On the Hilbert Function of Intersections of a Hypersurface with General Reducible Curves

Let $W\subset \mathbb {P}^n$, $n\ge 3$, be a degree $k$ hypersurface. Consider a "general" reducible, but connected, curve $Y\subset \mathbb {P}^n$, for instance a sufficiently general connected and nodal union of lines with $p_a(Y)=0$, i.e. a tree of lines. We study the Hilbert function of the set $Y\cap W$ with cardinality $k°(Y)$ and prove when it is the expected one. We give complete classification of the exceptions for $k=2$ and for $n=k=3$. We apply these results and tools to the case in which $Y$ is a smooth curve with $\mathcal {O}_Y(1)$ non-special.