On the variety of special linear systems on a general algebraic curve (Q1145739)

This paper answers affirmatively the question in the survey article by \textit{P. A. Griffiths} [``An introduction to the theory of special divisors on algebraic curves'', Regional Conf. Ser. Math. 44 (1980; Zbl 0446.14010)]: Does the variety \(W_d^r\) of linear systems on a general curve of genus \(g\) with degree \(d\) and dimension at least \(r\) have the Brill-Noether dimension \(g - (r +1)(g - d +r)\)? Moreover the authors determine the class of this variety in the cohomology of the Jacobian and show that it is without multiple components. The proof is by a detailed geometrical analysis of a classical degeneration idea of Castelnuovo's. It is formalized as the Castelnuovo-Severi-Kleiman conjecture (CSK): the family of \(P^k\)'s in \(P^d\) meeting the chords of a rational normal curve in \(P^d\) has the same dimension as if the chords were lines in general position, and the family has no multiple components. The paper has three parts: (I) The reduction to CSK -- except for the absence of multiple components to \(W_d^r\); (II) The proof of CSK; (III) Proofs of the absence of multiple components. (I) has been previously achieved by \textit{S. Kleiman} [Adv. Math. 22, 1--31 (1976; Zbl 0342.14012)]. The proof in this paper is by a geometrical argument based on duality of special divisors. (II) uses a degeneration of the chords to span an osculating flag. (III) is again by degeneration. The degenerate case is chosen so that number of intersections of two varieties as a set equals the algebraic intersection number. The techniques are those of classical algebraic geometry and Schubert calculus.