) and ternary cubics ($n=3$, $d=3$). In these situations the map $Φ$ induces a rational equivariant involution on the projectivized space ${\mathbb P}({\mathcal Q}_n^d)$, which is in fact the only nontrivial rational …
We prove the existence of ternary forms admitting apolar sets of points of cardinality equal to the Waring rank, but having different Hilbert function and different regularity. This is done exploiting liaison theory and Cayley-Bacharach properties for sets of points in the projective plane
At the time of writing, the general problem of finding the maximal Waring rank for homogeneous polynomials of fixed degree and number of variables (or, equivalently, the maximal symmetric rank for symmetric tensors of fixed order and in fixed dimension) is still unsolved. To our knowledge, the answer for ternary quartics is not widely known and can only be found among the results of a master's thesis by Johannes Kleppe at the University of Oslo (1999). In the present work we give a (direct) proof that the maximal rank for plane quartics is seven, following the elementary geometric idea of spli…
As a continuation of the work of Freiermuth and Trautmann, we study the geometry of the moduli space of stable sheaves on $\mathbb{P}^3$ with Hilbert polynomial $4m+1$. The moduli space has three irreducible components whose generic elements are, respectively, sheaves supported on rational quartic curves, on elliptic quartic curves, or on planar quartic curves. The main idea of the proof is to relate the moduli space with the Hilbert scheme of curves by wall crossing. We present all stable sheaves contained in the intersections of the three irreducible components. We also classify stable sheav…
We study real ternary forms whose real rank equals the generic complex rank, and we characterize the semialgebraic set of sums of powers representations with that rank. Complete results are obtained for quadrics and cubics. For quintics we determine the real rank boundary: it is a hypersurface of degree 168. For quartics, sextics and septics we identify some of the components of the real rank boundary. The real varieties of sums of powers are stratified by discriminants that are derived from hyperdeterminants.
We show that the Hilbert scheme which parameterises bitangent lines to a general quartic surface is a counterexample to the infinitesimal Torelli claim and is a smooth regular surface with no rational curves and very ample canonical divisor.
We study the geometry underlying the difference between non-negative polynomials and sums of squares. The hypersurfaces that discriminate these two cones for ternary sextics and quaternary quartics are shown to be Noether-Lefschetz loci of K3 surfaces. The projective duals of these hypersurfaces are defined by rank constraints on Hankel matrices. We compute their degrees using numerical algebraic geometry, thereby verifying results due to Maulik and Pandharipande. The non-SOS extreme rays of the two cones of non-negative forms are parametrized respectively by the Severi variety of plane ration…
We describe a new method to determine the minimality and identifiability of a Waring decomposition $A$ of a specific form (symmetric tensor) $T$ in three variables. Our method, which is based on the Hilbert function of $A$, can distinguish between forms in the span of the Veronese image of $A$, which in general contains both identifiable and not identifiable points, depending on the choice of coefficients in the decomposition. This makes our method applicable for all values of the length $r$ of the decomposition, from $2$ up to the generic rank, a range which was not achievable before. Though …
The paper deals with the computation of the rank and the identifiability of a specific ternary form. Often, one knows some short Waring decomposition of a given form, and the problem is to determine whether the decomposition is minimal and unique. We show how the analysis of the Hilbert-Burch matrix of the set of points representing the decomposition can solve this problem in the case of ternary forms. Moreover, when the decomposition is not unique, we show how the procedure of liaison can provide alternative, maybe shorter, decompositions. We give an explicit algorithm that tests our criterio…
A celebrated result by Hilbert says that every real nonnegative ternary quartic is a sum of three squares. We show more generally that every nonnegative quadratic form on a real projective variety $X$ of minimal degree is a sum of $\dim(X)+1$ squares of linear forms. This strengthens one direction of a recent result due to Blekherman, Smith, and Velasco. Our upper bound is the best possible, and it implies the existence of low-rank factorizations of positive semidefinite bivariate matrix polynomials and representations of biforms as sums of few squares. We determine the number of equivalence c…
For $n,\,d\ge1$ let $p(n,2d)$ denote the smallest number $p$ such that every sum of squares of forms of degree $d$ in $\mathbb{R}[x_1,\dots,x_n]$ is a sum of $p$ squares. We establish lower bounds for these numbers that are considerably stronger than the bounds known so far. Combined with known upper bounds they give $p(3,2d)\in\{d+1,\,d+2\}$ in the ternary case. Assuming a conjecture of Iarrobino-Kanev on dimensions of tangent spaces to catalecticant varieties, we show that $p(n,2d)\sim const\cdot d^{(n-1)/2}$ for $d\to\infty$ and all $n\ge3$. For ternary sextics and quaternary quartics we de…
In this paper we study the identifiability of specific forms (symmetric tensors), with the target of extending recent methods for the case of $3$ variables to more general cases. In particular, we focus on forms of degree $4$ in $5$ variables. By means of tools coming from classical algebraic geometry, such as Hilbert function, liaison procedure and Serre's construction, we give a complete geometric description and criteria of identifiability for ranks $\geq 9$, filling the gap between rank $\leq 8$, covered by Kruskal's criterion, and $15$, the rank of a general quartic in $5$ variables. For …
In 1888 Hilbert showed that every nonnegative homogeneous polynomial with real coefficients of degree $2d$ in $n$ variables is a sum of squares if and only if $d=1$ (quadratic forms), $n=2$ (binary forms) or $(n,d)=(3,2)$ (ternary quartics). In these cases, it is interesting to compute canonical expressions for these decompositions. Starting from Carathéodory's Theorem, we compute the Carathéodory number of Hilbert cones of nonnegative quadratic and binary forms.
