Clifford index of ACM curves in \(\mathbb P^3\) (Q1878646)

The first part of the article is a nice survey on gonality, Clifford index and Clifford dimension of a smooth projective curve over an algebraically closed field. Several examples are given, also to illustrate that not always the gonality of a curve embedded in a projective space can be computed by multisecants. Then the author asks the following question, first posed by Ch. Peskine: If \(C\) is a smooth projectively normal curve in \(\mathbb P^3\), is its gonality computable by multisecants? A positive answer to this question would extend a result of \textit{B. Basili} on smooth complete intersection curves of \(\mathbb P^3\) [Bull. Soc. Math. Fr. 124, No. 1, 61--95 (1996: Zbl 0871.14027)]. In the second part of the paper, it is proved that the answer is positive for sufficiently general projectively normal curves on a cubic surface. Moreover a bound is given on the gonality of a general curve of a flat family, whose special curve splits into the union of two smooth curves meeting transversally.