A bound for canonical dimension of the (semi)spinor groups (Q2496934)

Let \(X\) be a smooth algebraic variety over a field \(F\). A field \(L \supset F\) is called a splitting field of \(X\) if \(X(L)\neq\varphi\). A splitting field \(L\) is called generic if for any splitting field \(L'\), there exists a place \(L\to L'\). The canonical dimension \(\text{cd}(X)\) is defined to be the minimum of transcendence degrees of generic splitting fields of \(X\). For an algebraic group \(G\) over \(F\), the canonical dimension \(\text{cd}(G)\) of \(G\), as introduced in [\textit{G. Berhuy} and \textit{Z. Reichstein}, Adv. Math. 198, 128--171 (2005; Zbl 1097.11018)], is the maximum of canonical dimensions of \(G\)-torsors, defined over field extensions of \(F\). The main result of this article establishes that \(\text{cd(Spin}_{2n+1})\leq n(n-1)/2\). When \(n+1\) is a power of 2, this upper bound is shown to coincide with the lower bound, and as a result the author obtains the precise value \(\text{cd (Spin}_{2n +1})=\text{cd(Spin}_{2n+2})=n(n-1)/2\). The proof employs the theory of nonnegative intersections, duality between Schubert varieties, and the Pieri formula for varieties of maximal totally isotropic subspaces.