We study the Hilbert functions of fat points in P^1 x P^1. If Z is an arbitrary fat point subscheme of P^1 x P^1, then it can be shown that for every i and j the values of the Hilbert function H_Z(l,j) and H_Z(i,l) eventually become constant for l >> 0. We show how to determine these eventual values by using only the multiplicities of the points, and the relative positions of the points in P^1 x P^1. This enables us to compute all but a finite number values of H_Z without using the coordinates of points. We also characterize the ACM fat points schemes using our description of the eventual behaviour. In fact, in the case that Z is ACM, then the entire Hilbert function and its minimal free resolution depend solely on knowing the eventual values of the Hilbert function.
In this paper, we investigate the question of triviality of the rational Chow groups of complete intersections in projective spaces and obtain improved bounds for this triviality to hold. Along the way, we study the dimension and nonemptiness of some Hilbert schemes of fat $r$-planes contained in a complete intersection $Y$, generalizing well-known results on the Fano varieties of $r$-planes contained in $Y$.
We study the bi-graded Hilbert function of ideals of general fat points with same multiplicity in $\mathbb{P}^1\times\mathbb{P}^1$. Our first tool is the multiprojective-affine-projective method introduced by the second author in previous works with A.V. Geramita and A. Gimigliano where they solved the case of double points. In this way, we compute the Hilbert function when the smallest entry of the bi-degree is at most the multiplicity of the points. Our second tool is the differential Horace method introduced by J. Alexander and A. Hirschowitz to study the Hilbert function of sets of fat poi…
Two approaches for determining Hilbert functions of fat point subschemes of $\mathbb P^2$ are demonstrated. A complete determination of the Hilbert functions which occur for 9 double points is given using the first approach, extending results obtained in a previous paper using the second approach. In addition the second approach is used to obtain a complete determination of the Hilbert functions for $n\geq 9$ $m$-multiple points for every $m$ if the points are smooth points of an irreducible plane cubic curve. Additional results are obtained using the first approach for $n\geq 9$ double points…
Conjectures for the Hilbert function of the m-th symbolic power of the ideal of n general points of P2 are verified for infinitely many m for each square n > 9, using an approach developed by the authors in a previous paper. In those cases that n is even, conjectures for the resolution are also verified. Previously, by work of Evain (for the Hilbert function) and of Harbourne, Holay and Fitchett (for the resolution), these conjectures were known for infinitely many m for a given n > 9 only for n being a power of 4.
Given a fat point scheme $\mathbb{W}=m_1P_1+\cdots+m_sP_s$ in the projective $n$-space $\mathbb{P}^n$ over a field $K$ of characteristic zero, the modules of Kähler differential $k$-forms of its homogeneous coordinate ring contain useful information about algebraic and geometric properties of $\mathbb{W}$ when $k\in\{1,\dots, n+1\}$. In this paper we determine the value of its Hilbert polynomial explicitly for the case $k=n+1$, confirming an earlier conjecture. More precisely this value is given by the multiplicity of the fat point scheme $\mathbb{Y} = (m_1-1)P_1 + \cdots + (m_s-1)P_s$. For $n…
We study Hilbert functions of certain non-reduced schemes A supported at finite sets of points in projective space, in particular, fat point schemes. We give combinatorially defined upper and lower bounds for the Hilbert function of A using nothing more than the multiplicities of the points and information about which subsets of the points are linearly dependent. When N=2, we give these bounds explicitly and we give a sufficient criterion for the upper and lower bounds to be equal. When this criterion is satisfied, we give both a simple formula for the Hilbert function and combinatorially defi…
A recent paper by the first and third authors together with Sabourin raised the question of what the possible Hilbert functions are for fat point subschemes of the form $2p_1+...+2p_r$, for all possible choices of $r$ distinct points in the projective plane. We study this problem for $r$ points in the plane over an algebraically closed field $k$ of arbitrary characteristic in case either $r \le 8$ or the points lie on a (possibly reducible) conic. In either case, it follows from work of the second author that there are only finitely many configuration types of points, where our notion of confi…
The graded Betti numbers of the minimal free resolution (and also therefore the Hilbert function) of the ideal of a fat point subscheme Z of P^2 are determined whenever Z is supported at any 6 or fewer distinct points. All results hold over an algebraically closed field k of arbitrary characteristic.
Let I be the ideal corresponding to a set of general points $p_1,...,p_n \in P^2$. There recently has been progress in showing that a naive lower bound for the Hilbert functions of symbolic powers $I^{(m)}$ is in fact attained when n>9. Here, for m sufficiently large, the minimal free graded resolution of $I^{(m)}$ is determined when n>9 is an even square, assuming only that this lower bound on the Hilbert function is attained. Under ostensibly stronger conditions (that are nonetheless expected always to hold), a similar result is shown to hold for odd squares, and for infinitely many m for ea…
This is an appendix to the recent paper of Favacchio and Guardo. In these notes we describe explicitly a minimal bigraded free resolution and the bigraded Hilbert function of a set of 3 fat points whose support is an almost complete intersection (ACI) in $\mathbb{P}^1\times\mathbb{P}^1.$ This solve the interpolation problem for three points with an ACI support.
