The characteristic polynomial
${{P}_{A}}({{x}_{0}},...,{{x}_{r}})$ of an
$r$-tuple
$A\,:=({{A}_{1}},...,{{A}_{r}})$ of
$n\times n$-matrices is defined as
1
$${{P}_{A}}({{x}_{0}},...,{{x}_{r}}):=\det ({{x}_{0}}I+{{x}_{1}}{{A}_{1}}+\ldots +{{x}_{r}}{{A}_{r}}).$$
We show that if
$r\,\,3$ and
$A\,:=({{A}_{1}},...,{{A}_{r}})$ is an
$r$-tuple of
$n\times n$-matrices in general position, then up to conjugacy, there are only finitely many
$r$-tuples
$A'\,:=(A_{1}^{'},...,A_{r}^{'})$ such that
${{p}_{A}}={{p}_{A'}}$. Equivalently, the locus of determinantal hypersurfaces of degree
$n$ in
${{\text{P}}^{r}}$ is irreducible of dimension
$(r-1){{n}^{2}}+1$.