On the Hilbert function of fat points on a rational normal cubic (Q1921909)

Given a set of points \(P_1,\dots, P_s\in\mathbb{P}^r\) corresponding to prime ideals \({\mathfrak p}_1,\dots,{\mathfrak p}_s \subset R= k[x_0,..,x_r] \) and a set of non-negative integers \(m_1, \dots,m_s\), the ideal \(J= {\mathfrak p}_1^{m_1} \cap\cdots \cap {\mathfrak p}_s^{m_s}\) defines a scheme of fat points in \(\mathbb{P}^r\). The authors conjecture that the Hilbert function \(H(R/J,t)\) for \(t\geq 0\) is pointwise minimal, if \(P_1,\dots,P_s\) lie on a rational normal curve in \(\mathbb{P}^r\). In the case \(r=3\), i.e. for fat points in \(\mathbb{P}^3\), they present an algorithm which computes \(H(R/J,t)\) for fat points on a twisted cubic. It turns out that the results only depend on the number \(m_1, \dots,m_s\) and not on the position of the points on the twisted cubic. As a corollary, the authors find that the fat points impose independent conditions on surfaces of degree \(t\) if and only if neither the twisted cubic nor any of the lines \(P_iP_j\) is a fixed locus of the linear system \((J: {\mathfrak p}_i)_t\) for \(i,j=1, \dots,s\) and \(i\neq j\). -- The proof is based on a careful study of some special cases and an induction argument.