In this paper we extend the definition of a separator of a point P in P^n to a fat point P of multiplicity m. The key idea in our definition is to compare the fat point schemes Z = m_1P_1 + ... + m_iP_i + .... + m_sP_s in P^n and Z' = m_1P_1 + ... + (m_i-1)P_i + .... + m_sP_s. We associate to P_i a tuple of positive integers of length v = deg Z - deg Z'. We call this tuple the degree of the minimal separators of P_i of multiplicity m_i, and we denote it by deg_Z(P_i) = (d_1,...,d_v). We show that if one knows deg_Z(P_i) and the Hilbert function of Z, one will also know the Hilbert function of …
Let Z be a fat point scheme in P^2 supported on general points. Here we prove that if the multiplicities are at most 3 and the length of Z is sufficiently high then the number of generators of the homogeneous ideal I_Z in each degree is as small as numerically possible. Since it is known that Z has maximal Hilbert function, this implies that Z has the expected minimal free resolution.
The Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity of a graded ring is an important invariant in computational commutative algebra, and there is increasing interest in multigraded generalizations. We study connections between two recent definitions of multigraded regularity with a view towards a better understanding of the multigraded Hilbert function of fat point schemes in P^{n_1} x ... x P^{n_k}.
We introduce definitions for the separator of a fat point and the degree of a fat point for a fat point scheme Z in P^n x P^m, and we study some of their properties.
Let $X$ be a set of $K$-rational points in $P^1 \times P^1$ over a field $K$ of characteristic zero, let $Y$ be a fat point scheme supported at $ X$, and let $R_Y$ be the bihomogeneus coordinate ring of $Y$. In this paper we investigate the module of Kaehler differentials $Ω^1_{R_Y/K}$. We describe this bigraded $R_Y$-module explicitly via a homogeneous short exact sequence and compute its Hilbert function in a number of special cases, in particular when the support $X$ is a complete intersection or an almost complete intersection in $P^1 \times P^1$. Moreover, we introduce a Kaehler different…
We investigate the minimal graded free resolutions of ideals of at most n+1 fat points in general position in P^n. Our main theorem is that these ideals are componentwise linear. This result yields a number of corollaries, including the multiplicity conjecture of Herzog, Huneke, and Srinivasan in this case. On the computational side, using an iterated mapping cone process, we compute formulas for the graded Betti numbers of ideals associated to two fat points in P^n, verifying a conjecture of Fatabbi, and at most n+1 general double points in P^n.
Starting with the ground-breaking work of Cook II, Harbourne, Migliore and Nagel, there has been a lot of interest in unexpected hypersurfaces. In the last couple of months a considerable number of new examples and new phenomena has been observed and reported on. All examples studied so far had just one fat point. In this note we introduce a new series of examples, which establishes for the first time the existence of unexpected hypersurfaces with multiple fat points. The key underlying idea is to study Fermat-type configurations of points in projective spaces.
Given an ideal $I$, the containment problem is concerned about finding the values $m$ and $n$ such that the $m$-th symbolic power of $I$ is contained in its $n$-th ordinary power. In this paper we consider this problem focusing on two classes of ideals of fat points. In particular we study the ideal of $n$ points on a line in $\mathbb{P}^N$ and the ideal of three nonlinear points in $\mathbb{P}^N$ for $N\geq2$.
The main result provides an algorithm for determining the minimal free resolution of ideals of fat point subschemes of ${\bf P}^2$ involving up to 8 general points with arbitrary multiplicities; the results hold over algebraically closed fields of any characteristic. The algorithm, which works by giving a formula in certain cases and a reduction to these cases otherwise, does not involve Gröbner bases, and so is very fast, even for very large multiplicities. Partial information is also obtained in certain cases with $n>8$.
These notes are a record of lectures given in the Workshop on Connections Between Algebra and Geometry at the University of Regina, May 29--June 1, 2012. The lectures were meant as an introduction to current research problems related to fat points for an audience that was not expected to have much background in commutative algebra or algebraic geometry (although sections 8 and 9 of these notes demand somewhat more background than earlier sections).
