On orthogonal polar spaces (Q6173932)

Let \(P\) be a non-degenerate polar space. The anisotropic gap of \(P\) introduced by \textit{I. Cardinali} et al. [Adv. Geom. 21, No. 4, 515--539 (2021; Zbl 1476.51001)] measures how far \(P\) deviates from being generated by a frame (in the sense of \textit{A. Pasini} [Diagram geometries. Oxford: Clarendon Press (1994; Zbl 0813.51002)] and \textit{F. Buekenhout} and \textit{A. M. Cohen} [Diagram geometry. Related to classical groups and buildings. Berlin: Springer (2013; Zbl 1284.51001)]). In the paper under review, the authors prove the following intrinsic characterization of orthogonal polar spaces (Corollary 1.3): An embedded polar space \(P\) is orthogonal if and only if the hyperbolic lines of every subspace of \(P\) generated by a frame consist of exactly two points. Moreover, the authors define the elliptic and the parabolic gap of \(P\), and they describe (in Theorem 1.7) these two cardinalities as intrinsic invariants of embeddable polar spaces \(P\) (without appealing to the embedding).