Generic Odd-Pfaffian Reconstruction from Commutator-Word Moments
Abstract
Let $k=\mathbb F_p$, $p\neq2$, and let
be an alternating tensor with $\dim V=2r+1$ odd. Equivalently, $\beta$ is an $m=\dim W$-dimensional linear system of alternating forms on $V$. For $[\lambda]\in\mathbb P(W^*)$, write
The first nontrivial degeneracy locus is the corank-$\ge3$ Pfaffian locus
cut out by the submaximal Pfaffians of the universal odd skew-symmetric matrix.
We prove that, on a natural nonempty Zariski open locus, pointwise Fourier-tagged scalar-extension commutator-word moments determine $\beta$ up to pseudo-isometry. The argument has four parts. First, the Fourier-tagged moments recover the rank of $A_\lambda$ for every $\lambda$ over every finite extension, hence recover the reduced Pfaffian degeneracy scheme $Z_\beta$. Under the explicit hypothesis that the submaximal Pfaffian ideal $I_\beta$ is saturated and geometrically radical, this recovers the ideal $I_\beta$. Second, by the Buchsbaum--Eisenbud structure theorem for codimension-three Gorenstein ideals, $I_\beta$ recovers the universal skew-symmetric matrix $M_\beta$ up to left-right equivalence of the middle map in the minimal free resolution. Third, if the common self-adjoint algebra
is only the scalar algebra $kI$, then left-right equivalence between alternating matrices upgrades to congruence, hence to pseudo-isometry of the tensor. Fourth, the Pfaffian hypotheses and the scalar self-adjoint condition hold on a nonempty Zariski open subset for
Thus, for this range, Fourier-tagged MVMT gives a generic reconstruction theorem beyond alternating pencils. For the associated special class-two exponent-$p$ groups, it gives a generic word-moment reconstruction theorem for the commutator tensor, and hence for the group, on the surjective radical-free part of the open locus.
The theorem is not a universal classification of all alternating tensors and is not an optimized isomorphism algorithm. Its contribution is a generic reconstruction mechanism: commutator-word moments recover a Pfaffian codimension-three degeneracy scheme, and on a rigid open locus that scheme determines the tensor.
1 Introduction
Let $G$ be a special finite $p$-group of nilpotency class two and exponent $p$, with $p\neq2$. Then
are $\mathbb F_p$-vector spaces, and the commutator defines an alternating tensor
Conversely, every alternating tensor defines a class-two exponent-$p$ group
with multiplication
and commutator
Two such special groups are isomorphic if and only if their commutator tensors are pseudo-isometric. Thus, reconstructing
up to the action of
is a natural form of the class-two exponent-$p$ group isomorphism problem.
For $\dim W=2$, the tensor is an alternating pencil. The complete Kronecker canonical data of such pencils can be recovered from explicitly designed commutator-word distributions. The present paper addresses the first genuinely higher-dimensional reconstruction mechanism.
Assume
is odd. For every functional
we have an alternating form
Because $\dim V$ is odd, each $A_\lambda$ is singular. The generic corank is at least (1). The first nontrivial degeneracy condition is
This condition is cut out by the submaximal Pfaffians of the universal alternating matrix
The central idea is:
On a generic codimension-three Pfaffian locus, the Buchsbaum--Eisenbud theorem says that the ideal is governed by a skew-symmetric matrix in the minimal free resolution. Thus, under suitable rigidity, recovering the Pfaffian ideal recovers the tensor.
The result is deliberately formulated with explicit hypotheses. The reduced degeneracy scheme determines the Pfaffian ideal only under radicality and saturation. The Pfaffian ideal determines the matrix through the Buchsbaum--Eisenbud resolution. Left-right recovery of the matrix becomes congruence only under a self-adjoint rigidity hypothesis. These hypotheses hold on a nonempty Zariski open set in the range
1.1 Main theorem
Let
Let
with $\dim V=n$, $\dim W=m$.
Theorem 1.1 (Theorem A -- Generic odd-Pfaffian MVMT reconstruction).
