Spaces of generators for matrix algebras with involution

Abstract: Let

k

be an algebraically closed field of characteristic different from 2. Up to isomorphism, the algebra

o p e r a t o r n a m e {M a t}_{n i m e s n} (k)

can be endowed with a

k

-linear involution in one way if

n

is odd and in two ways if

n

is even. In this paper, we consider

r

-tuples

such that the entries of

fail to generate

o p e r a t o r n a m e {M a t}_{n i m e s n} (k)

as an algebra with involution. We show that the locus of such

r

-tuples forms a closed subvariety

Z (r; V)

of

o p e r a t o r n a m e {M a t}_{n i m e s n} (k)^{r}

that is not irreducible. We describe the irreducible components and we calculate the dimension of the largest component of

Z (r; V)

in all cases. This gives a numerical answer to the question of how generic it is for an

r

-tuple

(a_{1}, d o t s, a_{r})

of elements in

o p e r a t o r n a m e {M a t}_{n i m e s n} (k)

to generate it as an algebra with involution.

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