Search arXivSearch

arXiv · 2503.11137

Planar tropical caustics: trivalency and convexity

Abstract

Tropical caustic of a convex domain on the plane is a canonically associated tropical analytic curve inside the domain. In this note we give a graphical proof for the classification of its intermediate vertices, implying in particular that they are always trivalent. Apart from that we explain how various known examples of tropical caustics are constructed and discuss the possibility of relaxing the convexity condition for the domain.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Mikhail Shkolnikov. 2025-10-02. Planar tropical caustics: trivalency and convexity. https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.11137

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

G3-Criteria and Applications

The G3-property of a subvariety was introduced by Hironaka-Matsumura, and plays an important role for deducing connectedness and extension results. Unfortunately, it's a rather elusive notion, which is not always easy to establish. Most of the existing work is concentrated on subvarieties of homogeneous varieties. The first goal of this article is to show that mobility assumptions on the subvariety, considered in works of Badescu, Chow, Debarre, Voisin, yield a certain partial positivity property, slightly stronger than G3, previously introduced by the author. Second, we apply the result to prove that, in numerous situations, the splitting of the normal bundle of a smooth two-codimensional subvariety implies that it is a complete intersection.

math.AG

Moduli Stacks of $G$-Curves in Homotopy Theory at Height $p-1$

Let $p$ be odd and $G' = \mathbb{Z}/p \rtimes \mathbb{Z}/(p-1)^2$ the maximal finite subgroup of the Morava stabilizer group at height $p-1$. Inverse Galois theory produces from $G'$ alone a curve $X$, the unique curve of minimal genus with $\operatorname{Aut}(X) \simeq G'$; its ramification, its field of definition and its equation are consequences of the group, not choices. We prove a $G'$-equivariant equivalence between the deformations of $X$ and Lubin--Tate space, so that the Lubin--Tate action of $G'$ is the action of $\operatorname{Aut}(X)$ on deformations of the curve. The proof is a coordinate-free Kodaira--Spencer argument reducing to a single character count. The action becomes explicit: $G'$ acts through $\mathbb{F}_p \rtimes \mathbb{F}_p^\times$ shifting and scaling $p+1$ points on $\mathbb{P}^1$. From this we compute $H^*(G', π_* E_{p-1})$ and its Tate cohomology. One identity, $π^{p-1} = -p$, runs through every section.

math.AG