There exists a nonempty Zariski open subset
such that, for every
the pointwise Fourier-tagged scalar-extension commutator-word moment data determine $\beta$ up to pseudo-isometry.
Equivalently, for every surjective radical-free
the associated special class-two exponent-$p$ group $G_\beta$ is determined up to isomorphism by these word-moment data.
1.2 What ``pointwise Fourier-tagged'' means
The theorem uses more than aggregate rank-zeta data. It uses the Fourier coefficient attached to each
over every finite extension
That coefficient gives
Thus the data determine the rank pointwise on $W_K^*$, not merely the number of points of each rank.
1.3 What is not claimed
We do not claim:
classification of all alternating tensors;
recovery of nonreduced Pfaffian schemes from reduced rank data alone;
an optimized group-isomorphism algorithm;
arbitrary target dimension;
completeness from rank-zeta point counts alone.
The theorem is a generic reconstruction theorem on an explicitly described open locus.
2 Alternating tensors and the universal odd Pfaffian matrix
Let
Let
be a vector space of dimension
Let
be a vector space of dimension $m$, and let
be alternating.
Choose a basis
of $W$, and let
be the dual homogeneous coordinates on $W^*$. Write
Set
Define the universal alternating matrix
This is an $n\times n$ skew-symmetric matrix with linear entries in $S$.
Since $n=2r+1$ is odd,
identically. The submaximal Pfaffians, i.e. the Pfaffians of the $2r\times2r$ principal submatrices obtained by deleting one row and column, are homogeneous forms of degree $r$.
Let
be the signed submaximal Pfaffians of $M_\beta$, and define
Define the projective Pfaffian degeneracy scheme
Set-theoretically,
3 Pointwise Fourier-tagged MVMT recovers the reduced Pfaffian locus
Let
be a finite extension. Extend
to
Let
be the distribution of the commutator output
where
are uniform.
For
let
Let
be a nontrivial additive character. The Fourier coefficient of $\mu_{\beta,K}$ at $\lambda$ is
Lemma 3.1 (Pointwise rank recovery).
For every finite extension $K/k$ and every
one has
Therefore the Fourier-tagged scalar-extension MVMT data determine
for every $\lambda\in W_K^*$.
Proof.
This is the standard bilinear character average. For fixed $u$, the average over $v$ is $1$ precisely when
and $0$ otherwise. Hence the total average is the proportion of $u$ in the radical of $A_\lambda$, namely
Lemma 3.2 (MVMT recovers $I_\beta$ under radicality and saturation).
Assume that
is saturated and geometrically radical. Then the pointwise Fourier-tagged scalar-extension MVMT data determine
Proof.
By Lemma 3.1, MVMT determines the rank of $A_\lambda$ for every
over every finite extension $K/k$. Therefore it determines, for every $K/k$,
Equivalently, it determines the $K$-rational points of the corank-$\ge3$ locus for every finite extension $K$.
Every closed point of a finite-type $k$-scheme is rational over some finite extension of $k$. Thus the MVMT data determine the set of all closed points of
Since $I_\beta$ is geometrically radical and saturated, it is exactly the homogeneous ideal of this reduced projective subscheme. Hence $I_\beta$ is determined.
Remark 3.3 (Remark 3.3).
The radicality assumption is essential. Pointwise rank data over finite fields detects the reduced degeneracy locus. Without an Artin or scheme-theoretic enhancement, it need not determine nilpotent structure in $I_\beta$.
4 Buchsbaum--Eisenbud recovery from the Pfaffian ideal
We now recall the codimension-three Pfaffian structure.
Assume
For an odd skew-symmetric matrix
of size $n=2r+1$, the Buchsbaum--Eisenbud Pfaffian complex has the form
where
is the vector of signed submaximal Pfaffians.
The Buchsbaum--Eisenbud theorem says that codimension-three Gorenstein ideals are governed by such alternating matrices. In our setting, we use the following precise consequence.
Lemma 4.1 (The Pfaffian ideal determines the middle matrix up to left-right equivalence).
Assume:
$I_\beta$ has height $3$;
the Buchsbaum--Eisenbud Pfaffian complex above is the minimal graded free resolution of $I_\beta$.
