Symbolic powers of the ideal of$n$ general points in $P^{n-1}$

Abstract

Problem L of Fr\"oberg--Lundqvist--Oneto--Shapiro asks for the difference between the Hilbert series of ordinary and symbolic powers of the ideal of general points in projective space. We solve this completely for \(n\) general points of \(\PP^{n-1}\). Besides a closed formula for \[ \HS(S/I^m)-\HS(S/I^{(m)}), \] we determine all minimal monomial generators of \(I^{(m)}\), and describe the symbolic Rees algebra. We also show that containment \(I^{(m)}\subseteq I^r\) is detected solely by initial degrees. This gives the exact containment threshold, the Waldschmidt constant \(\walpha\), the resurgence \(\Res\), and the asymptotic resurgence \(\aRes\): \[ \walpha(I)=\frac{n}{n-1}, \qquad \Res(I)=\aRes(I)=\frac{2(n-1)}{n}. \] We also take the first step beyond \(n\) points: for \(n+1\) general points of \(\PP^{n-1}\) --- again a rigid, non-monomial configuration --- we identify the defining quadrics, resolve the case \(n=3\) completely (a complete intersection, with \(J^{(m)}=J^m\) for all \(m\) and resurgence \(1\)), and propose an exact Waldschmidt-constant formula \(\walpha=\frac{n+1}{n-1}\) for all \(n\), verified computationally in every case we could check.