On a sharp bound for the regularity index of any set of fat points (Q5939610): Difference between revisions

If \(P\) is a point of \({\mathbb P}^n\), we denote by \((P,m)\) the \((m-1)\)-st infinitesimal neighborhood of \(P\), defined by the saturated ideal \(I_P^m\). For a finite set of points \(P_1,\dots,P_s\) we denote by \(X = \{(P_1,m_1),\dots,(P_s,m_s)\}\) the zero-scheme in \({\mathbb P}^n\) defined by \(I_{P_1}^{m_1} \cap \dots \cap I_{P_s}^{m_s}\), and call it a set of fat points. [For a good general discussion on fat points, with many references see \textit{B. Harbourne} in: Zero-dimensional schemes and applications, Proc. Workshop, Naples 2000, Queen's Pap. Pure Appl. Math. 123, 87-132 (2002; Zbl 1052.14052)]. One of the main problems on fat points is to describe their Hilbert functions. For instance one can seek to find the Hilbert function of a general set of fat points, one can try to find all the Hilbert functions that occur, etc. A first step is to try to describe the regularity index of fat points. A sharp bound was given by \textit{B. Segre} [Atti Convegno Int. Geometria algebrica, Torino 1961, 15-33 (1962; Zbl 0104.38903)] for points of \({\mathbb P}^2\) in general position, and extended to points of \({\mathbb P}^n\) in general position by \textit{M. V. Catalisano, N. V. Trung} and \textit{G. Valla} [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 118, 717-724 (1983; Zbl 0787.14030]. It was extended to any set of fat points in \({\mathbb P}^2\) by \textit{G. Fatabbi} [J. Algebra 170, 916-928 (1994; Zbl 0821.14031)] and more recently by \textit{P. V. Thiên} [Acta Math. Vietnam 24, 75-81(1999; Zbl 0934.14031)] (with different methods). In this paper the authors conjecture an upper bound for theregularity index of any set of fat points of \({\mathbb P}^n\) with no geometric conditions on the points, which extends all the previous bounds. The conjecture is obtained by considering certain integers derived from the multiplicities of those points which lie on lines, planes, etc. The regularity index is then conjectured to be the maximum of all these integers. If the conjecture is true, the authors show that it is sharp. Furthermore, they prove the conjecture in \({\mathbb P}^3\), by using some preliminary results that hold in \({\mathbb P}^n\). The conjecture was given independently by \textit{N. V. Trung} and proved by \textit{P. V. Thiên} when \(n=3\) [J. Pure Appl. Algebra 151, 197-214 (2000; Zbl 0963.14023)], using different methods.