Let
be another odd skew-symmetric linear matrix such that
and such that its Buchsbaum--Eisenbud Pfaffian complex is also the minimal graded free resolution of $I_\beta$.
Then there exist
such that
Proof.
Both matrices give minimal graded free resolutions of the same homogeneous ideal $I_\beta$:
and
Minimal graded free resolutions over $S$ are unique up to graded chain isomorphism. Since
and
are pure sums of equal shifts, every graded automorphism of these middle terms is given by a constant invertible $n\times n$ matrix over $k$. Therefore the middle maps differ by constant invertible transformations:
for some
Remark 4.2 (Remark 4.2).
This lemma gives only left-right equivalence of the matrices. Pseudo-isometry of alternating tensors requires congruence. The next section gives the additional rigidity condition needed to pass from left-right equivalence to congruence.
5 Self-adjoint rigidity
For
define
Equivalently, for
we have
if and only if
Lemma 5.1 (Rigidity upgrades left-right equivalence to congruence).
Let
and
be alternating linear matrices of the same size. Suppose
for some
Assume
Then
for some
Consequently, $M$ and $M'$ define pseudo-isometric alternating tensors.
Proof.
Since both $M$ and $M'$ are alternating,
From
we get
But
Hence
Multiplying on the left by $P^{-1}$ and on the right by $P^{-\mathsf T}$, we obtain
Set
Then
Therefore
Since
this identity is equivalent to
Thus
By hypothesis,
for some
Therefore
Substituting into
gives
The scalar $c$ is absorbed by a scalar change of target coordinates in $W$. Hence the corresponding tensors are pseudo-isometric.
6 Genericity of the Pfaffian hypotheses
We now show that the hypotheses used above hold on a nonempty Zariski open subset in the range
Lemma 6.1 (Generic Pfaffian degeneracy hypotheses).
Assume
There exists a nonempty Zariski open subset
such that, for every
the Pfaffian ideal $I_\beta$ has height (3), is saturated and geometrically radical, and the Buchsbaum--Eisenbud Pfaffian complex is its minimal free resolution.
Proof.
Let
be the projective space of alternating forms on $V$.
Let
be the corank-$\ge3$ Pfaffian variety. Since
is odd, $\Sigma_3$ is the first nontrivial degeneracy locus. It has codimension $3$. Its singular locus is
which has codimension $10$.
A tensor
is the same as a projective linear subspace
For a general such $\mathbb P(W^*)$, the intersection
has expected codimension $3$ in $\mathbb P(W^*)$. Since
for
a general $\mathbb P(W^*)$ avoids $\Sigma_5$. Therefore the intersection occurs in the smooth locus of $\Sigma_3$.
By generic transversality, a general $\mathbb P(W^*)$ intersects the smooth locus of $\Sigma_3$ transversely. Hence $Z_\beta$ is smooth over the algebraic closure. In particular, its homogeneous ideal is saturated and geometrically radical.
The ideal of $\Sigma_3$ is generated by the submaximal Pfaffians of the universal odd alternating matrix. The ideal $I_\beta$ is the pullback of this ideal to $\mathbb P(W^*)$. Since the intersection has expected codimension $3$, the Buchsbaum--Eisenbud acyclicity criterion gives exactness of the associated Pfaffian complex. Minimality follows because all entries of $M_\beta$ are linear and have no constant terms, and the maps are homogeneous of positive degree.
The conditions above are open conditions on $\beta$, and the general-position argument shows that the open set is nonempty.
7 Genericity of self-adjoint rigidity
We now prove that
is also a nonempty open condition.
Lemma 7.1 (Self-adjoint rigidity is open).
The condition
is Zariski open in
Proof.
For fixed $\beta=(A_1,\ldots,A_m)$, the equations
are linear equations in the entries of $R$, with coefficients depending linearly on the entries of the forms $A_i$. Thus
is the kernel of a matrix whose entries are polynomial functions of $\beta$. Kernel dimension is upper semicontinuous. Since scalar matrices always belong to $\operatorname{Adj}^+(\beta)$, the condition that the dimension be exactly $1$ is open.
