What is...?

In the 1970s, Viro's method paved an important path in the study of the topology of real algebraic varieties and became a precursor to tropical geometry. This method involves subdividing an integer polytope and using the information from each of its pieces to 'glue' them together, thereby gaining insights into the union. A notable special case is the so-called 'Combinatorial Patchwork.' In this talk, I will provide an overview of the history of the study of the topology of real plane curves, which, for degree 6, corresponds to the 16th Hilbert's problem.