On general surfaces defined by an almost linear Pfaffian (Q735049)

It is well known and easy to see that a general surface of degree \(d>1\) in \(\mathbb{P}^3\) is defined as the pfaffian of a \(4\times 4\) skew-symmetric matrix of forms of positive degree with at most one row and column of degree larger than one. The authors call such matrices almost linear. The question dealt with in this article is whether a general surface of degree \(d\) can be defined as the pfaffian of an almost linear skew-symmetric matrix of size \(2\alpha+2\), where \(\alpha\) is a fixed integer. Of course, one needs that \(d\geq \alpha+1\). As mentioned, this can always be done if \(\alpha=1\). In light of this, the authors prove the following surprising result: If \(\alpha\leq 10\), a general surface of degree \(d\geq \alpha+1\) is indeed the pfaffian of the required type. But, if \(\alpha\geq 11\), then it is true if and only if \(\alpha+1\leq d\leq 15\).