Linear Algebra Seminar

Speaker:  Luke Oeding

Title:  Principal minors, exclusive minors and the tangential variety

Abstract:  The tangential variety of the Segre product contains tensors that have high rank, but can be approximated by tensors of rank 2. I will explain an unexpected connection between the tangential variety and the variety of principal minors of symmetric matrices.  This connection motivated the definition of "exclusive minors.”  I will discuss exclusive minors and their symmetry, explain the connection to principal minors, and show how they were used to solve a conjecture of Landsberg and Weyman on the defining equations of the tangential variety.