Test Sets for Nonnegativity of Polynomials Invariant under a Finite Reflection Group

Abstract

A set $S\subset \mathbb{R}^n$ is a nonnegativity witness for a set $U$ of real homogeneous polynomials if $F$ in $U$ is nonnegative on $\mathbb{R}^n$ if and only if it is nonnegative at all points of $S$. We prove that the union of the hyperplanes perpendicular to the elements of a root system $\Phi\subseteq \mathbb{R}^n$ is a witness set for nonnegativity of forms of low degree which are invariant under the reflection group defined by $\Phi$. We prove that our bound for the degree is sharp for all reflection groups which contain multiplication by $-1$. We then characterize subspaces of forms of arbitrarily high degree where this union of hyperplanes is a nonnegativity witness set. Finally we propose a conjectural generalization of Timofte's half-degree principle for finite reflection groups.