Clifford inequality for curves Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-07
If a line bundle on a smooth projective curve has both and , the displayed inequality holds. Write these dimensions as . The product dimension bound for sections on a curve gives , and the Riemann-Roch theorem gives . Adding gives .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 20 3 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Let . Its degree is five. Because the linear span of has dimension at least three, restrictions of linear forms supply at least four independent global sections, soIf , the Riemann-Roch theorem gives , and therefore immediately.
If instead is special, the Clifford inequality for curves givesso its integer dimension is at most three, a contradiction. Here is a short proof of the required Clifford inequality for curves, so the bound need not be assumed. Put and . At a smooth geometric point, choose bases of these two section spaces with strictly increasing orders of vanishing and . Such bases exist because each successive order-of-vanishing quotient has dimension at most one. The products of the first basis with the first element of the second basis, followed by products of the last element of the first basis with the remaining elements of the second, have ordersThey are linearly independent global sections of , proving the product dimension bound for sections on a curve. Thus . Combining this with Riemann-Roch theorem, , gives , which is exactly the displayed Clifford inequality for curves.
The special case is impossible, and henceThis is the genus bound for a nonplanar degree-five curve. The geometric argument can be carried out after extension to an algebraic closure, which preserves these section dimensions.