Constants and Darboux Polynomials for Tensor Products of Polynomial Algebras with Derivations

Abstract

Let d ₁ : k[X] → k[X] and d ₂ : k[Y] → k[Y] be k-derivations, where k[X] ? k[x ₁,…,x _n ], k[Y] ? k[y ₁,…,y _m ] are polynomial algebras over a field k of characteristic zero. Denote by d ₁ ⊕ d ₂ the unique k-derivation of k[X, Y] such that d| _k[X] = d ₁ and d| _k[Y] = d ₂. We prove that if d ₁ and d ₂ are positively homogeneous and if d ₁ has no nontrivial Darboux polynomials, then every Darboux polynomial of d ₁ ⊕ d ₂ belongs to k[Y] and is a Darboux polynomial of d ₂. We prove a similar fact for the algebra of constants of d ₁ ⊕ d ₂ and present several applications of our results.