6 research outputs found
Toric Intersection Theory for Affine Root Counting
Given any polynomial system with fixed monomial term structure, we give
explicit formulae for the generic number of roots with specified coordinate
vanishing restrictions. For the case of affine space minus an arbitrary union
of coordinate hyperplanes, these formulae are also the tightest possible upper
bounds on the number of isolated roots. We also characterize, in terms of
sparse resultants, precisely when these upper bounds are attained. Finally, we
reformulate and extend some of the prior combinatorial results of the author on
which subsets of coefficients must be chosen generically for our formulae to be
exact.
Our underlying framework provides a new toric variety setting for
computational intersection theory in affine space minus an arbitrary union of
coordinate hyperplanes. We thus show that, at least for root counting, it is
better to work in a naturally associated toric compactification instead of
always resorting to products of projective spaces