For a scheme of fat points $Z$ defined by the saturated ideal $\mathcal{I}_Z$, the regularity index computes the Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity of the Cohen-Macaulay ring $R/\mathcal{I}_Z.$ For points in " general position" we improve the bound for the regularity index computed by Segre for $\mathbb {P}^2$ and generalised by Catalisano, Trung and Valla for $\mathbb {P}^n$. Moreover, we prove that the generalised Segre's bound conjectured by Fatabbi and Lorenzini holds for $n+3$ arbitrary points in $\mathbb {P}^n$. We propose a modification of Segre's conjecture for arbitrary points and we disc…
We study the postulation of a general union Y of double, triple, quartuple and quintuple points of P^3. In characteristic 0, we prove that Y has good postulation in degree $d\ge 11$. The proof is based on the combination of the Horace differential lemma with a computer-assisted proof. We also classify the exceptions in degree 9 and 10.
We consider the open problem of determining the graded Betti numbers for fat point subschemes supported at general points of the projective plane. We relate this problem to the open geometric problem of determining the splitting type of the pullback of the cotangent bundle on the plane to the normalization of certain rational plane curves. We give a conjecture for the graded Betti numbers which would determine them in all degrees but one for every fat point subscheme supported at general points of the plane. We also prove our Betti number conjecture in a broad range of cases. An appendix discu…
This paper surveys certain problems involving numerical characters for ideals I(Z) defining fat points subschemes $Z=m_1p_1+...+m_np_n$ for general points $p_i\in {\bf P}^2$. It also presents some new results, and includes a suite of MACAULAY 2 scripts for computing actual or conjectured values of (or bounds on) these characters. One such script, for example, is findres, which implements an algorithm due to Fitchett, Harbourne and Holay for computing the syzygy modules in a minimal free resolution of the ideal I(Z) for any such Z with n<=8; since findres does not rely on a Gröbner basis calcul…
Let $F$ be a line bundle on the blow-up $X$ of $P^2$ at $r$ general points $p_1, ..., p_r$ and let $L$ be the pullback to $X$ of the line bundle coming from a line on $P^2$. Under reasonable hypotheses that are conjectured always to hold if the points $p_1, ..., p_r$ are sufficiently general, it is shown that the computation of the dimension of the cokernel of the natural map $μ_F:Γ(F)\otimesΓ(L)\toΓ(F\otimes L)$ reduces to the case that $F$ is ample. As an application, a complete determination of the dimension of the cokernel of $μ_F$ is obtained when $r\le 7$, thereby solving the Ideal Gener…
This paper is a natural sequel to [22] in that it tackles problems of the same nature. Here one aims at the ideal theoretic and homological properties of a class of ideals of general plane fat points whose second symbolic powers hold virtual multiplicities of proper homaloidal types. For this purpose one carries a detailed examination of their linear systems at the initial degree, a good deal of the results depending on the method of applying the classical arithmetic quadratic transformations of Hudson--Nagata. A subsidiary guide to understand these ideals through their initial linear systems …
One considers plane Cremona maps with proper base points and the {\em base ideal} generated by the linear system of forms defining the map. The object of this work is the interweave between the algebraic properties of the base ideal and those of the ideal of these points fattened by the virtual multiplicities arising from the linear system. One reveals conditions which naturally regulate this association, with particular emphasis on the homological side. While most classical numerical inequalities concern the three highest virtual multiplicities, here one emphasizes also the role of one single…
The problem to find an upper bound for the regularity index of fat points has been dealt with by many authors. In this paper we give a lower bound for the regularity index of fat points. It is useful for determining the regularity index.
In this paper we study the tangent space to the Hilbert scheme $\mathrm{Hilb}^d \mathbf{P}^3$, motivated by Haiman's work on $\mathrm{Hilb}^d \mathbf{P}^2$ and by a long-standing conjecture of Briançon and Iarrobino on the most singular point in $\mathrm{Hilb}^d \mathbf{P}^n$. For points parametrizing monomial subschemes, we consider a decomposition of the tangent space into six distinguished subspaces, and show that a fat point exhibits an extremal behavior in this respect. This decomposition is also used to characterize smooth monomial points on the Hilbert scheme. We prove the first Brianço…
This paper introduces complexes of linear varieties, called inclics (for INductively Constructible LInear ComplexeS). As examples, we study galaxies (these are constructed starting with a star configuration to which we add general points in a larger projective space). By assigning an order of vanishing (i.e., a multiplicity) to each member of the complex, we obtain fat linear varieties (fat points if all of the linear varieties are points). The scheme theoretic union of these fat linear varieties gives an inclic scheme $X$. For such a scheme, we show there is an inductive procedure for computi…
We prove the Trung's conjecture about Segre's upper bound for s equimultiple fat points not on a linear (r-1)-space, s\le r+3, by algebraic method used in [3]. This method also may used to research other cases of fat points.
