The genus of projective curves (Q1309317): Difference between revisions

If \(C \subset \mathbb{P}^ r\) is an irreducible, non degenerate curve, then its genus \(g\) is bounded, with respect to the degree \(d\), by a value \(G(r,d)\) classically found by Castelnuovo. Curves of maximal genus are classified and it turns out that they must lie on surfaces of minimal degree, hence it seems natural to look for refined bounds \(G(r,d,s)\), for the genus of curves which do not lie on surfaces of degree smaller than a fixed integer \(s\). For space curves, these bounds were stated by \textit{Halphen} and proved by \textit{Peskine} and \textit{Gruson}, in the range \(d>s^ 2-s\). In the paper under review, Halphen's analysis is extended to curves \(C \subset \mathbb{P}^ n\), \(n \geq 3\). Using a refinement of Castelnuovo's approach, explicit bounds \(G(r,d,s)\) for the genus of curves of degree \(d\), not lying on surfaces of degree \(<s\), are proved for \(d \gg s\), any \(s\). Examples show that these bounds are sharp, at least when \(d\) is big.