New lower bounds for the rank of matrix multiplication

Abstract

The rank of the matrix multiplication operator for nxn matrices is one of the most studied quantities in algebraic complexity theory. I prove that the rank is at least n^2-o(n^2). More precisely, for any integer p\leq n -1, the rank is at least (3- 1/(p+1))n^2-(1+2p\binom{2p}{p-1})n. The previous lower bound, due to Blaser, was 5n^2/2-3n (the case p=1). The new bounds improve Blaser's bound for all n>84. I also prove lower bounds for rectangular matrices significantly better than the the previous bound.