A remark on Clifford index and Brill-Noether number (Q1901979)

Let \(S=\{D\mid h^0(D)\geq 1\), \(h^1(D)\geq 1\}\) be the set of special divisors on a curve \(C\) of genus \(g>0\). Let \(S'\) be the subset of \(S\) consisting of divisors \(D\) with strictly negative Brill-Noether number \(\rho(D):= g-h^0(D)\cdot h^1(D)\). An index for \(C\) is a function \(\sigma: S\to\mathbb{Z}\) with \(\sigma(D)\) depending only on \(\deg(D)\), \(h^0(D)\), \(h^1(D)\) and satisfying (1) \(\sigma(K-D)= \sigma(D)\), \(K=\) canonical divisor of \(C\), (2) \(\sigma(D+P)> \sigma(D)\), \(P\in C\) a general point, (3) \(\sigma(nD)\geq \sigma(D)\) for \(n\geq 1\) if \(h^0(nD)-1= n(h^0(D)-1)\). A universal index of curves of genus \(g\) is an index which does not depend on the choice of the curve of genus \(g\). A well-known example is the Clifford index \(\text{cliff} (D):=\deg (D)- 2(h^0(D)-1)\). Main result: If \(\sigma\) is a universal index which is either (1) non-negative on \(S'\) or (2) \(\sigma>\rho\) on \(S'\) and \(\sigma(D)= \deg(D)- m(D) (h^0(D)-1)\), \(m(D)\in \mathbb{Z}\) for all \(D\) with \(h^0(D)\geq 2\), \(h^1(D)\geq 2\), then \(\sigma=\text{cliff}\). The author gives several interesting examples for different types of curves.