The Multivariate Schwartz--Zippel Lemma

Abstract

Motivated by applications in combinatorial geometry, we consider the following question: Let $\lambda=(\lambda_1,\lambda_2,\ldots,\lambda_m)$ be an $m$-partition of a positive integer $n$, $S_i \subseteq \mathbb{C}^{\lambda_i}$ be finite sets, and let $S:=S_1 \times S_2 \times \cdots \times S_m \subset \mathbb{C}^n$ be the multigrid defined by $S_i$. Suppose $p$ is an $n$-variate degree $d$ polynomial. How many zeros does $p$ have on $S$? We first develop a multivariate generalization of the combinatorial nullstellensatz that certifies existence of a point $t \in S$ so that $p(t) \neq 0$. Then we show that a natural multivariate generalization of the DeMillo--Lipton--Schwartz--Zippel lemma holds, except for a special family of polynomials that we call $\lambda$-reducible. This yields a simultaneous generalization of the Szemerédi--Trotter theorem and the Schwartz--Zippel lemma into higher dimensions, and has applications in incidence geometry. Finally, we develop a symbolic algorithm that identifies certain $\lambda$-reducible polynomials. More precisely, our symbolic algorithm detects polynomials that include a Cartesian product of hypersurfaces in their zero set. It is likely that using Chow forms the algorithm can be generalized to handle arbitrary $\lambda$-reducible polynomials, which we leave as an open problem.