Ideal Gårding polynomials

Abstract

We introduce ideal Gårding polynomials, a convexity-enhanced subclass of Gårding polynomials whose Gårding components are recursively convex under partial differentiation. This class strictly contains real stable polynomials and, after translation and homogenization, lies in the Lorentzian class. Our main result is that ideal Gårding polynomials still admit a robust structure theory despite this additional convexity: they are preserved under polarization, satisfy natural closure properties, and support a linear preserver theory. A key contribution of this paper is a universal model for univariate Gårding polynomials, described by monotone root sequences and equivalently by volume polynomials of Pitman--Stanley polytopes. We establish quotient concavity, and Newton--Maclaurin type inequalities, which leads to the polarization theorem, and suggests further connections with convex geometry and Lorentzian polynomials.