Related papers: Common Slots of Bilinear and Quadratic Pfister For…
In this note, we prove the existence of a set of $n$-fold Pfister forms of cardinality $2^n$ over $\mathbb{C}(x_1,\dots,x_n)$ which do not share a common $(n-1)$-fold factor. This gives a negative answer to a question raised by Becher. The…
Given a field $F$ of characteristic 2, we prove that if every three quadratic $n$-fold Pfister forms have a common quadratic $(n-1)$-fold Pfister factor then $I_q^{n+1} F=0$. As a result, we obtain that if every three quaternion algebras…
The generic quadratic form of even dimension n with trivial discriminant over an arbitrary field of characteristic different from 2 containing a square root of -1 can be written in the Witt ring as a sum of 2-fold Pfister forms using n-2…
We study the necessary conditions for sets of quadratic $n$-fold Pfister forms to have a common $(n-1)$-fold Pfister factor. For any set $S$ of $n$-fold Pfister forms generating a subgroup of $I_q^n F/I_q^{n+1} F$ of order $2^s$ in which…
We associate an $(n_1+\dots+n_t-k(t-1))$-fold Pfister form to any $t$-tuple of $k$-linked Pfister forms of dimensions $2^{n_1},\dots,2^{n_t}$, and prove its invariance under the different symbol presentations of the forms with a common…
For certain types of quadratic forms lying in the n-th power of the fundamental ideal, we compute upper bounds and where possible exact values for the minimal number of general n-fold Pfister forms, that are needed to write the Witt class…
Let $F$ be a field. Following the resolution of Milnor's conjecture relating the graded Witt ring of $F$ to its mod-2 Milnor $K$-theory, a major problem in the theory of symmetric bilinear forms is to understand, for any positive integer…
Given a field $F$ of positive characteristic $p$, $\theta \in H_p^{n-1}(F)$ and $\beta,\gamma \in F^\times$, we prove that if the symbols $\theta \wedge \frac{d \beta}{\beta}$ and $\theta \wedge \frac{d \gamma}{\gamma}$ in $H_p^n(F)$ share…
Let G be a group of order 8 and F an algebraically closed field with char= 2. In this paper we compute the number of n degree representations of G and subsequent dimensions of the corresponding spaces of invatiant bilinear forms over the…
We study linkage of $(d+1)$-fold quadratic Pfister forms over function fields in one variable over a henselian valued field of 2-cohomological dimension $d$. Specifically, we characterise this property in terms of linkage of quadratic…
Let $F$ be a field of characteristic not $2$ with finitely many square classes. Using combinatorial arguments applied to objects related to vector spaces over finite fields, we deduce an upper bound for the number of Pfister forms over $F$.…
In this paper, we study additively indecomposable quadratic forms over real biquadratic and simplest cubic fields. In particular, we show that over these fields, we can always find such a classical form in 2 variables, which differs from…
The epicenter of this paper concerns Pfister quadratic forms over a field $F$ with a Henselian discrete valuation. All characteristics are considered but we focus on the most complicated case where the residue field has characteristic 2 but…
A $3$-fold and a $5$-fold quadratic Pfister forms are canonically associated to every symplectic involution on a central simple algebra of degree $8$ over a field of characteristic $2$. The same construction on central simple algebras of…
Over a field of characteristic 2, we give a complete classification of quadratic and bilinear forms of dimension 5 that are minimal over the function field of an arbitrary conic. This completes the unique known case due to Faivre concerning…
The symbol length of ${_pBr}(k(\!(\alpha_1)\!)\dots(\!(\alpha_n)\!))$ for an algebraically closed field $k$ of $\operatorname{char}(k) \neq p$ is known to be $\lfloor \frac{n}{2} \rfloor$. We prove that the symbol length for the case of…
In 1973, Calder\'{o}n proved that an $m \times 2$ positive semidefinite (psd) biquadratic form can always be expressed as the sum of ${3m(m+1) \over 2}$ squares of quadratic forms. Very recently, by applying Hilbert's theorem on ternary…
Let $F$ be a field of characteristic $2$, $\pi$ be an $n$-fold bilinear Pfister form over $F$ and $\varphi$ an arbitrary quadratic form over $F$. In this note, we investigate Witt index, defect, total isotropy index and higher isotropy…
We study a generalization of the classical correspondence between homogeneous quadratic polynomials, quadratic forms, and symmetric/alternating bilinear forms to forms in $n$ variables. The main tool is combinatorial polarization, and the…
We settle an old question about the existence of certain "sums-of-squares" formulas over a field F (which are the simplest examples of composition formulas for quadratic forms). A classical theorem says that if such a formula exists over a…