Expressing forms as a sum of Pfaffians (Q2809905)

Let \(F=0\) define a hypersurface \(X\subset \mathbb{P}^n\). The existence of a skew symmetric matrix \(M\) whose Pfaffian is \(F\) is equivalent to the existence of a rank 2 arithmetically Cohen-Macaulay (aCM) sheaf on \(X\). If \(n=1\), it is trivial to see that any such form is the Pfaffian of a suitable matrix. The case \(n=2\) was dealt with by \textit{A. Beauville} [Mich. Math. J. 48, 39--64 (2000; Zbl 1076.14534)], who showed that a general such form is indeed a Pfaffian. He uses the above equivalence and constructs aCM rank 2 bundles on general plane curves. He also showed that if \(n=3\), then a general form of degree at least sixteen can not be expressed as a Pfaffian of a matrix with linear entries. Later, the reviewer et al. showed that for \(n=4\), general forms degree at least six can not be expressed as such a Pfaffian even with arbitrary degree entries in the matrix and similar results for larger \(n\) [Comment. Math. Helv. 82, No. 4, 829--843 (2007; Zbl 1131.14047); Int. Math. Res. Not. 2007, No. 8, Article ID rnm025, 10 p. (2007; Zbl 1132.14040)].NEWLINENEWLINEIn the article under review, the author studies whether a general form can be expressed as a sum of Pfaffians and if so, what is the smallest number of Pfaffians required. As a particular case, the author proves that a general form of degree \(d\) in \(n=3\) can be expressed as the sum of at most \(d\) Pfaffians of linear matrices. In fact, the article deals with matrices having non-linear entries too in a uniform manner, in particular, generalizing the result of Beauville quoted above for \(n=2\).