We develop notions of valuations on a semiring, with a view toward extending the classical theory of abstract nonsingular curves and discrete valuation rings to this general algebraic setting; the novelty of our approach lies in the implementation of hyperrings to yield a new definition (\emph{ hyperfield valuation}). In particular, we classify valuations on the semifield $\mathbb{ Q}_{ max}$ (the max-plus semifield of rational numbers) and also valuations on the `function field' $\mathbb{ Q}_{ max}(T)$ (the semifield of rational functions over $\mathbb{ Q}_{ max}$) which are trivial on $\mathbb{ Q}_{ max}$. We construct and study the abstract curve associated to $\mathbb{ Q}_{ max}(T)$ in relation to the projective line $\mathbb{ P}^1_{ \mathbb{ F}_1}$ over the field with one element $\mathbb{ F}_{ 1}$ and the tropical projective line. Finally, we discuss possible connections to tropical curves and Berkovich's theory of analytic spaces.
Categories: math.AG math.AC