In mathematics, a jumping line or exceptional line of a vector bundle over projective space is a projective line in projective space where the vector bundle has exceptional behavior, in other words the structure of its restriction to the line "jumps". Jumping lines were introduced by R. L. E. Schwarzenberger (1961). The jumping lines of a vector bundle form a proper closed subset of the Grassmannian of all lines of projective space.
The Birkhoff–Grothendieck theorem classifies the n-dimensional vector bundles over a projective line as corresponding to unordered n-tupes of integers.
Example
Suppose that V is a 4-dimensional complex vector space with a non-degenerate skew-symmetric form. There is a rank 2 vector bundle over the 3-dimensional complex projective space associated to V, that assigns to each line L of V the 2-dimensional vector space L⊥/L. Then a plane of V corresponds to a jumping line of this vector bundle if and only if it is isotropic for the skew-symmetric form.