Equations for secant varieties of Chow varieties

Abstract

The Chow variety of polynomials that decompose as a product of linear forms has been studied for more than 100 years. Finding equations in the ideal of secant varieties of Chow varieties would enable one to measure the complexity the permanent to prove Valiant's conjecture $\mathbf{VP\neq VNP}$. In this article, I use the method of prolongation to obtain equations for secant varieties of Chow varieties as $GL(V)$-modules.