On function compositions that are polynomials

Abstract

For a polynomial map $\tupBold{f} : k^n \to k^m$ ($k$ a field), we investigate those polynomials $g \in k[t_1,\ldots, t_n]$ that can be written as a composition $g = h \circ \tupBold{f}$, where $h: k^m \to k$ is an arbitrary function. In the case that $k$ is algebraically closed of characteristic~$0$ and $\tupBold{f}$ is surjective, we will show that $g = h \circ \tupBold{f}$ implies that $h$ is a polynomial.