Tropical representations and valuated matroids

Abstract

We explore several facets of tropical subrepresentations of a linear representation of a group over the tropical semifield $\mathbb{T}$. A key role in the study of tropical subrepresentations is played by two types of modules over a semiring: weakly free and quasi-free modules. We also investigate subgroups of $\text{GL}_n(K)$ for $K=\mathbb{T}$, $ \mathbb{R}_{\geq 0}$, and automorphisms of weakly free modules and tropical prevarieties defined by tropical linear equations. As an application of our results, we provide an intrinsic description of tropical subrepresentation via certain quasi-free modules, and prove that a tropical subrepresentation is equivalent to a valuated matroidal representation.