Computations and equations for Segre-Grassmann hypersurfaces (Q266502)

The authors study equations for some varieties in the space of partially anti-symmetric tensors, over the complex field. Partially anti-symmetric tensors fill a space \(\mathbb P^N\) that can be geometrically defined as the embedding space of a Segre product \(\mathbb P^n\times\mathbb G(a,b)\), where \(\mathbb G(a,b)\) is the Grassmannian of linear subspaces of projective dimension \(a\) in \(\mathbb P^b\). For such tensors, \textit{H. Abo} and \textit{J. Wan} [Linear Algebra Appl. 439, No. 8, 2330--2349 (2013; Zbl 1310.14042)] found that in some cases the natural expectation for the generic rank fails, in the sense that tensors of the expected generic (border) rank fill a hypersurface \(X\), instead of the whole space \(\mathbb P^N\). The authors' main task is the computation of the degree of the Abo-Wan hyperurfaces \(X\). By means of the computer algebra package \texttt{BERTINI}, they are able to compute the degree in several numerical cases. Furthermore, the authors provide an explicit determinantal equation for the hypersurface of tensors of (border) rank \(2l+2\), in the span of the Segre product \(\mathbb P^2\times \mathbb G(1, 4l+2)\), for all \(l\geq 1\).