Varieties \(n\)-covered by curves of degree \(\delta\) (Q373490)

Special curves on a variety reflect the geometry of the variety itself. Along this direction, the notion of rationally connected varieties was first introduced by \textit{J. Kollár} et al. [J. Algebr. Geom. 1, No. 3, 429--448 (1992; Zbl 0780.14026)] and \textit{F. Campana} [Ann. Sci. Éc. Norm. Supér. (4) 25, No. 5, 539--545 (1992; Zbl 0783.14022)]. A variety \(X\) is rationally connected if a general pair of points can be connected by a rational curve. It turns out that on a rationally connected variety, there is a rational curve passing through any finitely many points. After fixing an ample divisor \(D\) on \(X\), one can put restriction on the degree of the rational curves connecting a pair of points. The classification of varieties whose general pair of points can be connected by a conic is done by \textit{P. Ionescu} and \textit{F. Russo} [J. Reine Angew. Math. 644, 145--157 (2010; Zbl 1200.14078)]. The case of rationally cubic connected varieties is treated in [\textit{G. Occhetta} and \textit{V. Paterno}, J. Math. Soc. Japan 64, No. 3, 941--967 (2012; Zbl 1260.14064)] and [\textit{G. Occhetta} and \textit{V. Paterno}, Rev. Mat. Iberoam. 28, No. 3, 815--838 (2012; Zbl 1260.14063)]. The work under review is a continuation of [\textit{L. Pirio} and \textit{J.-M. Trépreau}, Bull. Soc. Math. Fr. 141, No. 1, 131--196 (2013; Zbl 1276.14079)]. Let \(X=X(r+1,n,\delta)\) be a projective variety of dimension \(r+1\) such that through \(n\geq 2\) general points there passes an irreducible curve of degree \(\delta\geq n-1\) with respect to certain fixed Cartier divisor \(D\). The authors obtain a bound for the dimension of the linear system \(|D|\) in terms of the Castelnuovo-Harris bound function for geometric genus. This further gives a bound for the self-intersection number of \(D\), which generalises a result of Fano. While the classification of all such \(X\) seems out of reach, the authors obtain a list of smooth \(X\) with \(n=3\) and \(\delta=3\). Many interesting examples are discussed in Section 4.