A counterexample to the containment \(I^{(3)} \subset I^{2}\) over the reals (Q907856)

Let \(I_V\) be a homogeneous ideal in a polynomial ring over a field \(K\), defining a projective subvariety \(V\). The symbolic power \(I_V^{(r)}\) contains forms defining hypersurfaces which pass through \(V\) with multiplicity at least \(r\). The symbolic power \(I_V^{(r)}\) contains the algebraic power \(I_V^r\), and it can be much bigger. On the other hand, the algebraic power \(I_V^t\) contains the symbolic powers \(I_V^{(r)}\) when \(r\) is large with respect to \(t\). A precise map of such containment relations between \(I_V^t\) and \(I_V^{(r)}\) is still largely incomplete. It has been deeply investigate because of its relations with interpolation in projective spaces. The first interesting case concerns sets of points \(V\) in a projective plane \(\mathbb P^2(K)\), and the relations between \(I_V^{(3)}\) and \(I_V^2\). Examples of configurations \(V\) for which \(I_V^2\) does not contain \(I_V^{(3)}\) where pointed out recently, but only for projective planes over \(\mathbb C\) or in positive characteristic. In the paper under review, the authors provide an new example, which can be realized also in the real projective plane, of a configuration \(V\) of points for which \(I_V^{(3)}\not\subset I_V^2\). The idea is to start with a configuration of lines with few double points, that is: with few points where only two lines meet. The smallest example starts with \(12\) lines and takes \(V\) as a subset of \(19\) intersection points, \(6\) of which are double points.