A note on pure resolutions of points in generic position in \({\mathbb{P}}^ n_ k\) (Q1104999)

From the preliminaries: ``Let \(P_ 1,...,P_ s\in {\mathbb{P}}^ n_ k\) denote s distinct points in projective n-space \({\mathbb{P}}^ n_ k\). Throughout this paper, k will denote an algebraically closed field whose characteristic is arbitrary (except for a couple of examples near the end). Let \(S=k[X_ 0,...,X_ n]\) denote the polynomial ring in \(n+1\) variables \(X_ 0,...,X_ n\) over k. If I denotes the ideal of \(P_ 1,...,P_ s\) in S, then I is a perfect, unmixed, radical ideal of grade n. Let \(R=S/I\), the coordinate ring of \(P_ 1,...,P_ s\). R is a standard graded k-algebra, Cohen-Macaulay of dimension one and has projective dimension n as an S-module. Thus, R has a minimal, free resolution \(\Gamma\) of the form: \[ (1)\;\Gamma:0\to \oplus^{\beta_ n}_{i=1}S(-d_ i^{(n)})\to^{\phi_ n}...\to \oplus^{\beta_ 2}_{i=1}S(-d_ i^{(2)}\to^{\phi_ 2}\to \oplus^{\beta_ 1}_{i=1}S(-d_ i^{(1)})\to^{\phi_ 1}S\to R\to 0. \] In (1), \(\beta_ 1,...,\beta_ n\) are the nontrivial Betti numbers of R. Each \(\phi_ i\) is a homogeneous S-module homomorphism of degree zero. Consequently, \(\phi_ i\) can be represented by a \(\beta_ i\times \beta_{i-1}\) matrix \((\alpha_{pq}^{(i)})\) where \(\alpha_{pq}^{(i)}\) is a homogeneous form in S of degree \(\partial (\alpha_{pq}^{(i)})=d_ p^{(i)}-d_ q^{(i-1)}\). \(\Gamma\) being minimal means every \(\alpha^{(i)}_{p,q}\in (X_ 0,...,X_ n)\). The \(d_ i^{(i)}\) in (1) are called the twisting numbers of R and, along with \(\beta_ 1,...,\beta_ n\), are unique. We say \(P_ 1,...,P_ s\) have a pure resolution of type \((d_ 1,...,d_ n)\) if, in the minimal resolution (1) of R, we have for all \(j=1,...,n\) and for all \(i=1,...,\beta_ j\), \(d_ i^{(j)}=d_ j\). Thus, \(P_ 1,...,P_ s\) have a pure resolution of type \((d_ 1,...,d_ n)\) with Betti numbers \(\beta_ 1,...,\beta_ n\) if and only if the minimal free resolution \(\Gamma\) of R has the simple form: \[ (2)\;\Gamma:0\to S(-d_ n)^{\beta_ n}\to...\to S(-d_ 2)^{\beta_ 2}\to S(-d_ 1)^{\beta_ 1}\to S\to RK0. \] We note that the minimality of \(\Gamma\) implies \(0<d_ 1<d_ 2<...<d_ n\) in (2). If \(\Gamma\) is a pure resolution of type \((e,e+m,...,e+(n-1)m)\), we shall abbreviate our notation and say \(\Gamma\) is a pure resolution of type \(<e;m>\). Thus, when \(m=1\), a pure resolution of type \(<e;1>\) is just the usual notion of a linear resolution. Finally, we say \(\Gamma\) is almost linear if \(\Gamma\) is a pure resolution of type \((e,e+m,...,e+(n-2)m,d_ n).\) In this paper, we investigate what points \(P_ 1,...,P_ s\in {\mathbb{P}}^ n_ k\) have pure resolutions. This problem is almost hopeless unless we put more conditions on the \(P_ i\). One such condition which readily comes to mind is to control the Hilbert function \(H_ R(t)\) of the \(P_ i\). If A is any standard graded k-algebra, we shall let \(A_ t\) denote the t-th homogeneous piece of A. The Hilbert function, \(H_ A(t)\), of A is then given by \(H_ A(t)=\dim_ k\{A_ t\}\). For example, \(H_ S(t)\) is equal to the binomial coefficient \(\binom{n+t}{n}\) for all \(t\geq 0\). The Poincaré series, \(F_ A(z)\), of A is the formal power series \(\sum^{\infty}_{t=0}H_ A(t)z^ t\). Set \(\nu(t)=\binom{n+t}{n}\). We say s distinct points \(P_ 1,...,P_ s\in {\mathbb{P}}^ n_ k\) are in generic s-position if \(H_ R(t)=\min \{s,\nu (t)\}\) for all \(t\geq 0\). We say \(P_ 1,...,P_ s\in {\mathbb{P}}^ n_ k\) are in uniform position if for every \(t=1,...,s\), and for every subset \(P_{i_ 1},...,P_{i_ t}\) (of \(P_ 1,...,P_ s)\) consisting of t distinct points, we have \(P_{i_ 1},...,P_{i_ t}\) are in generic t-position. Most sets of s points in \({\mathbb{P}}^ n_ k\) are in generic (uniform) position in the sense that the points in generic s-position (uniform position) in \({\mathbb{P}}^ n_ k\) form a dense open subset of \({\mathbb{P}}^ n_ k\times...\times {\mathbb{P}}^ n_ k\) (s times). In this note, we investigate what points in generic position have pure resolutions and what these resolutions look like.''