On linear sections of the spinor tenfold, I

Abstract

We discuss the geometry of transverse linear sections of the spinor tenfold $X$, the connected component of the orthogonal Grassmannian of 5-dimensional isotropic subspaces in a 10-dimensional vector space equipped with a non-degenerate quadratic form. In particular, we show that as soon as the dimension of a linear section of $X$ is at least 5, its integral Chow motive is of Lefschetz type. We discuss classification of smooth linear sections of $X$ of small codimension; in particular we check that there is a unique isomorphism class of smooth hyperplane sections and exactly two isomorphism classes of smooth linear sections of codimension 2. Using this, we define a natural quadratic line complex associated with a linear section of $X$. We also discuss the Hilbert schemes of linear spaces and quadrics on $X$ and its linear sections.