On higher Pythagoras numbers of polynomial rings

Abstract: We show that the higher Pythagoras numbers for the polynomial ring are infinite $p_{2s}(K[x_1,x_2,\dots,x_n])=\infty$ provided that $K$ is a formally real field, $n\geq2$ and $s\geq 1$. This almost fully solves an old question \cite[Problem 8]{cldr1982}. The remaining open cases are precisely $n=1$ and $s>1$. Moreover, we study in detail the cone of binary octics that are sums of fourth powers of quadratic forms. We determine its facial structure as well as its algebraic boundary. This can also be seen as sums of fourth powers of linear forms on the second Veronese of $\mathbb{P}^1$. As a result, we disprove a conjecture of Reznick \cite[Conjecture 7.1]{reznick2011} which states that if a binary form $f$ is a sum of fourth powers, then it can be written as $f=f_1^2+f_2^2$ for some nonnegative forms $f_1,f_2$.