A generalization of the Clifford index and determinantal equations for curves and their secant varieties

Abstract

This is the author's 2008 thesis from the University of Chicago. We generalize the notion of the Clifford index to an arbitrary very ample line bundle and show how it determines when a curve and its various secant varieties have determinantal equations. In particular we establish the scheme theoretic version of a conjecture of Eisenbud-Koh-Stillman. If $L_1$ and $L_2$ are line bundles of degree at least $2g+1+k$, then ${\rm Sec}^j(C)$ is determinantally presented for $j \leq k$ and for $j \leq k+1$ if $L_1 \neq L_2$. We also give a geometric characterization of the standard Clifford index in terms of which secant varieties of $C$ are determinantal in the bicanonical embedding. The relationship with Koszul cohomology and Green's conjecture is also discussed.