Brill-Noether theory of curves on toric surfaces (Q2259176)

Let \(f\) be a Laurent polynomial in two variables over a field \(k\), let \(\Delta\) be its Newton polygon and \(X_\Delta\) the associated toric surface. The author considers the curve \(C\subset X_\Delta\) defined as the set of zeroes of \(f\) and studies the special divisors on \(C\), in particular asking if the curve is general in the sense of Brill-Noether theory. The main result of the paper is the negative answer to this question for any smooth \(C\) of genus \(g\geq 7\). First of all, from the general properties of lattice polygons, one proves an upper bound on the gonality of \(C\), which allows to conclude that, if \(g>12\), then there exists on \(C\) a divisor of rank \(1\) with negative Brill-Noether number. Then, for \(7\leq g\leq 12\) the existence of a divisor with negative Brill-Noether number is achieved by a careful analysis of the lattice polygons containing at most \(12\) interior points. The case \(g=10\) deserves to be treated separately. Moreover, the author shows that the bound is sharp, and gives the list of the lattice polygons corresponding to curves of genus \(g\leq 6\) which are Brill-Noether general.