Related papers: Nondefectivity of invariant secant varieties

We consider here the problem, which is quite classical in Algebraic geometry, of studying the secant varieties of a projective variety $X$. The case we concentrate on is when $X$ is a Veronese variety, a Grassmannian or a Segre variety. Not…

A variation of Waring's problem from classical number theory is the question, ``What is the smallest number $s$ such that any generic homogeneous polynomial of degree $d$ in $n+1$ variables may be written as the sum of at most $s$ products…

In this paper we prove some general results on secant defective varieties. Then we focus on the 4--dimensional case and we give the full classification of secant defective 4--folds. This paper has been inspired by classical work by G.…

Let Gr(2, E) be the Grassmann bundle of two-planes associated to a general bundle E over a curve X. We prove that an embedding of Gr(2, E) by a certain twist of the relative Pl\"ucker map is not secant defective. This yields a new and more…

Secant varieties are among the main protagonists in tensor decomposition, whose study involves both pure and applied mathematical areas. Grassmannians are the building blocks for skewsymmetric tensors. Although they are ubiquitous in the…

We generalize Zak's theorems on tangencies and on linear normality as well as Zak's definition and classification of Severi varieties. In particular we find sharp lower bounds for the dimension of higher secant varieties of a given variety…

We prove that the generic element of the fifth secant variety $\sigma_5(Gr(\mathbb{P}^2,\mathbb{P}^9)) \subset \mathbb{P}(\bigwedge^3 \mathbb{C}^{10})$ of the Grassmannian of planes of $\mathbb{P}^9$ has exactly two decompositions as a sum…

We prove that the ideal of the variety of secant lines to a Segre--Veronese variety is generated in degree three by minors of flattenings. In the special case of a Segre variety this was conjectured by Garcia, Stillman and Sturmfels,…

We formulate the Secant Conjecture, which is a generalization of the Shapiro Conjecture for Grassmannians. It asserts that an intersection of Schubert varieties in a Grassmannian is transverse with all points real, if the flags defining the…

Let $\lambda =[d_1,\dots,d_r]$ be a partition of $d$. Consider the variety $\mathbb{X}_{2,\lambda} \subset \mathbb{P}^N$, $N={d+2 \choose 2}-1$, parameterizing forms $F\in k[x_0,x_1,x_2]_d$ which are the product of $r\geq 2$ forms…

For a vector bundle V over a curve X of rank n and for each integer r in the range 1 \le r \le n-1, the Segre invariant s_r is defined by generalizing the minimal self-intersection number of the sections on a ruled surface. In this paper we…

Let $Gr(k,n)$ be the Pl\"ucker embedding of the Grassmann variety of projective $k$-planes in $\P n$. For a projective variety $X$, let $\sigma_s(X)$ denote the variety of its $s-1$ secant planes. More precisely, $\sigma_s(X)$ denotes the…

Tropical geometry yields good lower bounds, in terms of certain combinatorial-polyhedral optimisation problems, on the dimensions of secant varieties. In particular, it gives an attractive pictorial proof of the theorem of Hirschowitz that…

Let V_n be the Segre embedding of (P^1) x ... X (P^1) (n times). We prove that the higher secant varieties, \sigma_s(V_n), always have the expected dimension, except for \sigma_3(V_4), which is of dimension 1 less than expected.

In this paper we prove, using a refinement of Terracini's Lemma, a sharp lower bound for the degree of (higher) secant varieties to a given projective variety, which extends the well known lower bound for the degree of a variety in terms of…

We give positivity conditions on the embedding of a smooth variety which guarantee the normality of the secant variety, generalizing earlier results of the author and others. We also give classes of secant varieties satisfying the Hodge…

We determine normal forms and ranks of tensors of border rank at most three. We present a differential-geometric analysis of limits of secant planes in a more general context. In particular there are at most four types of points on limiting…

We determine the minimal generators of the ideal of the tangential variety of a Segre-Veronese variety, as well as the decomposition into irreducible GL-representations of its homogeneous coordinate ring. In the special case of a Segre…

To each subvariety $X$ in projective $n$-space of codimension $m$ we associate an integer sequence of length $m + 1$ from $1$ to the degree of $X$ recording the maximal cardinalities of finite, reduced intersections of $X$ with linear…

The ring of invariant polynomials ${\mathbb C}[V]^G$ over a given finite dimensional representation space $V$ of a complex reductive group $G$ is known, by a famous theorem of Hilbert, to be finitely generated. The general proof being…