On transparent embeddings of point-line geometries

We introduce the class of transparent embeddings for a point-line geometry $\Gamma = ({\mathcal P},{\mathcal L})$ as the class of full projective embeddings $\varepsilon$ of $\Gamma$ such that the preimage of any projective line fully contained in $\varepsilon({\mathcal P})$ is a line of $\Gamma$. We will then investigate the transparency of Pl\"ucker embeddings of projective and polar grassmannians and spin embeddings of half-spin geometries and dual polar spaces of orthogonal type. As an application of our results on transparency, we will derive several Chow-like theorems for polar grassmannians and half-spin geometries.Comment: 28 Pages/revised version after revie

Highest weight modules and polarized embeddings of shadow spaces

Let Gamma be the K-shadow space of a spherical building Delta. An embedding V of Gamma is called polarized if it affords all "singular" hyperplanes of Gamma. Suppose that Delta is associated to a Chevalley group G. Then Gamma can be embedded into what we call the Weyl module for G of highest weight lambda_K. It is proved that this module is polarized and that the associated minimal polarized embedding is precisely the irreducible G-module of highest weight lambda_K. In addition a number of general results on polarized embeddings of shadow spaces are proved. The last few sections are devoted to the study of specific shadow spaces, notably minuscule weight geometries, polar grassmannians, and projective flag-grassmannians. The paper is in part expository in nature so as to make this material accessible to a wide audience.Comment: Improvement in exposition of Sections 1-3 and . Notation improved. References added. Main results unchange

Exterior differential systems, Lie algebra cohomology, and the rigidity of homogenous varieties

These are expository notes from the 2008 Srni Winter School. They have two purposes: (1) to give a quick introduction to exterior differential systems (EDS), which is a collection of techniques for determining local existence to systems of partial differential equations, and (2) to give an exposition of recent work (joint with C. Robles) on the study of the Fubini-Griffiths-Harris rigidity of rational homogeneous varieties, which also involves an advance in the EDS technology.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the 2008 Srni Winter School on Geometry and Physic

On the varieties of the second row of the split Freudenthal-Tits Magic Square

Our main aim is to provide a uniform geometric characterization of the analogues over arbitrary fields of the four complex Severi varieties, i.e.~the quadric Veronese varieties in 5-dimensional projective spaces, the Segre varieties in 8-di\-men\-sional projective spaces, the line Grassmannians in 14-dimensional projective spaces, and the exceptional varieties of type $\mathsf{E}_{6}$ in 26-dimensional projective space. Our theorem can be regarded as a far-reaching generalization of Mazzocca and Melone's approach to finite quadric Veronesean varieties. This approach takes projective properties of complex Severi varieties as smooth varieties as axioms.Comment: Small updates, will be published in Annales de l'institut Fourie

On hyperovals of polar spaces

We derive lower and upper bounds for the size of a hyperoval of a finite polar space of rank 3. We give a computer-free proof for the uniqueness, up to isomorphism, of the hyperoval of size 126 of H(5, 4) and prove that the near hexagon E-3 has up to isomorphism a unique full embedding into the dual polar space DH(5, 4)