Semidefinite representation for convex hulls of real algebraic curves

We show that the closed convex hull of any one-dimensional semi-algebraic subset of R^n has a semidefinite representation, meaning that it can be written as a linear projection of the solution set of some linear matrix inequality. This is proved by an application of the moment relaxation method. Given a nonsingular affine real algebraic curve C and a compact semialgebraic subset K of its R-points, the preordering P(K) of all regular functions on C that are nonnegative on K is known to be finitely generated. We prove that P(K) is stable, meaning that uniform degree bounds exist for weighted sum of squares representations of elements of P(K). We also extend this last result to the case where K is only virtually compact. The main technical tool for the proof of stability is the archimedean local-global principle. As a consequence of our results we prove that every convex semialgebraic subset of R^2 has a semidefinite representation.Comment: v2: 19 pp (Section 6 is new); v3: 19 pp (small issues fixed); v4: updated and slightly expande

Representation Growth and Rational Singularities of the Moduli Space of Local Systems

We relate the asymptotic representation theory of $SL(d,\mathbb{Z}_p)$ and the singularities of the moduli space of $SL(d)$-local systems on a smooth projective curve, proving new theorems about both. Regarding the former, we prove that, for every d, the number of n-dimensional representations of $SL(d,\mathbb{Z}_p)$ grows slower than $n^{22}$, confirming a conjecture of Larsen and Lubotzky. Regarding the latter, we prove that the moduli space of $SL(d)$-local systems on a smooth projective curve of genus at least 12 has rational singularities. Most of our results apply more generally to semi-simple algebraic groups. For the proof, we study the analytic properties of push forwards of smooth measures under algebraic maps. More precisely, we show that such push forwards have continuous density if the algebraic map is flat and all of its fibers have rational singularities.Comment: preliminary version, comments are welcome. v2. Revised version, now covering all semi simple group