Biquadratic SOS Rank and Augmented Zarankiewicz Number

Abstract

This paper introduces the concepts of the augmented Zarankiewicz number $z_A(m,n)$ and the limited augmented Zarankiewicz number $z_L(m,n)$, which are natural combinatorial extensions of the classical Zarankiewicz number. These numbers arise from augmented bipartite graphs that may contain both standard edges (1-edges) and pairs of edges representing squares of binomials (2-edges). The main theoretical result establishes the inequality chain $\mathrm{BSR}(m,n)\ge z_A(m,n)\ge z_L(m,n)\ge z(m,n)$, linking the maximum biquadratic sum-of-squares (SOS) rank to these extremal graph parameters. We determine the exact values of $z_L(m,n)$ for the cases $(m,2)$, $(3,3)$, $(4,3)$ and $(4,4)$, and provide new lower bounds for the cases $(5,3)$, $(5,4)$, and $(5,5)$. These results yield improved lower bounds for the maximum SOS rank of biquadratic forms, demonstrating that $z_L(m,n)$ can exceed the classical Zarankiewicz number, thereby offering a refined combinatorial perspective on the SOS rank problem.