A finite simple graph $Γ$ determines a quotient $P_Γ$ of the pure braid group, called a graphic arrangement group. We analyze homomorphisms of these groups defined by deletion of sets of vertices, using methods developed in prior joint work with R. Randell. We show that, for a $K_4$-free graph $Γ$, a product of deletion maps is injective, embedding $P_Γ$ in a product of free groups. Then $P_Γ$ is residually free, torsion-free, residually torsion-free nilpotent, and acts properly on a CAT(0) cube complex. We also show $P_Γ$ is of homological finiteness type $F_{m-1}$, but not $F_m$, where $m$ is the number of copies of $K_3$ in $Γ$, except in trivial cases. The embedding result is extended to graphs whose 4-cliques share at most one edge, giving an injection of $P_Γ$ into the product of pure braid groups corresponding to maximal cliques of $Γ$. We give examples showing that this map may inject in more general circumstances. We define the graphic braid group $B_Γ$ as a natural extension of $P_Γ$ by the automorphism group of $Γ$, and extend our homological finiteness result to these groups.
For a real oriented hyperplane arrangement, we show that the corresponding Salvetti complex is homotopy equivalent to the complement of the complexified arrangement. This result was originally proved by M. Salvetti. Our proof follows the framework of a proof given by L. Paris and relies heavily on the notation of oriented matroids. We also show that homotopy equivalence is preserved when we quotient by the action of the corresponding reflection group. In particular, the Salvetti complex of the braid arrangement in $\ell$ dimensions modulo the action of the symmetric group is a cell complex whi…
We introduce and study the notion of the $G$-Tutte polynomial for a list $\mathcal{A}$ of elements in a finitely generated abelian group $Γ$ and an abelian group $G$, which is defined by counting the number of homomorphisms from associated finite abelian groups to $G$. The $G$-Tutte polynomial is a common generalization of the (arithmetic) Tutte polynomial for realizable (arithmetic) matroids, the characteristic quasi-polynomial for integral arrangements, Brändén-Moci's arithmetic version of the partition function of an abelian group-valued Potts model, and the modified Tutte-Krushkal-Renhardy…
A relatively common sight in graphic designs is a planar arrangement of three gears in contact. However, since neighboring gears must rotate in opposite directions, none of the gears can move. We give a non-planar, and non-frozen, arrangement of three linked gears.
We construct bundles $E_k(\A,\F) \to M$ over the complement $M$ of a complex hyperplane arrangement \A, depending on an integer $k \geq 1$ and a set $\F=\{f_1, \ldots, f_μ\}$ of continuous functions $f_i \colon M \to \C$ whose differences are nonzero on $M$, generalizing the configuration space bundles arising in the Lawrence-Krammer-Bigelow representation of the pure braid group. We display such families \F\ for rank two arrangements, reflection arrangements of types $A_\ell$, $B_\ell$, $D_\ell$, $F_4$, and for arrangements supporting multinet structures with three classes, with the resulting…
The purpose of this paper is applying minimality of hyperplane arrangements to local system cohomology groups. It is well known that twisted cohomology groups with coefficients in a generic rank one local system vanish except in the top degree, and bounded chambers form a basis of the remaining cohomology group. We determine precisely when this phenomenon happens for two-dimensional arrangements.
We give a new algorithm computing local system cohomology groups for complexified real line arrangements. Using it, we obtain several conditions for the first local system cohomology to vanish and to be at most one-dimensional, which generalize a result by Cohen-Dimca-Orlik. The conditions are described in terms of discrete geometric structures of real figures. The proof is based on a recent study on minimal cell structures. We also compute the characteristic variety of the deleted $B_3$-arrangement.
Recent work of M. Yoshinaga shows that in some instances certain higher homotopy groups of arrangements map onto non-resonant homology. This is in contrast to the usual Hurewicz map to untwisted homology, which is always the zero homomorphism in degree greater than one. In this work we examine this dichotomy, generalizing both results.