Our results concern minimal graded free resolutions of fat point ideals for points in a hyperplane. Suppose, for example, that I(m,d) is the ideal defining r given points of multiplicity m in the projective space P^d. Assume that the given points lie in a hyperplane P^{d-1} in P^d, and that the ground field k is algebraically closed of characteristic 0. We give an explicit minimal graded free resolution of I(m,d) in k[P^d] in terms of the minimal graded free resolutions of the ideals I(j,d-1) in k[P^{d-1}] with j < m+1. As a corollary, we give the following formula for the Poincare polynomial …
A current research theme is to compare symbolic powers of an ideal $I$ with the regular powers of $I$. In this paper, we focus on the case that $I=I_X$ is an ideal defining an almost complete intersection (ACI) sets of points $X$ in $\mathbb{P}^1\times\mathbb{P}^1$. In particular, we describe a minimal free bigraded resolution of a non arithmetically Cohen-Macaulay (also non homogeneus) set of fat points $\mathcal Z$ whose support is an ACI. We call $\mathcal Z$ a fat ACI. We also show that its symbolic and ordinary powers are equal, i.e, $I_{\mathcal Z}^{(m)}=I_{\mathcal Z}^{m}$ for any $m\ge…
Let Z be a set of fat points in P^1 x P^1 that is also arithmetically Cohen-Macaulay (ACM). We describe how to compute the degree of a separator of a fat point of multiplicity m for each point in the support of Z using only a numerical description of Z. Our formula extends the case of reduced points which was previously known.
In this note we show that Harbourne's conjecture is true for symbolic powers of ideals of points, we check that the stable version of this conjecture is valid for ideals of very general points (resp. generic points) in $\mathbb P_{\mathbb K}^N$ (resp. $\mathbb P_{\mathbb K(\underline{z})}^N$). We also show that this conjecture and the Harbourne-Huneke conjecture are true for a class of ideals $I$ defining fat points obtained from line arrangements in $\mathbb P_{\mathbb K}^2$.
It remains an open problem to classify the Hilbert functions of double points in $\mathbb{P}^2$. Given a valid Hilbert function $H$ of a zero-dimensional scheme in $\mathbb{P}^2$, we show how to construct a set of fat points $Z \subseteq \mathbb{P}^2$ of double and reduced points such that $H_Z$, the Hilbert function of $Z$, is the same as $H$. In other words, we show that any valid Hilbert function $H$ of a zero-dimensional scheme is the Hilbert function of a set of a positive number of double points and some reduced points. For some families of valid Hilbert functions, we are also able to sh…
We characterize Hilbert polynomials that give rise to Hilbert schemes with two Borel-fixed points and determine when the associated Hilbert schemes or their irreducible components are smooth. In particular, we show that the Hilbert scheme is reduced and has at most two irreducible components. By describing the singularities in a neighbourhood of the Borel-fixed points, we prove that the irreducible components are Cohen-Macaulay and normal. We end by giving many examples of Hilbert schemes with three Borel-fixed points.
Let $Z \subseteq \proj{n}$ be a fat points scheme, and let $d(Z)$ be the minimum distance of the linear code constructed from $Z$. We show that $d(Z)$ imposes constraints (i.e., upper bounds) on some specific shifts in the graded minimal free resolution of $I_Z$, the defining ideal of $Z$. We investigate this relation in the case that the support of $Z$ is a complete intersection; when $Z$ is reduced and a complete intersection we give lower bounds for $d(Z)$ that improve upon known bounds.
We investigate ideals in a polynomial ring which are generated by powers of linear forms. Such ideals are closely related to the theories of fat point ideals, Cox rings, and box splines. We pay special attention to a family of power ideals that arises naturally from a hyperplane arrangement A. We prove that their Hilbert series are determined by the combinatorics of A, and can be computed from its Tutte polynomial. We also obtain formulas for the Hilbert series of the resulting fat point ideals and zonotopal Cox rings. Our work unifies and generalizes results due to Dahmen-Micchelli, Holtz-Ron…
Consider an ideal I in K[x,y,z] corresponding to a point configuration in P2 where all but one of the points lies on a single line. In this paper we study the symbolic generic initial system obtained by taking the reverse lexicographic generic initial ideals of the corresponding uniform fat point ideals. We describe the limiting shape of this system of ideals and, in proving this result, demonstrate that infinitely many of the uniform fat point ideals are componentwise linear.
This article surveys results on graded algebras and their Hilbert series. We give simple constructions of finitely generated graded associative algebras $R$ with Hilbert series $H(R,t)$ very close to an arbitrary power series $a(t)$ with exponentially bounded nonnegative integer coefficients. Then we summarize some related facts on algebras with polynomial identity. Further we discuss the problem how to find series $a(t)$ which are rational/algebraic/transcendental over ${\mathbb Q}(t)$. Applying a classical result of Fatou we conclude that if a finitely generated graded algebra has a finite G…
