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Assume we have a real multilinear polynomial $P : \mathbb{R}^n \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ for which we know $|P(X_1,\dots,X_n)| \leq 1$ whenever $X_1, \dots, X_n \in \{-1,1\}$ (or even $X_1, \dots, X_n \in [-1,1]$). Here, "multilinear" means that each variable cannot be raised to a power greater than 1 in each monomial (for instance $4x_1x_2+x_2x_3$ is multilinear, but $4x_1x_2+x_2x_3^2$ not).

Let $Q$ be a polynomial obtained from $P$ by removing some of its monomials. I would like to prove $|Q(X_1,\dots,X_n)| \leq 1$ whenever $X_1, \dots, X_n \in \{-1,1\}$, or find a counterexample... We can assume that $P$ is homogeneous in a first time (all the monomials have the same degree).

More generally, I'm interested in any result that deals with "removing monomials from a polynomial" (does it have a name?)

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    By multilinear do you mean that $P$ has the form $P(x_1,\dots,x_n)=c_1x_1+\dots+c_nx_n$ for some $c_i\in\mathbb{R}$? – 2017-01-04
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    no, I mean that each variable cannot be raised to a power greater than 1 in each monomial. For instance, $4x_1x_2 + x_2x_3$ is multilinear, but $4x_1x_2 + x_2x_3^2$ is not. – 2017-01-04
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    And you do not assume that $P$ is homogeneous I guess? – 2017-01-04
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    we can assume $P$ to be homogeneous in a first time :) – 2017-01-04
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    ...and even $|P(X)| \leq 1$ for all $X \in [-1,1]^n$ (not just $\{-1,1\}^n$) – 2017-01-04

2 Answers 2

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I got a counterexample in case of non-homogeneous polynomials. Take $P=(X+Y+Z-XYZ)/2$ and $Q = (X+Y+Z)/2$. Then $P$ is bounded by $1$ on $\{-1,1\}^3$ but $Q(1,1,1) = 3/2 > 1$.

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For a homogeneous counterexample, let

$$f(w,x,y,z) = \frac{wy}{2} + \frac{wz}{2} + \frac{xz}{2} - \frac{xy}{2}$$

$$g(w,x,y,z) = \frac{wz}{2} + \frac{xz}{2} - \frac{xy}{2}$$

Then $|f(w,x,y,z)| = 1$, for all $(w,x,y,z) \in \{-1,1\}^4$, but $g(1,1,-1,1) = 3/2$.