Incidences between points and lines on two- and three-dimensional varieties

is not too large. The same bound holds when the three-dimensional surface is embedded in any higher dimensional space. For the proof of this bound, we revisit certain parts of [Sharir-Solomon16], combined with the following new incidence bound. Let

P

be a set of

m

points and

L

a set of

n

lines in

m a t h b b R^{d}

, for

d g e 3

, which lie in a common two-dimensional algebraic surface of degree

D

(assumed to be

l l n^{1 / 2}

) that does not contain any 2-flat, so that no 2-flat contains more than

s

lines of

L

(here we require that the lines of

L

also be contained in the surface). Then the number of incidences between

P

and

L

is

I(P,L) = Oleft(m^{1/2}n^{1/2}D^{1/2} + m^{2/3}D^{2/3}s^{1/3} + m + n ight).

When

d = 3

, this improves the bound of Guth and Katz for this special case, when

D l l n^{1 / 2}

. Moreover, the bound does not involve the term

O (n D)

, that arises in most standard approaches, and its removal is a significant aspect of our result. Finally, we also obtain (slightly weaker) variants of both results over the complex field. For two-dimensional varieties, the bound is as in the real case, with an added term of

O (D^{3})

. For three-dimensional varieties, the bound is as in the real case, with an added term of

O (D^{6})

.

Review text

The Theorem of Szemerèdi-Trotter, a classic result of combinatorial geometry, states that the number of incidences between \(m\) points and \(n\) lines in the real plane is bounded by \(O(m^{2/3}n^{2/3}+m+n)\). This theorem has later been extended to the complex plane. An important spatial version that requires an upper bound on the number of co-planar lines is due to \textit{L. Guth} and \textit{N. H. Katz} [Ann. Math. 181, No. 1, 155--190 (Zbl 1310.52019)]. This article provides asymptotic bounds on the number of incidences if the points and lines are incident with an algebraic variety \(V\) of dimension two or three in \(K^d\) where \(K = \mathbb{R}\) or \(K = \mathbb{C}\). If \(d \geq 3\), \(\dim V = 2\), \(\deg V = D\) and no \(2\)-flat contains more then \(s\) lines of \(L\), the asymptotic bound is \[ O(m^{1/2}n^{1/2}D^{1/2}+m^{2/3}D^{2/3}s^{1/3}+m+n) \] for \(K = \mathbb{R}\). In the complex case, an additional summand \(D^3\) has to be added. In case of \(d \geq 4\) and \(\dim V = 3\), the additional condition that \(V\) contains no linear or quadratic components has to be added but the lines are no longer required to lie in \(V\). The bound in case of \(K = \mathbb{R}\) is \[ O(m^{1/2}n^{1/2}D+m^{2/3}n^{1/3}s^{1/3}+nD+m). \] In the complex case, an additional summand \(D^6\) has to be added. Bounds over \(\mathbb{C}\) are quite rare in literature. Another remarkable property is absence of the term \(O(nD)\) in case of \(\dim V = 2\). It seems unavoidable if the lines are not restricted to lie in \(V\). This paper features a rather detailed proof for the case of \(\dim V = 2\), including an accessible and modern presentation of the background material from algebraic geometry and differential geometry, and puts its results in proper context to recent development. The proof for the case \(\dim V = 3\) can be shorter as it appeals to the case \(\dim V = 2\).

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