Secant non-defectivity via collisions of fat points

Abstract: Secant defectivity of projective varieties is classically approached via dimensions of linear systems with multiple base points in general position. The latter can be studied via degenerations. We exploit a technique that allows some of the base points to collapse together. We deduce a general result which we apply to prove a conjecture by Abo and Brambilla: for $c \geq 3$ and $d \geq 3$, the Segre-Veronese embedding of $\mathbb{P}^m\times\mathbb{P}^n$ in bidegree $(c,d)$ is non-defective.