Equality of tropical rank and dimension for tropical linear series

Abstract: The tropical rank of a semimodule of rational functions on a metric graph mirrors the concept of rank in linear algebra. Defined in terms of the maximal number of tropically independent elements within the semimodule, this quantity has remained elusive due to the challenges of computing it in practice. In this note, we establish that the tropical rank is, in fact, precisely equal to the topological dimension of the semimodule, one more than the dimension of the associated linear system of divisors. Moreover, we show that the equality of divisorial and tropical ranks in the definition of tropical linear series is equivalent to the pure dimensionality of the corresponding linear system. We conclude with several complementary results and questions on combinatorial, topological, and computability properties of the tropical rank.