Hilbert's 17-th problem for sums of 2n-th powers.
Homology classes of real algebraic sets
There is a large research program focused on comparison between algebraic and topological categories, whose origins go back to 1952 and the celebrated work of J. Nash on real algebraic manifolds. The present paper is a contribution to this program. It investigates the homology and cohomology classes represented by real algebraic sets. In particular, such classes are studied on algebraic models of smooth manifolds.