Centers of multilinear forms and applications

Abstract

The center algebra of a general multilinear form is defined and investigated. We show that the center of a nondegenerate multilinear form is a finite dimensional commutative algebra, and center algebras can be effectively applied to direct sum decompositions of multilinear forms. As an application of the algebraic structure of centers, we show that almost all multilinear forms are absolutely indecomposable. The theory of centers can also be applied to symmetric equivalence of multilinear forms. Moreover, with a help of the results of symmetric equivalence, we are able to provide a linear algebraic proof for a well known Torelli type result which says that two complex homogeneous polynomials with the same Jacobian ideal are linearly equivalent.