External flats to varieties in \(\mathbb{P}\mathbb{G}(\bigwedge^2(V))\) over finite fields (Q1381331)

Let \(V\) be an \(n\)-dimensional vector space over a field \(K\). Let \(\{v_1,\dots,v_n\}\) be a basis of \(V\). The exterior square of \(V\), denoted by \(V_2=\bigwedge^2(V)\) has a basis \(\{v_{ij}=v_i\wedge v_j\mid 1\leq i<j\leq n\}\). Set \(k=[1/2n]\) and let \(1\leq t\leq k\). A vector \(x\in V_2\) has rank \(t\) if there exist independent vectors \(u_1,u_2,\dots u_{2t-1},u_{2t}\in V\) such that \(x=u_1\wedge u_2+u_3\wedge u_4+\dots+u_{2t-1}\wedge u_{2t}\). A point \(\langle x\rangle\) in \(\text{PG}(V_2)\) has rank \(t\) if rank(\(x\))\(=2\). The author proves that the set \(Z_t\) of all points \(\langle x\rangle\in \text{PG}(V_2)\) with rank(\(\langle x\rangle\))\(\leq t\) forms a projective variety. Moreover, if \(2t<n\), such a variety can be defined as the zeros of a set of \(n\choose {2t+2}\) homogeneous polynomials of degree \(t+1\). For a fixed \(t\) a projective subspace \(\text{PG}(W)\) of \(\text{PG}(V_2)\) is said an external flat to the variety \(Z_t\) if \(\text{PG}(W)\cap Z_t=\emptyset\). The author is concerned with giving upper bounds on the dimension of a flat of \(\text{PG}(V_2)\) which is external to \(Z_t\), when \(K\) is a Galois field \(\text{GF}(q)\). In particular, the author formulates the following conjecture: assume \(\text{PG}(W)\) is a flat of \(\text{PG}(V_2)\) external to \(Z_t\). Then dim\((V_2/W)\geq tn\). \textit{P. Delsarte} and \textit{J. M. Goethals} [Alternating bilinear forms over \(\text{GF}(q)\), J. Comb. Theory, Ser. A 19, 26-50 (1975; Zbl 0343.05015)] considered the space \(B(V)\) of alternating bilinear forms on \(V\) over \(\text{GF}(q)\) and defined an \((n,t)\) set to be a subset \(Y\) of \(B(V)\) with the property that rank(\(A-B)\geq 2t\), for each \(A\neq B\in Y\). Actually an upper bound they found implies the above conjecture when \(n\) is odd. In some particular cases the author gets sharp bounds improving the Delsarte and Goethals bounds, furnishing some examples. Nice applications of the above results are the proof of the existence of a projective embedding in small-dimensional projective spaces of the Lie incidence geometry \(A_{n-1}(q)\simeq {\mathcal G}_{n-1,1}(q)\) , and other geometric constructions of caps on \({\mathcal G}_{n-1,1}\) and \(\text{PG}(2n,q)\).