Base subsets of symplectic Grassmannians (Q2457933)

The author considers \(2n\)-dimensional vector spaces \(V\) and \(V'\) over fields \(F\) and \(F'\) equipped with non-degenerate symplectic forms, and the corresponding projective spaces \(P\) and \(P'\), as well as the sets \({\mathcal G}_k\) and \({\mathcal G}_k'\) of \(k\)-dimensional isotropic subspaces \((1 \leq k \leq n-1)\). A base \(\{p_1, \dots, p_{2n}\}\) is called symplectic iff for any \(p_i\) there exists a unique \(p_j\) non-orthogonal to \(p_i\). The author proves: (1) If a mapping \(P \to P'\) preserves symplectic bases then (a) it is a strong embedding (i.e. it maps lines to subsets of lines, any line in \(P'\) contains the image of some line of \(P\), and it preserves independence of subsets) and (b) points are orthogonal exactly when their images are. (2) A mapping \({\mathcal G}_k \to {\mathcal G}_k'\) \((1 \leq k \leq n-1)\) which preserves base subsets (i.e. the intersections of the apartments of the associated buildings) is induced by a symplectic embedding of the corresponding projective spaces. For \(k=n-1\) (2) is given in [\textit{M. Pankov}, Beitr. Algebra Geom. 45, No. 2, 389--399 (2004; Zbl 1070.51009)]. Subsets of \({\mathcal G}_k\), which are contained in only one base subset of \({\mathcal G}_k\) are called \textit{exact} by the author. The proof of (2) makes use of combinatorial properties of non exact subsets of \({\mathcal G}_k\). For \(k< n-1\) two different types of maximal \textit{inexact} subsets occur. The adjacency of two subspaces from \({\mathcal G}_k\) (i.e. their intersection is in \({\mathcal G}_{k-1}\)) is characterized in terms of inexact subsets. As a result, preserving base subsets implies preserving adjacency for mappings from \({\mathcal G}_k\) to \({\mathcal G}_k'\). Finally, this implies (2) using arguments in the spirit of \textit{W. L. Chow} [Ann. Math. 50, 32--67 (1949; Zbl 0040.22901)].