Algebraic loops, braids, and tropicalization

Let $Y$ be a smooth complex algebraic variety. We develop a tropical framework for studying algebraic loops, i.e., free homotopy classes in $Y^{\mathrm{an}}$ associated with formal loops $\mathrm{Spec}\, \mathbb{C}(\!(t)\!)\to Y$. When $Y$ is very affine, every formal loop determines an integral poi