A remark on the genus of curves in \(\mathbf{P}^4\) (Q2657360)

The author considers projective curves \(C\) of degree \(d\) in \(\mathbb P^4\) subject to a flag condition of type \((s,t)\), which means that \(C\) does not lie on surfaces of degree \(< s\), nor on hypersurfaces of degree \(< t\). A bound \(G(d,s,t)\) for the arithmetic genus \(g_C\) of such curves was known in the range \(s>t^2-t\) and \(d\gg s\). The author proves that the bound also holds when \(s \leq t^2-t\), provided that \(d\) is sufficiently large with respect to \(t\). A precise inequality on \(d\) which implies that the bound \(g_C\leq G(d,s,t)\) holds is given in the paper in terms of the arithmetics of the three numbers \(d,s,t\). The author also determines several properties of curves for which the bound is attained. Consequent bounds on the speciality index of curves satisfying flag conditions are listed.