3-dimensional sundials (Q657407)

A \textit{\(3\)-dimensional sundial} in \(\mathbb P^n\) is the scheme defined by a pair of intersecting lines, with a non reduced structure at the common point \(p\). The structure at \(p\) is determined by taking the square of the ideal in some linear three-dimensional space which contains the lines. Sundials are useful, since they are the flat limit, in the Hilbert scheme, of a pair of skew lines degenerating to a reducible conic. From this point of view, sundials were used by Hartshorne and Hirschowitz, to prove that a general union of lines in \(\mathbb P^3\) has the expected Hilbert function. The authors generalize the previous result: they prove that the Hilbert function of a general union of lines and \(3\)-dimensional sundials in \(\mathbb P^n\), has the expected behaviour.