Elementary proof of the B. and M. Shapiro conjecture for rational functions

We give a new elementary proof of the following theorem: if all critical points of a rational function g belong to the real line then there exists a fractional linear transformation L such that L(g) is a real rational function. Then we interpret the result in terms of Fuchsian differential equations whose general solution is a polynomial and in terms of electrostatics.Comment: 21 page

On metrics of curvature 1 with four conic singularities on tori and on the sphere

We discuss conformal metrics of curvature 1 on tori and on the sphere, with four conic singularities whose angles are multiples of pi/2. Besides some general results we study in detail the family of such symmetric metrics on the sphere, with angles (pi/2,3pi/2,pi/2,3pi/2).Comment: 25 pages, 5 figure

Approximation of definable sets by compact families, and upper bounds on homotopy and homology

We prove new upper bounds on homotopy and homology groups of o-minimal sets in terms of their approximations by compact o-minimal sets. In particular, we improve the known upper bounds on Betti numbers of semialgebraic sets defined by quantifier-free formulae, and obtain for the first time a singly exponential bound on Betti numbers of sub-Pfaffian sets.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figure

Some lower bounds in the B. and M. Shapiro conjecture for flag varieties

The B. and M. Shapiro conjecture stated that all solutions of the Schubert Calculus problems associated with real points on the rational normal curve should be real. For Grassmannians, it was proved by Mukhin, Tarasov and Varchenko. For flag varieties, Sottile found a counterexample and suggested that all solutions should be real under certain monotonicity conditions. In this paper, we compute lower bounds on the number of real solutions for some special cases of the B. and M. Shapiro conjecture for flag varieties, when Sottile's monotonicity conditions are not satisfied.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, see also http://www.math.purdue.edu/~agabrie

Topological complexity of the relative closure of a semi-Pfaffian couple

Gabrielov introduced the notion of relative closure of a Pfaffian couple as an alternative construction of the o-minimal structure generated by Khovanskii's Pfaffian functions. In this paper, use the notion of format (or complexity) of a Pfaffian couple to derive explicit upper-bounds for the homology of its relative closure. Keywords: Pfaffian functions, fewnomials, o-minimal structures, Betti numbers.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure. v3: Proofs and bounds have been slightly improve

Zeros of eigenfunctions of some anharmonic oscillators

We study eigenfunctions of Schrodinger operators -y"+Py on the real line with zero boundary conditions, whose potentials P are real even polynomials with positive leading coefficients. For quartic potentials we prove that all zeros of all eigenfunctions belong to the union of the real and imaginary axes. Similar result holds for sextic potentials and their eigenfunctions with finitely many complex zeros. As a byproduct we obtain a complete classification of such eigenfunctions of sextic potentials.Comment: 22 pages 8 figure