It remains to show nonemptiness. We give an explicit pair of alternating forms whose common self-adjoint algebra is scalar.
Let
where
Define
These are the two alternating forms of the odd Kronecker block.
Lemma 7.2 (The odd Kronecker pair has scalar self-adjoint algebra).
For the pair $(A_0,A_1)$ above,
Proof.
Write an endomorphism
in block form relative to
where
Let
viewed as $r\times(r+1)$ matrices. The forms $A_0,A_1$ have block matrices
The condition
is equivalent to the block equations
First consider (1). From $j=0$, since
the first $r$ rows of $P$ are
From $j=1$, since
the last $r$ rows of $P$ are
Comparing the overlapping rows of $P$ gives
for
and the boundary equations give
Thus all off-diagonal entries of $S$ vanish and all diagonal entries are equal. Hence
The same equations then force
Now consider $Q=(q_{ij})$, with
Equation (2) for $j=0$ gives
Equation (2) for $j=1$ gives
From (4), $q_{ii}=0$. From (5), $q_{i+1,i}=0$. If $a<b$, then applying (4) and then (5) gives
This reduces (b-a) by (2), eventually reaching a diagonal or subdiagonal entry, both of which are zero. Hence $q_{a,b}=0$ for $a<b$. The case $a>b$ is similar, using (5) and (4) to reduce to a diagonal or subdiagonal zero. Therefore
The equations for $C$ are the transpose-dual of the equations for $Q$, and the same argument gives
Thus
Therefore
Corollary 7.3 (Nonempty open self-adjoint locus).
For every
the locus
is a nonempty Zariski open subset of
Proof.
By Lemma 7.1 it is open. By Lemma 7.2, the pair $(A_0,A_1)$ has scalar self-adjoint algebra. Adding more alternating forms can only decrease the common self-adjoint algebra. Hence the condition is nonempty for all $m\ge2$.
8 The generic reconstruction locus
Let
be the open set from Lemma 6.1, and let
Define
Since
is irreducible and both open sets are nonempty, their intersection is nonempty.
Theorem 8.1 (Generic odd-Pfaffian MVMT reconstruction).
Let
let
and let
For every
the pointwise Fourier-tagged scalar-extension MVMT data determine $\beta$ up to pseudo-isometry.
Proof.
By Lemma 3.2, the MVMT data determine the Pfaffian ideal
By Lemma 4.1, this ideal determines the universal alternating matrix
up to left-right equivalence. By Lemma 5.1 and the condition
this left-right equivalence upgrades to congruence up to target scalar, hence to pseudo-isometry of the alternating tensor.
9 Group-theoretic corollary
Suppose additionally that
is surjective and radical-free:
Then $G_\beta$ is a special class-two exponent-$p$ group with
Corollary 9.1 (Generic group reconstruction).
For every surjective radical-free
the group
is determined up to isomorphism by the pointwise Fourier-tagged scalar-extension MVMT data.
Proof.
For special class-two exponent-$p$ groups, group isomorphism is equivalent to pseudo-isometry of the commutator tensor. Theorem 8.1 recovers the pseudo-isometry class of $\beta$.
10 Density over large finite fields
The theorem above is geometric. It gives a nonempty Zariski open subset. Over finite fields, one may translate this into a density statement after spreading out.
Corollary 10.1 (Density-one form).
Fix
After choosing an integral model of the open set
for all sufficiently large finite fields $\mathbb F_q$ of odd characteristic,
Proof.
The complement of a nonempty Zariski open subset in affine space is contained in a proper algebraic subvariety of bounded degree after spreading out over a finitely generated base. The number of $\mathbb F_q$-points of this complement is
where
Dividing by $q^D$ gives
11 Scope and limitations
The theorem proves generic reconstruction beyond alternating pencils, but it is not a universal theorem.
It does not claim:
recovery of nonreduced Pfaffian schemes from rank data;
classification of all alternating tensors;
arbitrary target dimension;
polynomial-time isomorphism testing;
classification from aggregate rank-zeta point counts.
The theorem does claim:
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