Formal Desingularization of Surfaces - The Jung Method Revisited -

In this paper we propose the concept of formal desingularizations as a substitute for the resolution of algebraic varieties. Though a usual resolution of algebraic varieties provides more information on the structure of singularities there is evidence that the weaker concept is enough for many computational purposes. We give a detailed study of the Jung method and show how it facilitates an efficient computation of formal desingularizations for projective surfaces over a field of characteristic zero, not necessarily algebraically closed. The paper includes a generalization of Duval's Theorem on rational Puiseux parametrizations to the multivariate case and a detailed description of a system for multivariate algebraic power series computations.Comment: 33 pages, 2 figure

Validity proof of Lazard's method for CAD construction

In 1994 Lazard proposed an improved method for cylindrical algebraic decomposition (CAD). The method comprised a simplified projection operation together with a generalized cell lifting (that is, stack construction) technique. For the proof of the method's validity Lazard introduced a new notion of valuation of a multivariate polynomial at a point. However a gap in one of the key supporting results for his proof was subsequently noticed. In the present paper we provide a complete validity proof of Lazard's method. Our proof is based on the classical parametrized version of Puiseux's theorem and basic properties of Lazard's valuation. This result is significant because Lazard's method can be applied to any finite family of polynomials, without any assumption on the system of coordinates. It therefore has wider applicability and may be more efficient than other projection and lifting schemes for CAD.Comment: 21 page

A Polyhedral Method to Compute All Affine Solution Sets of Sparse Polynomial Systems

To compute solutions of sparse polynomial systems efficiently we have to exploit the structure of their Newton polytopes. While the application of polyhedral methods naturally excludes solutions with zero components, an irreducible decomposition of a variety is typically understood in affine space, including also those components with zero coordinates. We present a polyhedral method to compute all affine solution sets of a polynomial system. The method enumerates all factors contributing to a generalized permanent. Toric solution sets are recovered as a special case of this enumeration. For sparse systems as adjacent 2-by-2 minors our methods scale much better than the techniques from numerical algebraic geometry

The thick-thin decomposition and the bilipschitz classification of normal surface singularities

We describe a natural decomposition of a normal complex surface singularity $(X,0)$ into its "thick" and "thin" parts. The former is essentially metrically conical, while the latter shrinks rapidly in thickness as it approaches the origin. The thin part is empty if and only if the singularity is metrically conical; the link of the singularity is then Seifert fibered. In general the thin part will not be empty, in which case it always carries essential topology. Our decomposition has some analogy with the Margulis thick-thin decomposition for a negatively curved manifold. However, the geometric behavior is very different; for example, often most of the topology of a normal surface singularity is concentrated in the thin parts. By refining the thick-thin decomposition, we then give a complete description of the intrinsic bilipschitz geometry of $(X,0)$ in terms of its topology and a finite list of numerical bilipschitz invariants.Comment: Minor corrections. To appear in Acta Mathematic