Rees algebras of ideals of star configurations (Q2132507)

Given a collection of distinct hypersurfaces in \(\mathbb P^n\), assume that any \(j\) meet in codimension \(j\) or else the intersection is empty. (We say that then they meet properly.) A star configuration of codimension \(c\) is the union of the codimension \(c\) complete intersections cut out by all possible choices of \(c\) of the hypersurfaces. These have been extensively studied from different points of view, and in particular much is known about their homogeneous ideals, Hilbert functions, free resolutions and symbolic powers. When all the hypersurfaces have degree 1, the configurations are called linear star configurations. If \(I = (g_1,\dots,g_\mu)\) is an ideal in a Noetherian ring \(R\), the Rees algebra of \(I\) is the subalgebra \(\mathcal R(I) := R[It] = R[g_1 t,\dots,g_\mu t] \subseteq R[t]\) of the polynomial ring \(R[t]\). These algebras have also been extensively studied. In this paper the authors study Rees algebras of star configurations. Specifically, they ask when the ideal of the star configuration is of fiber type and when it is of linear type. They characterize when it is of linear type and they give sufficient conditions for it to be of fiber type. They also give results for linear star configurations. The approach is more algebraic than previous studies have been.