Subspace arrangements, configurations of linear spaces and the quadrics containing them

Abstract

A subspace arrangement in a vector space is a finite collection of vector subspaces. Similarly, a configuration of linear spaces in a projective space is a finite collection of linear subspaces. In this paper we study the degree 2 part of the ideal of such objects. More precisely, for a generic configuration of linear spaces L we determine HF(L,2), i.e. the Hilbert function of L in degree 2.