This paper is the first part of a series of three papers about the fundamental groups of conic-line arrangements consist of two tangented conics and up to two additional tangented lines. In this part, we compute the local braid monodromies and the local fundamental groups of the singularities which appear in such arrangements.
In this note we prove a decomposition related to the affine fundamental group and the projective fundamental group of a line arrangement and a reducible curve with a line component. We give some applications to this result.
We prove similar theorems concerning the structure of bundles involving complements of fiber-type hyperplane arrangements and orbit configuration spaces. These results facilitate analysis of the fundamental groups of these spaces, which may be viewed as generalizations of the Artin pure braid group. In particular, we resolve two disparate conjectures. We show that the Whitehead group of the fundamental group of the complement of a fiber-type arrangement is trivial, as conjectured by Aravinda, Farrell, and Rouchon. For the orbit configuration space corresponding to the natural action of a finit…
The fundamental group of the complement of a hyperplane arrangement plays an important role in studying the corresponding arrangements. In particular, for large families of hyperplane arrangements, this fundamental group, being isomorphic to the fundamental group of a complement of a line arrangement, has some remarkable properties: either it is a direct sum of free groups and a free abelian group, or it has a conjugation-free geometric presentation. In this paper, we first give a complete proof to the following key lemma: if we draw a new line through only one intersection point of a given re…
We introduce the notion of a conjugation-free geometric presentation for a fundamental group of a line arrangement's complement, and we show that the fundamental groups of the following family of arrangements have a conjugation-free geometric presentation: A real arrangement L, whose graph of multiple points is a union of disjoint cycles, has no line with more than two multiple points, and where the multiplicities of the multiple points are arbitrary. We also compute the exact group structure (by means of a semi-direct product of groups) of the arrangement of 6 lines whose graph consists of a …
Kwai Man Fan proved that if the intersection lattice of a line arrangement does not contain a cycle, then the fundamental group of its complement is a direct sum of infinite and cyclic free groups. He also conjectured that the converse is true as well. The main purpose of this paper is to prove this conjecture
We list all the possible fundamental groups of the complements of real conic-line arrangements with two conics which are tangent to each other at two points, with up to two additional lines. For the computations we use the topological local braid monodromies and the techniques of Moishezon-Teicher and van-Kampen. We also include some conjectures concerning the connection between the presentation of the fundamental group of the complements and the geometry of an interesting family of conic line arrangements.
Using a recent result of Bartels and Lueck (arXiv:0901.0442) we deduce that the Farrell-Jones Fibered Isomorphism conjecture in L-theory is true for any group which contains a finite index strongly poly-free normal subgroup, in particular, for the Artin full braid groups. As a consequence we explicitly compute the surgery groups of the Artin pure braid groups. This is obtained as a corollary to a computation of the surgery groups of a more general class of groups, namely for the fundamental group of the complement of any fiber-type hyperplane arrangement in the complex n-space.
In this paper, we give a fully detailed exposition of computing fundamental groups of complements of line arrangements using the Moishezon-Teicher technique for computing the braid monodromy of a curve and the Van-Kampen theorem which induces a presentation of the fundamental group of the complement from the braid monodromy of the curve. For example, we treated the cases where the arrangement has t multiple intersection points and the rest are simple intersection points. In this case, the fundamental group of the complement is a direct sum of infinite cyclic groups and t free groups. Hence, th…
This is a glossary of notions and methods related with the topological theory of collections of affine planes, including braid groups, configuration spaces, order complexes, stratified Morse theory, simplicial resolutions, complexes of graphs, Orlik--Solomon rings, Salvetti complex, matroids, Spanier--Whitehead duality, twisted homology groups, monodromy theory and multidimensional hypergeometric functions. The emphasis on the most geometrical explanation is done; applications and analogies in the differential topology are outlined.
By using computer assistance, we prove that the fundamental group of the complement of a real complexified line arrangement is not determined by its intersection lattice, providing a counter-example for a problem of Falk and Randell. We also deduce that the torsion of the lower central series quotients is not combinatorially determined, which gives a negative answer to a question of Suciu.
