Elementary biliaisons in codimension 2 (Q2372645)

The notion of biliaison (or even linkage) class of curves in \(\mathbb P^3\) is due to \textit{P. A. Rao} [Invent. Math. 50, 205--217 (1979; Zbl 0406.14033)], who proved that two curves belong to the same biliaison class if and only if they have the same first graded cohomology, up to a twist. If we consider a curve \(C\) on a surface \(Q\), then a curve \(C'\) is obtained from \(C\) by an elementary biliaison of height \(m\) on \(Q\) if there are surfaces \(T\) and \(V\) of degrees \(t\),\(t+m\) such that \(C\) is linked to a curve \(D\) by means of \((Q,T)\) and \(D\) is linked to \(C'\) by means of \((Q,V)\). If \(m\) is positive, the biliaison is ascending, otherwise it is descending. The curve \(C\) is minimal in its biliaison class if, for every \(C'\) in the biliaison class, the first graded cohomology of \(C'\) is obtained from the first graded cohomology of \(C\) by a positive twist. \textit{R. Strano} [P.A.M.S. 132, 649--658 (2004; Zbl 1053.14036)], improving a result by \textit{R. Lazarsfeld} and \textit{P. Rao} [Lect. Notes Math. 997, 267--289 (1983; Zbl 0532.14017)], gave a characterization of the minimal curves of the biliaison classes in terms of descending biliaisons. A generalization of Strano's result (which holds for two-codimensional subschemes of \(\mathbb P^n\)) is due to \textit{R. Hartshorne} [Ann. Fac. Sci. Toulouse, VI. Sér., Math. 12, No. 3, 375--393 (2003; Zbl 1061.14049)]. These are the starting points of the present paper, which proves the following result: Let \(X\) and \(Y\) be subschemes of \(\mathbb P^n\) of pure codimension \(2\), without embedded components, and let \(X'\) be obtained from X by an elementary ascending biliaison of type \((s,h)\); if \(Y\) and \(X'\) have the same cohomology, then one can apply to \(Y\) a sequence of \(h\) elementary biliaisons of type \((s,-1)\). The paper also proves that an elementary biliaisons of type \((s,-1)\) can always be applied to any arithmetically Cohen-Macaulay two-codimensional subscheme of \(\mathbb P^n\) (of degree at least \(2\)), provided that either \(s = \) the smallest degree of a hypersurface containing \(X\) or \(\gamma_X(s) \geq 1\), where the character \(\gamma_X(n)\) is defined as the \(n\)-th difference of the opposite of the Hilbert function of \(X\).