Two results on the size of spectrahedral descriptions

A spectrahedron is a set defined by a linear matrix inequality. Given a spectrahedron we are interested in the question of the smallest possible size $r$ of the matrices in the description by linear matrix inequalities. We show that for the $n$-dimensional unit ball $r$ is at least $\frac{n}{2}$. If $n=2^k+1$, then we actually have $r=n$. The same holds true for any compact convex set in $\mathbb{R}^n$ defined by a quadratic polynomial. Furthermore, we show that for a convex region in $\mathbb{R}^3$ whose algebraic boundary is smooth and defined by a cubic polynomial we have that $r$ is at least five. More precisely, we show that if $A,B,C$ are real symmetric matrices such that $f(x,y,z)=\det(I+A x+B y+C z)$ is a cubic polynomial, the surface in complex projective three-space with affine equation $f(x,y,z)=0$ is singular.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, minor mistakes correcte

A Note on the Hyperbolicity Cone of the Specialized V\'amos Polynomial

The specialized V\'amos polynomial is a hyperbolic polynomial of degree four in four variables with the property that none of its powers admits a definite determinantal representation. We will use a heuristical method to prove that its hyperbolicity cone is a spectrahedron.Comment: Notable easier arguments and minor correction

The separating semigroup of a real curve

We introduce the separating semigroup of a real algebraic curve of dividing type. The elements of this semigroup record the possible degrees of the covering maps obtained by restricting separating morphisms to the real part of the curve. We also introduce the hyperbolic semigroup which consists of elements of the separating semigroup arising from morphisms which are compositions of a linear projection with an embedding of the curve to some projective space. We completely determine both semigroups in the case of maximal curves. We also prove that any embedding of a real curve to projective space of sufficiently high degree is hyperbolic. Using these semigroups we show that the hyperbolicity locus of an embedded curve is in general not connected.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, published version, comments welcome

Interlacing Ehrhart Polynomials of Reflexive Polytopes

It was observed by Bump et al. that Ehrhart polynomials in a special family exhibit properties similar to the Riemann {\zeta} function. The construction was generalized by Matsui et al. to a larger family of reflexive polytopes coming from graphs. We prove several conjectures confirming when such polynomials have zeros on a certain line in the complex plane. Our main new method is to prove a stronger property called interlacing