# On the dimension of contact loci and the identifiability of tensors

## TL;DR

This paper establishes conditions under which secant varieties of certain algebraic varieties are identifiable, improving understanding of tensor decompositions and applying to Segre-Veronese varieties and Gaussian mixtures.

## Contribution

It proves that under specific dimension and non-uniruledness conditions, secant varieties are not weakly defective, ensuring identifiability, and applies this to various tensor and mixture models.

## Key findings

- Secant varieties are identifiable under certain dimension conditions.
- The results apply to Segre-Veronese varieties and Gaussian mixture models.
- Improves bounds on tensor identifiability.

## Abstract

Let $X\subset \mathbb{P}^r$ be an integral and non-degenerate variety. Set $n:= \dim (X)$. We prove that if the $(k+n-1)$-secant variety of $X$ has (the expected) dimension $(k+n-1)(n+1)-1<r$ and $X$ is not uniruled by lines, then $X$ is not $k$-weakly defective and hence the $k$-secant variety satisfies identifiability, i.e. a general element of it is in the linear span of a unique $S\subset X$ with $\sharp (S) =k$. We apply this result to many Segre-Veronese varieties and to the identifiability of Gaussian mixtures $G_{1,d}$. If $X$ is the Segre embedding of a multiprojective space we prove identifiability for the $k$-secant variety (assuming that the $(k+n-1)$-secant variety has dimension $(k+n-1)(n+1)-1<r$, this is a known result in many cases), beating several bounds on the identifiability of tensors.