Hypersurfaces with up to Six Double Points (Q4418344)

This paper extends an earlier work on curves on surfaces by the author [J. Algebr. Geom. 4, No. 3, 503--526 (1995; Zbl 0928.14035)]; for further references and a historical background, again on the case of curves on surfaces, see \textit{S. Kleiman} and \textit{R. Piene} [in: Algebraic geometry: Hirzebruch 70. Contemp. Math. 241, 209--238 (1999; Zbl 0953.14031)]. In the paper under review, explicit formulas are given for the number of hypersurfaces having \(k\) ordinary double points, when the hypersurfaces vary in a suitable general \(k\)-dimensional family, with \(k\leq 6\). This result has to do with classical enumerative problems, such as: 1) finding the number of algebraic surfaces in the projective space \(\mathbb{P}^3\) of a given (sufficiently high) degree having \(k\) nodes, when the surfaces vary in a linear system of dimension \(k\) \((k\leq 6)\); 2) finding the number of hyperplanes tangent to a fixed algebraic projective variety \(V\subset\mathbb{P}^n\), when the hyperplanes vary in a generic linear pencil; in the particular case in which \(V\) is an irreducible hypersurface in \(\mathbb{P}^n\), such a number is the class of \(V\), i.e. the degree of the dual hypersurface of \(V\) (if the dual of \(V\) is a hypersurface). Reviewer's remark: The reviewer has difficulty in reading the paper under review and understanding certain hypotheses of generality: the first page of the introduction abounds in ``suitably general'', ``sufficiently high'', ``generality assumption'' and ``sufficiently general'', making it difficult to understand whether the results of the paper hold true for classical enumerative problems, too. The reviewer suggests rewriting this paper in a more comprehensible language, dealing mainly with classical enumerative problems, because the argument, results and applications seem quite interesting and important.