Asymptotic tensor rank is characterized by polynomials

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Christandl, Matthias, Hoeberechts, Koen, Nieuwboer, Harold, Vrana, Péter, Zuiddam, Jeroen
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866909403260649472
author Christandl, Matthias
Hoeberechts, Koen
Nieuwboer, Harold
Vrana, Péter
Zuiddam, Jeroen
author_facet Christandl, Matthias
Hoeberechts, Koen
Nieuwboer, Harold
Vrana, Péter
Zuiddam, Jeroen
contents Asymptotic tensor rank is notoriously difficult to determine. Indeed, determining its value for the $2\times 2$ matrix multiplication tensor would determine the matrix multiplication exponent, a long-standing open problem. On the other hand, Strassen's asymptotic rank conjecture makes the bold claim that asymptotic tensor rank equals the largest dimension of the tensor and is thus as easy to compute as matrix rank. Despite tremendous interest, much is still unknown about the structural and computational properties of asymptotic rank; for instance whether it is computable. We prove that asymptotic tensor rank is "computable from above", that is, for any real number $r$ there is an (efficient) algorithm that determines, given a tensor $T$, if the asymptotic tensor rank of $T$ is at most $r$. The algorithm has a simple structure; it consists of evaluating a finite list of polynomials on the tensor. Indeed, we prove that the sublevel sets of asymptotic rank are Zariski-closed (just like matrix rank). While we do not exhibit these polynomials explicitly, their mere existence has strong implications on the structure of asymptotic rank. As one such implication, we find that the values that asymptotic tensor rank takes, on all tensors, is a well-ordered set. In other words, any non-increasing sequence of asymptotic ranks stabilizes ("discreteness from above"). In particular, for the matrix multiplication exponent (which is an asymptotic rank) there is no sequence of exponents of bilinear maps that approximates it arbitrarily closely from above without being eventually constant. In other words, any upper bound on the matrix multiplication exponent that is close enough, will "snap" to it. Previously such discreteness results were only known for finite fields or for other tensor parameters (e.g., asymptotic slice rank). We obtain them for infinite fields like the complex numbers.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2411_15789
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Asymptotic tensor rank is characterized by polynomials
Christandl, Matthias
Hoeberechts, Koen
Nieuwboer, Harold
Vrana, Péter
Zuiddam, Jeroen
Computational Complexity
Algebraic Geometry
Quantum Physics
15A69, 05C65
Asymptotic tensor rank is notoriously difficult to determine. Indeed, determining its value for the $2\times 2$ matrix multiplication tensor would determine the matrix multiplication exponent, a long-standing open problem. On the other hand, Strassen's asymptotic rank conjecture makes the bold claim that asymptotic tensor rank equals the largest dimension of the tensor and is thus as easy to compute as matrix rank. Despite tremendous interest, much is still unknown about the structural and computational properties of asymptotic rank; for instance whether it is computable. We prove that asymptotic tensor rank is "computable from above", that is, for any real number $r$ there is an (efficient) algorithm that determines, given a tensor $T$, if the asymptotic tensor rank of $T$ is at most $r$. The algorithm has a simple structure; it consists of evaluating a finite list of polynomials on the tensor. Indeed, we prove that the sublevel sets of asymptotic rank are Zariski-closed (just like matrix rank). While we do not exhibit these polynomials explicitly, their mere existence has strong implications on the structure of asymptotic rank. As one such implication, we find that the values that asymptotic tensor rank takes, on all tensors, is a well-ordered set. In other words, any non-increasing sequence of asymptotic ranks stabilizes ("discreteness from above"). In particular, for the matrix multiplication exponent (which is an asymptotic rank) there is no sequence of exponents of bilinear maps that approximates it arbitrarily closely from above without being eventually constant. In other words, any upper bound on the matrix multiplication exponent that is close enough, will "snap" to it. Previously such discreteness results were only known for finite fields or for other tensor parameters (e.g., asymptotic slice rank). We obtain them for infinite fields like the complex numbers.
title Asymptotic tensor rank is characterized by polynomials
topic Computational Complexity
Algebraic Geometry
Quantum Physics
15A69, 05C65
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.15789