Star configurations on generic hypersurfaces (Q402656)

A \textit{star configuration} in a projective space \(\mathbb P^n\) is a subvariety defined by the partial intersections of a set of hyperplanes. More precisely, a general set of hyperplanes \(\ell_1,\dots, \ell_l\) determine the \((l,r)\)-star configuration \(X\) which is the union of all the intersections of \(r\) hyperplanes \(\ell_{i_1}\cap\dots\cap \ell_{i_r}\) among the \(\ell_i\)'s. Star configurations \(X\) have been studied for their combinatorial applications, especially in the case when \(X\) is a finite set. The authors point out that star configurations are fundamental in the study of standard decomposition of homogeneous polynomials. Indeed, a polynomial \(F\) can be written as the sum of decomposable polynomials of type \(L_{i_1}\cdots L_{i_r}\cdot M\), for a fixed choice of \(l\) linear factors \(L_1,\dots,L_l\), if and only if the hypersurface \(F=0\) contains the \((l,r)\)-star configuration defined by the hyperplanes \(L_i=0\). The authors study \(4\)-tuples \((n,d,l,r)\) for which a general hypersurface of degree \(d\) in \(\mathbb P^n\) contains an \((l,r)\)-star configuration. They end up with a classification of these \(4\)-tuples which is complete, at least when \(d\gg 0\). As a consequence, the authors almost completely determine for which values of \(n,d,l,r\) a general homogeneous polynomial of degree \(d\) in \(n+1\) variables can be written as a sum of decomposable polynomials, each containing \(r\) factors among \(l\) fixed linear forms.