A commutative algebraic approach to the fitting problem

Given a finite set of points $\Gamma$ in $\mathbb P^{k-1}$ not all contained in a hyperplane, the "fitting problem" asks what is the maximum number $hyp(\Gamma)$ of these points that can fit in some hyperplane and what is (are) the equation(s) of such hyperplane(s). If $\Gamma$ has the property that any $k-1$ of its points span a hyperplane, then $hyp(\Gamma)=nil(I)+k-2$, where $nil(I)$ is the index of nilpotency of an ideal constructed from the homogeneous coordinates of the points of $\Gamma$. Note that in $\mathbb P^2$ any two points span a line, and we find that the maximum number of collinear points of any given set of points $\Gamma\subset\mathbb P^2$ equals the index of nilpotency of the corresponding ideal, plus one.Comment: 8 page

The minimum distance of sets of points and the minimum socle degree

Let $\mathbb K$ be a field of characteristic 0. Let $\Gamma\subset\mathbb P^n_{\mathbb K}$ be a reduced finite set of points, not all contained in a hyperplane. Let $hyp(\Gamma)$ be the maximum number of points of $\Gamma$ contained in any hyperplane, and let $d(\Gamma)=|\Gamma|-hyp(\Gamma)$. If $I\subset R=\mathbb K[x_0,...,x_n]$ is the ideal of $\Gamma$, then in \cite{t1} it is shown that for $n=2,3$, $d(\Gamma)$ has a lower bound expressed in terms of some shift in the graded minimal free resolution of $R/I$. In these notes we show that this behavior is true in general, for any $n\geq 2$: $d(\Gamma)\geq A_n$, where $A_n=\min\{a_i-n\}$ and $\oplus_i R(-a_i)$ is the last module in the graded minimal free resolution of $R/I$. In the end we also prove that this bound is sharp for a whole class of examples due to Juan Migliore (\cite{m}).Comment: 11 page