2025/10/09 by T.S. Chin, Chin, Tracy, Qin, Daniel
Computer Science · Mathematics · #Advanced Combinatorial Mathematics #Combinatorics (math.CO) #FOS: Mathematics #Homotopy and Cohomology in Algebraic Topology #Polynomial and algebraic computation
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2510.07819
openalex publication_date 2025/10/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/11 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We study the class of Lorentzian symmetric polynomials and Lorentzian symmetric functions, which are defined to be symmetric functions for which every truncation of variables is Lorentzian. Similar to the space of Lorentzian polynomials, we show that the space of Lorentzian symmetric polynomials is homeomorphic to a closed Euclidean ball. Our main result is a reduction scheme that significantly reduces the complexity of testing for Lorentzianity. Using this method, we provide explicit semialgebraic descriptions of the spaces of Lorentzian symmetric polynomials and functions for degrees up to six. These techniques can also be applied to simplify the proofs to known cases of Lorentzian symmetric functions. We conclude by showing that some natural symmetric operators fail to preserve Lorentzianity which in turn highlights an inherent tension between symmetry in variables and the Lorentzian property.