Solving systems of polynomial inequalities over a real closed field in subexponential time

Let _m= (₁,..., _m) denote an ordered field, where _i+1>0 is infinitesimal relative to the elements of _i, 0 < –i < m (by definition, ₀= ). Given a system of inequalities f₁ > 0, ..., f_s > 0, f_s+1 0, ..., f_k 0, where f_{j m} X₁,..., X_n] are polynomials such that, and the absolute value of any integer occurring in the coefficients of the f_js is at most 2^M. An algorithm is constructed which tests the above system of inequalities for solvability over the real closure of _m in polynomial time with respect to M, ((d)ⁿd₀)^n+m. In the case _m=, the algorithm explicitly constructs a family of real solutions of the system (provided the latter is consistent). Previously known algorithms for this problem had complexity of the order ofM(d d ₀ ^{m 2U(n)} .Translated from Zapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov Leningradskogo Otdeleniya Maternaticheskogo Instituta im. V. A. Steklova Akad. Nauk SSSR, Vol. 174, pp. 3–36, 1988.