A famous theorem of Hilbert from 1888 states that a positive semidefinite (psd) real form is a sum of squares (sos) of real forms if and only if $n=2$ or $d=1$ or $(n,2d)=(3,4)$, where $n$ is the number of variables and $2d$ the degree of the form. In 1976, Choi and Lam proved the analogue of Hilbert's Theorem for symmetric forms by assuming the existence of psd not sos symmetric $n$-ary quartics for $n \geq 5$. In this paper we complete their proof by constructing explicit psd not sos symmetric $n$-ary quartics for $n \geq 5$.
We study typical ranks with respect to a real variety $X$. Examples of such are tensor rank ($X$ is the Segre variety) and symmetric tensor rank ($X$ is the Veronese variety). We show that any rank between the minimal typical rank and the maximal typical rank is also typical. We investigate typical ranks of $n$-variate symmetric tensors of order $d$, or equivalently homogeneous polynomials of degree $d$ in $n$ variables, for small values of $n$ and $d$. We show that $4$ is the unique typical rank of real ternary cubics, and quaternary cubics have typical ranks $5$ and $6$ only. For ternary qua…
Building on work of Brenner and Monsky from 2010 and on a Hilbert-Kunz calculation of Monsky from 1998, we exhibit a novel example of a hypersurface over $\overline{\mathbb{F}_2}$ in which tight closure does not commute with localization. Our methods involve a surprising tiling argument using Sierpiński triangles, as well as an inspection of a certain dynamical system in characteristic two.
A variety $X/k$ is said to have the Hilbert Property if $X(k)$ is not thin. We shall describe some examples of varieties, for which the Hilbert Property is a new result. We give a criterion for determining when the Hilbert Property for a variety $X$ implies the Hilbert Property for quotients $X/G$ of the variety by an action of a finite group. In the case of linear actions of the group $G$, this gives examples of (non-rational) unirational varieties with the Hilbert Property, providing positive examples to a conjecture by Colliot-Thélène and Sansuc. We focus then on the study of the Hilbert Pr…
I investigate on the number t of real eigenvectors of a real symmetric tensor. In particular, given a homogeneous polynomial f of degree d in 3 variables, i prove that t is greater or equal than 2c+1, if d is odd and t is greater or equal than max(3,2c+1), is d is even, where c is the number of ovals of the locus of zeros of f; for binary forms, i prove that t is greater or equal than the number of real roots of f. Moreover, the above inequalities are the best possible for binary forms of any degree and for ternary cubic and quartic forms.
When all ternary cubic forms over $\mathbb Z$ are ordered by the heights of their coefficients, we show that a positive proportion of them fail the Hasse principle, i.e., they have a zero over every completion of $\mathbb Q$ but no zero over $\mathbb Q$. We also show that a positive proportion of all ternary cubic forms over $\mathbb Z$ nontrivially satisfy the Hasse principle, i.e., they possess a zero over every completion of $\mathbb Q$ and also possess a zero over $\mathbb Q$. Analogous results are proven for other genus one models, namely, for equations of the form $z^2=f(x,y)$ where $f$ …
We give some new canonical representations for forms over $\cc$. For example, a general binary quartic form can be written as the square of a quadratic form plus the fourth power of a linear form. A general cubic form in $(x_1,...,x_n)$ can be written uniquely as a sum of the cubes of linear forms $\ell_{ij}(x_i,...,x_j)$, $1 \le i \le j \le n$. A general ternary quartic form is the sum of the square of a quadratic form and three fourth powers of linear forms. The methods are classical and elementary.
In this work we will investigate a certain generalization of the so called S-lemma in higher degrees. The importance of this generalization is, that it is closely related to Hilbert's 1888 theorem about tenary quartics. In fact, if such a generalization exits, then one can state a Hilbert-like theorem, where positivity is only demanded on some semi-algebraic set. We will show that such a generalization is not possible, at least not without additional conditions. To prove this, we will use and generalize certain tools developed by Netzer ([Ne]). These new tools will allow us to conclude that th…
We introduce a new criterion which tests if a given decomposition of a given ternary form $T$ of even degree is unique. The criterion is based on the analysis of the Hilbert function of the projective set of points $Z$ associated to the decomposition, and on the Terracini's Lemma which describes tangent spaces to secant varieties. The criterion works in a range for the length of the decomposition which is equivalent to the range in which the reshaped Kruskal's criterion (see [1]) works. Our criterion determines an algorithm for the identifiability of $T$ which is sensibly faster than algorithm…
The cone $\mathcal{P}_{n+1,2d}$ ($n,d\in\mathbb{N}$) of all positive semidefinite (PSD) real forms in $n+1$ variables of degree $2d$ contains the subcone $Σ_{n+1,2d}$ of those that are representable as finite sums of squares (SOS) of real forms of half degree $d$. In 1888, Hilbert proved that these cones coincide exactly in the Hilbert cases $(n+1,2d)$ with $n+1=2$ or $2d=2$ or $(n+1,2d)=(3,4)$. To establish the strict inclusion $Σ_{n+1,2d}\subsetneq\mathcal{P}_{n+1,2d}$ in any non-Hilbert case, one can show that verifying the assertion in the basic non-Hilbert cases $(4,4)$ and $(3,6)$ suffic…
I discuss the relation between harmonic polynomials and invariant theory and show that homogeneous, harmonic polynomials correspond to ternary forms that are apolar to a base conic (the absolute). The calculation of Schlesinger that replaces such a form by a polarised binary form is reviewed. It is suggested that Sylvester's theorem on the uniqueness of Maxwell's pole expression for harmonics is renamed the Clebsch-Sylvester theorem. The relation between certain constructs in invariant theory and angular momentum theory is enlarged upon and I resurrect the Joos--Weinberg matrices. Hilbert's pr…