In a previous work, the third named author found a combinatorics of line arrangements whose realizations live in the cyclotomic group of the fifth roots of unity and such that their non-complex-conjugate embedding are not topologically equivalent in the sense that they are not embedded in the same way in the complex projective plane. That work does not imply that the complements of the arrangements are not homeomorphic. In this work we prove that the fundamental groups of the complements are not isomorphic. It provides the first example of a pair of Galois-conjugate plane curves such that the …
The complement of a complex hyperplane arrangement is known to be homotopic to a minimal CW complex. There are several approaches to the minimality. In this paper, we restrict our attention to real two dimensional cases, and introduce the "dual" objects so called minimal stratifications. The strata are explicitly described as semialgebraic sets. The stratification induces a partition of the complement into a disjoint union of contractible spaces, which is minimal in the sense that the number of codimension $k$ pieces equals the $k$-th Betti number. We also discuss presentations for the fundame…
Ehrenborg and Jung recently related the order complex for the lattice of d-divisible partitions with the simplicial complex of pointed ordered set partitions via a homotopy equivalence. The latter has top homology naturally identified as a Specht module. Their work unifies that of Calderbank, Hanlon, Robinson, and Wachs. By focusing on the underlying geometry, we strengthen and extend these results from type A to all real reflection groups and the complex reflection groups known as Shephard groups.
A conjugation-free geometric presentation of a fundamental group is a presentation with the natural topological generators $x_1, ..., x_n$ and the cyclic relations: $x_{i_k}x_{i_{k-1}} ... x_{i_1} = x_{i_{k-1}} ... x_{i_1} x_{i_k} = ... = x_{i_1} x_{i_k} ... x_{i_2}$ with no conjugations on the generators. We have already proved that if the graph of the arrangement is a disjoint union of cycles, then its fundamental group has a conjugation-free geometric presentation. In this paper, we extend this property to arrangements whose graphs are a disjoint union of cycle-tree graphs. Moreover, we stu…
Let A be a line arrangement in the complex projective plane CP2. We define and describe the inclusion map of the boundary manifold --the boundary of a close regular neighborhood of A-- in the exterior of the arrangement. We obtain two explicit descriptions of the map induced on the fundamental groups. These computations provide a new minimal presentation of the fundamental group of the complement.
We show that the fundamental group of the complement of an arrangement of complex lines in the complex plane is a free group if and only if the arrangement is a union of parallel lines.
The fundamental group of the complement of a plane curve is a very important topological invariant. In particular, it is interesting to find out whether this group is determined by the combinatorics of the curve or not, and whether it is a direct sum of free groups and a free abelian group, or it has a conjugation-free geometric presentation. In this paper, we investigate the structure of this fundamental group when the graph of the conic-line arrangement is a unique cycle of length $n$ and the conic passes through all the multiple points of the cycle. We show that if n is odd, then the affine…
Let $V$ be a finite dimensional complex vector space and $W\subset \GL(V)$ be a finite complex reflection group. Let $V^{\reg}$ be the complement in $V$ of the reflecting hyperplanes. A classical conjecture predicts that $V^{\reg}$ is a $K(pi,1)$ space. When $W$ is a complexified real reflection group, the conjecture follows from a theorem of Deligne. Our main result validates the conjecture for duality (or, equivalently, well-generated) complex reflection groups. This includes the complexified real case (but our proof is new) and new cases not previously known. We also address a number of que…
This is a survey of some recent developments in the study of complements of line arrangements in the complex plane. We investigate the fundamental groups and finite covers of those complements, focusing on homological and enumerative aspects. The unifying framework for this study is the stratification of the character variety of the fundamental group, G, by the jumping loci for cohomology with coefficients in rank 1 local systems. Counting certain torsion points on these "characteristic" varieties yields information about the homology of branched and unbranched covers of the complement, as wel…
