Generic power sum decompositions and bounds for the Waring rank (Q2358825)

The rank of a degree \(d\) homogeneous polynomial \(f\) is the minimum \(r\) for which there is a decomposition \[ f=l_1^{d_1}+\dots+l_r^{d_r} \] into a sum of powers of linear forms. We then write \(\operatorname{rk}(f)=r.\) One can consider the minimal rank \(\operatorname{rk}(r,n)\) of all homogeneous polynomials of degree \(d\) in \(n\) variables. Very little is known about \(\operatorname{rk}(r,n)\) in general: it is only known for \(n\leq 2\), for \(d\leq 2\), and for the special cases \(\operatorname{rk}(3,3)=5\), \(\operatorname{rk}(3,4)=7\), and \(\operatorname{rk}(3,5)=10\). The open rank of a degree \(d\) homogeneous polynomial \(f\), denoted by \(\operatorname{Ork}(f)\), is the minimum of all nonnegative integers \(r\) with the following property: for every Zariski closed, proper subset \(X\) of the space of all linear forms, there exists a decomposition into a sum of powers of linear forms \[ f=l_1^{d_1}+\dots+l_r^{d_r} \] with \(l_1,\dots,l_r\notin X\). The maximum of \(\operatorname{Ork}(f)\) for all homogeneous polynomials of degree \(d\) in \(n\) variables is denoted by \(\operatorname{Ork}(r,n).\) Note that \(\operatorname{rk}(f)\leq \operatorname{Ork}(f)\) for any particular \(f,\) and thus \(\operatorname{rk}(r,n)\leq \operatorname{Ork}(r,n).\) The authors show that \(\operatorname{Ork}(3,4)=8,\) and therefore \(\operatorname{rk}(3,4)\neq \operatorname{Ork}(3,4).\) This is the first example in the literature of \(\operatorname{rk}(r,n)\neq \operatorname{Ork}(r,n).\) The inequality \(\operatorname{Ork}(3,4)\geq 8\) is obtained taking one particular \(f\) and showing that \(\operatorname{rk}(f)\geq 8.\) This is the simple part, most of the paper is dedicated to show that \(\operatorname{Ork}(3,4)\leq 8.\) In order to do this, they show several lemmas for different types of \(f\) and \(X.\)