Exploring tropical differential equations

The purpose of this paper is fourfold. The first is to develop the theory of tropical differential algebraic geometry from scratch; the second is to present the tropical fundamental theorem for differential algebraic geometry, and show how it may be used to extract combinatorial information about the set of power series solutions to a given system of differential equations, both in the archimedean (complex analytic) and in the non-archimedean (e.g., $p$-adic) settings. A third and subsidiary aim is to show how tropical differential algebraic geometry is a natural application of semiring theory, and in so doing, contribute to the valuative study of differential algebraic geometry. Finally, the methods we have used in formulating and proving the fundamental theorem reveal new examples of non-classical valuations that merit further study in their own right.