A tropical version of Martens' theorem for metric graphs

Abstract

We study the conjecture stated by Jensen and Len on a tropical version on Martens' theorem via the Brill--Noether rank of a tropical curve. We recall Coppens' counterexample of Martens-special chain of cycles, and we generalize the construction defining another class of graphs, Martens-special trees of cycles, for which the conjecture does not hold in a similar setting. These are not the only counterexamples. However, we prove that the conjecture holds for all metric graphs with a stricter assumption on the degree in the Brill--Noether rank.