On the Real Zeros of Positive Semidefinite Biquadratic Forms

Abstract

For a positive semidefinite biquadratic forms F in (3, 3) variables, we prove that, if F has a finite number but at least 7 real zeros 𝒵(F), then it is not a sum of squares. We show also that if F has at least 11 zeros, then it has infinitely many real zeros and it is a sum of squares. It can be seen as the counterpart for biquadratic forms as the results of Choi, Lam, and Reznick for positive semidefinite ternary sextics. We introduce and compute some of the numbers BB n, m which are set to be equal to sup |𝒵(F)| where F ranges over all the positive semidefinite biquadratic forms F in (n, m) variables such that |𝒵(F)| < ∞. We also recall some old constructions of positive semidefinite biquadratic forms which are not sums of squares and we give some new families of examples.