Triple-Point Defective Surfaces

In this paper we study the linear series $|L-3p|$ of hyperplane sections with a triple point $p$ on a surface $S$ embedded via a very ample line bundle $L$ for a \emph{general} point $p$. If this linear series does not have the expected dimension we call $(S,L)$ \emph{triple-point defective}. We show that on a triple-point defective surface through a general point every hyperplane section has either a triple component or the surface is rationally ruled and the hyperplane section contains twice a fibre of the ruling.