An Effective Positivstellensatz over the Rational Numbers for Finite Semialgebraic Sets

Abstract

We study the problem of representing multivariate polynomials with rational coefficients, which are nonnegative and strictly positive on finite semialgebraic sets, using rational sums of squares. We focus on the case of finite semialgebraic sets S defined by equality constraints, generating a zero-dimensional ideal I, and by nonnegative sign constraints. First, we obtain existential results. We prove that a strictly positive polynomial f with coefficients in a subfield K of R has a representation in terms of weighted Sums-of-Squares with coefficients in this field, even if the ideal I is not radical. We generalize this result to the case where f is nonnegative on S and (f ) + (I : f ) = 1. We deduce that nonnegative polynomials with coefficients in K can be represented in terms of Sum-of-Squares of polynomials with coefficients in K, when the ideal is radical. Second, we obtain degree bounds for such Sums-of-Squares representations, which depend linearly on the regularity of the ideal and the degree of the defining equations, when they form a graded basis. Finally, we analyze the bit complexity of the Sums-of-Squares representations for polynomials with coefficients in Q, in the case the ideal is radical. The bitsize bounds are quadratic or cubic in the Bezout bound, and linear in the regularity, generalizing and improving previous results obtained for special zero dimensional ideals. As an application in the context of polynomial optimization, we retrieve and improve results on the finite convergence and exactness of the moment/Sums-of-Squares hierarchy.