A matrixwise approach to unexpected hypersurfaces

Abstract: The aim of this note is to give a generalization of some results concerning unexpected hypersurfaces. Unexpected hypersurfaces occur when the actual dimension of the space of forms satisfying certain vanishing data is positive and the imposed vanishing conditions are not independent. The first instance studied were unexpected curves in the paper by Cook II, Harbourne, Migliore, Nagel. Unexpected hypersurfaces were then investigated by Bauer, Malara, Szpond and Szemberg, followed by Harbourne, Migliore, Nagel and Teitler who introduced the notion of BMSS duality and showed it holds in some cases (such as certain plane curves and, in higher dimensions, for certain cones). They ask to what extent such a duality holds in general. In this paper, working over a field of characteristic zero, we study hypersurfaces in $\mathbb{P}^n\times\mathbb{P}^n$ defined by determinants. We apply our results to unexpected hypersurfacesin the case that the actual dimension is 1 (i.e., there is a unique unexpected hypersurface). In this case, we show that a version of BMSS duality always holds, as a consequence of fundamental properties of determinants.