An exponential lower bound for the degrees of invariants of cubic forms and tensor actions (Q2180892)

The motivation of this paper comes from Geometric Complexity Theory, where bounds for the maximal degree in a minimal homogeneous generating system of certain algebras of invariants of reductive algebraic groups play a significant role. As explained in the introduction, it is of interest to understand which invariant rings have degree bound that is polynomial in the dimension of the underlying representation, and which do not. The authors develop a method by which one can get a lower bound for the maximal degree of a system of generators of a ring of invariants of a reductive group from a similar lower bound for a reductive subgroup (in particular, for a maximal torus). The method is then applied to prove a lower bound that is exponential in the dimension of the underlying representation, for the following two types of degree three representations: (1) the representation of the special linear group on the space of quadruples of cubic forms; (2) the representation of \(\mathrm{SL}(V)\times \mathrm{SL}(W)\times \mathrm{SL}(Z)\) on the tensor product space \(V\otimes W\otimes Z\). The method introduced in the paper relies on the Grosshans principle (called also transfer principle), a criterion for closed orbits using the moment map (generalizing a result of Dadok and Kac), and on some standard facts on torus invariants. The paper works over the base field of complex numbers. Challenges that one has to resolve in order to extend the technique to positive characteristic are also discussed.