The generating rank of a polar Grassmannian

Abstract

Abstract In this paper we compute the generating rank of k-polar Grassmannians defined over commutative division rings. Among the new results, we compute the generating rank of k-Grassmannians arising from Hermitian forms of Witt index n defined over vector spaces of dimension N > 2n. We also study generating sets for the 2-Grassmannians arising from quadratic forms of Witt index n defined over V(N, 𝔽 q ) for q = 4, 8, 9 and 2n ≤ N ≤ 2n + 2. We prove that for N > 6 and anisotropic defect (polar corank) d ≠ 2 they can be generated over the prime subfield, thus determining their generating rank.