Huh's polar-degree-two classification conjecture for projective hypersurfaces

Let VPnV\subset \mathbb{P}^{n} be a projective hypersurface with only isolated singularities, defined by a homogeneous polynomial ff of degree dd, and let the polar degree of VV be 22. After a linear change of homogeneous coordinates, the listed possibilities are the following: a normal cubic surface containing a single line, with n=3n=3, d=3d=3, and f=x0x12+x1x22+x1x32+x23f=x_{0}x_{1}^{2}+x_{1}x_{2}^{2}+x_{1}x_{3}^{2}+x_{2}^{3}; a normal cubic surface containing two lines, with n=3n=3, d=3d=3, and f=x0x1x2+x0x32+x13f=x_{0}x_{1}x_{2}+x_{0}x_{3}^{2}+x_{1}^{3}; a normal cubic surface containing three lines and three binodes, with n=3n=3, d=3d=3, and f=x0x1x2+x33f=x_{0}x_{1}x_{2}+x_{3}^{3}; two smooth conics meeting at a single point and their common tangent, with n=2n=2, d=5d=5, and f=x0(x12+x0x2)(x12+x0x2+x02)f=x_{0}(x_{1}^{2}+x_{0}x_{2})(x_{1}^{2}+x_{0}x_{2}+x_{0}^{2}); two smooth conics meeting at a single point, with n=2n=2, d=4d=4, and f=(x12+x0x2)(x12+x0x2+x02)f=(x_{1}^{2}+x_{0}x_{2})(x_{1}^{2}+x_{0}x_{2}+x_{0}^{2}); a smooth conic, a tangent, and a line passing through the tangency point, with n=2n=2, d=4d=4, and f=x0(x0+x1)(x12+x0x2)f=x_{0}(x_{0}+x_{1})(x_{1}^{2}+x_{0}x_{2}); a smooth conic and two tangent lines, with n=2n=2, d=4d=4, and f=x0x2(x12+x0x2)f=x_{0}x_{2}(x_{1}^{2}+x_{0}x_{2}); three concurrent lines and a line not meeting the center point, with n=2n=2, d=4d=4, and f=x0x1x2(x0+x1)f=x_{0}x_{1}x_{2}(x_{0}+x_{1}); a cuspidal cubic and its tangent at the cusp, with n=2n=2, d=4d=4, and f=x0(x13+x02x2)f=x_{0}(x_{1}^{3}+x_{0}^{2}x_{2}); a cuspidal cubic and its tangent at the smooth flex point, with n=2n=2, d=4d=4, and f=x2(x13+x02x2)f=x_{2}(x_{1}^{3}+x_{0}^{2}x_{2}); a cuspidal cubic, with n=2n=2, d=3d=3, and f=x13+x02x2f=x_{1}^{3}+x_{0}^{2}x_{2}; or a smooth conic and a secant line, with n=2n=2, d=3d=3, and f=x1(x12+x0x2)f=x_{1}(x_{1}^{2}+x_{0}x_{2}). Huh's conjecture. A projective hypersurface with only isolated singularities has polar degree 22 if and only if it is one of these possibilities after a linear change of homogeneous coordinates. The paper proves this classification, so the conjecture is solved.

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Primary source

Dirk Siersma, Joseph Steenbrink and Mihai Tibar, “On Huh's conjectures for the polar degree”, arXiv:1805.08175 (2019).

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