The symmetric representation of lines in $\text{PG}(\mathbb{F}^3 \otimes \mathbb{F}^3)$

TL;DR

This paper classifies symmetric line orbits in a projective space related to 3x3 matrices over various fields, revealing orbit splitting phenomena influenced by field characteristics and connecting to classical conic classification.

Contribution

It extends previous work by classifying symmetric line orbits under group actions, analyzing orbit splitting, and determining stabilizers, with special attention to finite fields and classical conic theory.

Findings

Classification of symmetric line orbits under group action.

Identification of orbit splitting depending on field characteristic.

Determination of orbit sizes and stabilizers over finite fields.

Abstract

Let $\mathbb{F}$ be a finite field, an algebraically closed field, or the field of real numbers. Consider the vector space $V=\mathbb{F}^3 \otimes \mathbb{F}^3$ of $3 \times 3$ matrices over $\mathbb{F}$, and let $G \leq \text{PGL}(V)$ be the setwise stabiliser of the corresponding Segre variety $S_{3,3}(\mathbb{F})$ in the projective space $\text{PG}(V)$. The $G$-orbits of lines in $\text{PG}(V)$ were determined by the first author and Sheekey as part of their classification of tensors in $\mathbb{F}^2 \otimes V$ in the article "Canonical forms of $2 \times 3 \times 3$ tensors over the real field, algebraically closed fields, and finite fields", Linear Algebra Appl. 476 (2015) 133-147. Here we consider the related problem of classifying those line orbits that may be represented by {\em symmetric} matrices, or equivalently, of classifying the line orbits in the $\mathbb{F}$-span of the Veronese variety $\mathcal{V}_3(\mathbb{F}) \subset S_{3,3}(\mathbb{F})$ under the natural action of $K=\text{PGL}(3,\mathbb{F})$. Interestingly, several of the $G$-orbits that have symmetric representatives split under the action of $K$, and in many cases this splitting depends on the characteristic of $\mathbb{F}$. The corresponding orbit sizes and stabiliser subgroups of $K$ are also determined in the case where $\mathbb{F}$ is a finite field, and connections are drawn with old work of Jordan, Dickson and Campbell on the classification of pencils of conics in $\text{PG}(2,\mathbb{F})$, or equivalently, of pairs of ternary quadratic forms over $\mathbb{F}$.