Combinatorial bounds on Hilbert functions of fat points in projective space

We study Hilbert functions of certain non-reduced schemes A supported at finite sets of points in P-N, in particular, fat point schemes. We give combinatorially defined upper and lower bounds for the Hilbert function of A using nothing more than the multiplicities of the points and information about which subsets of the points are linearly dependent. When N = 2, we give these bounds explicitly and we give a sufficient criterion for the upper and lower bounds to be equal. When this criterion is satisfied, we give both a simple formula for the Hilbert function and combinatorially defined upper and lower bounds on the graded Betti numbers for the ideal I-A defining A, generalizing results of Geramita et al. (2006) [16]. We obtain the exact Hilbert functions and graded Betti numbers for many families of examples, interesting combinatorially, geometrically, and algebraically. Our method works in any characteristic. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.