On the Infinitesimal Rigidity of Homogeneous Varieties

Let XP be a variety (respectively an open subset of an analytic submanifold) and let xX be a point where all integer valued differential invariants are locally constant. We show that if the projective second fundamental form of X at x is isomorphic to the second fundamental form of a point of a Segre P× P, n,m2, a Grassmaniann G(2,n+2), n4, or the Cayley plane OP², then X is the corresponding homogeneous variety (resp. an open subset of the corresponding homogeneous variety). The case of the Segre P²×P² had been conjectured by Griffiths and Harris in GH]. If the projective second fundamental form of X at x is isomorphic to the second fundamental form of a point of a Veronese v₂(P) and the Fubini cubic form of X at x is zero, then X=v₂ (P) (resp. an open subset of v₂(P)). All these results are valid in the real or complex analytic categories and locally in the C category if one assumes the hypotheses hold in a neighborhood of any point x. As a byproduct, we show that the systems of quadrics I₂(P P) S²C, I₂(P¹× P) S²C and I₂(S₅) S²C¹⁶ are stable in the sense that if A S^* is an analytic family such that for t0,AA, then A₀A. We also make some observations related to the Fulton–:Hansen connectedness theorem.