Linear bounds for levels of stable rationality (Q424069)

Let \(V\) be a generically free linear representation of a linear algebraic group \(G\). Whether or not the quotient space \(V/G\) is rational is an old and open question. The article under review is hence devoted to the study of levels of stable rationality of such quotient spaces: \(V/G\) is said to be stably rational of level \(N\) if \(V/G\times \mathbb{P}^N\) is rational. If \(G\) is a group running through one of the series of simple groups of type \(A_r\), \(B_r\), \(C_r\), \(D_r\), or \(G_2\), bounds on levels of stable rationality of \(V/G\) are known. For instance, since \(\mathrm{SL}_n(\mathbb{C})\) and \(\mathrm{Sp}_{2n}(\mathbb{C})\) are special groups, \(V/\mathrm{SL}_n(\mathbb{C})\times\mathbb{P}^{n^2-1}\) and \(V/\mathrm{Sp}_{2n}(\mathbb{C})\times\mathbb{P}^{2n^2+n}\) are rational. The main results of this article improve these bounds. A main theorem is the following: for any \(n\) and any generically free irreducible \(\mathrm{SL}_n\)-representation \(V\), \(V/\mathrm{SL}_n\) is stably rational of level \(n\). The proof proceeds by induction on the rank \(n\). Better bounds on levels of stable rationality of the groups \(\mathrm{Sp}_{2n}(\mathbb{C})\), \(\mathrm{SO}_{n}(\mathbb{C})\), \(\mathrm{O}_{n}(\mathbb{C})\), and \(\mathrm{G}_2\) are also given, under some weak assumptions on the representations.