On the embeddability of polar spaces (Q1205451)

Polar spaces were introduced by Veldkamp in 1959 in order to axiomatize the set of absolute subspaces of a projective space with a polarity. Nowadays polar spaces are defined as point-line geometries satisfying Buekenhout and Shult's ``one or all'' axiom: For each point \(p\) and line \(\ell\), the point \(p\) is collinear with one or all points on \(\ell\). The authors show that every nondegenerate polar space of rank at least 4 with at least three points per line can be embedded in a projective space. Together with a forthcoming paper by the second author [Semiquadratic sets and embedded polar spaces, preprint], this provides an elementary proof that any such polar space is of classical type, i.e. associated with a polarity or a pseudoquadratic form. The proof makes heavy use of geometric hyperplanes and, unlike most other approaches to the subject, does not depend on Veldkamp's work.