\documentclass{lecture} \begin{document} \section{The real Nullstellensatz} When $k$ is algebraically closed, Hilbert's Nullstellensatz implies $\mathcal{I}(\mathcal{V}_{k^{n}}(I)) = \sqrt{I}$ for all ideal $I \subseteq k[T_1, \ldots, T_n]$. In this section we try to compute $\mathcal{I}(\mathcal{V}_{k^{n}}(I))$ when $k$ is a real-closed field. \begin{definition}[] Let $(k, \le)$ be an ordered field and let $A$ be a commutative $k$-algebra with unit. An ideal $I \subseteq A$ is called a \emph{real ideal} if it satisfies the following condition: If $\lambda_1, \ldots, \lambda_r > 0$ in $k$ and $a_1, \ldots, a_r \in A$ satisfy \[ \sum_{j=1}^{r} \lambda_j a_j^2 \in I ,\] then $a_j \in I$ for all $j$. $A$ is a \emph{real algebra} if the zero ideal in $A$ is a real ideal. \end{definition} \begin{satz} Let $(k, \le)$ be an ordered field and let $Z \subseteq k^{n}$ be a subset. Then the ideal $\mathcal{I}(Z)$ is a real ideal. \end{satz} \begin{proof} If $Z = \emptyset$, then $\mathcal{I}(Z) = \mathcal{I}(\emptyset) = k[T_1, \ldots, T_n]$ is a real ideal. Now assume $Z \neq \emptyset$. In this case, if $P_1, \ldots, P_r \in k[T_1, \ldots, T_n]$ and $\lambda_1, \ldots, \lambda_r > 0$ in $k$ are such that $\sum_{j=1}^{r} \lambda_j P_j^2 \in \mathcal{I}(Z)$, then for all $x \in Z$, $\sum_{j=1}^{r} \lambda_j P_j^2(x) = 0$ in $k$. Since $k$ is an ordered field and $\lambda_j > 0$ for all $j$, this implies that for all $j$, $P_j(x) = 0$, i.e. $P_j \in \mathcal{I}(Z)$. \end{proof} Recall that if $k$ is an arbitrary field and $I \subsetneq k[T_1, \ldots, T_n]$ is a proper ideal, then finding a common zero $x \in L^{n}$ to all polynomials $P \in I$ for some extension $L$ of $k$ is equivalent to finding a homomorphism of $k$-algebras \[ \varphi\colon k[T_1, \ldots, T_n]/I \longrightarrow L .\] Indeed, the correspondence is obtained by sending such a $\varphi$ to $x = (x_1, \ldots, x_n)$ where $x_i = \varphi(T_i \text{ mod } I)$. The basic result should be about giving sufficient conditions for such homomorphisms to exist. \begin{theorem}[Real Nullstellensatz I] Let $(k, \le )$ be an ordered field and let $k^{(r)}$ be the real closure of $k$. Let $I \subseteq k[T_1, \ldots, T_n]$ be a real ideal. Then there exists a homomorphism of $k$-algebras \[ k[T_1, \ldots, T_n] / I \longrightarrow k^{(r)} .\] In particular, if $I \subsetneq k[T_1, \ldots, T_n]$ is a proper real ideal, then $\mathcal{V}_{k^{r}}(I) \neq \emptyset$. \label{thm:real-nullstellensatz} \end{theorem} Let $(k, \le)$ be an ordered field. For the proof of \ref{thm:real-nullstellensatz}, we need two lemmata: \begin{lemma} Let $I \subseteq k[T_1, \ldots, T_n]$ be a real ideal. Then $\sqrt{I} = I$. Moreover, if $\mathfrak{p} \supset I$ is a minimal prime ideal containing $I$, then $\mathfrak{p}$ is real. \end{lemma} \begin{lemma} Let $\mathfrak{p} \subseteq k[T_1, \ldots, T_n]$ be a prime ideal. Then the fraction field \[ K \coloneqq \operatorname{Frac}\left( k[T_1, \ldots, T_n]/\mathfrak{p} \right) \] is a real field if and only if the prime ideal $\mathfrak{p}$ is real. In that case $K$ can be ordered in a way that extends the order of $k$. \end{lemma} \end{document}