The space of twisted cubics

Abstract

We consider the Cohen-Macaulay compactification of the space of twisted cubics in projective n-space. This compactification is the fine moduli scheme representing the functor of CM-curves with Hilbert polynomial 3t+1. We show that the moduli scheme of CM-curves in projective 3-space is isomorphic to the twisted cubic component of the Hilbert scheme. We also describe the compactification for twisted cubics in n-space.